Boston Red Sox: Adam Duvall’s injury leaves big void in lineup

After dropping four out of their first six games to begin the 2023 season at Fenway Park to the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates, the Boston Red Sox got a much-needed trip to Comerica Park for a three-game weekend series with the Detroit Tigers.

Alex Cora’s team appeared to turn things around with a three-game sweep of Detroit. However, just as they were finishing off the sweep, disaster struck. In the bottom of the ninth inning, center fielder Adam Duvall attempted to make a diving catch in shallow center field, but he jammed his wrist into the ground and ended up fracturing it. The good news, if there is any from the injury is that it will not require surgery and he has a six-to-eight-week time frame to return.

While no surgery is needed, just a cast, for the Red Sox and Cora, it is setting up to be a long six to eight weeks while their top offensive player is out of the lineup.

Adam Duvall’s injury puts more pressure on rest of Boston Red Sox lineup

General manager Chaim Bloom signed Adam Duvall in free agency last winter to a one-year, $7 million contract and the move has been gold in the first nine games of the season. He has had an impressive slash line of .455/.514/1.030 with five doubles, four home runs, and 14 RBI, batting fourth.

That’s a lot of offense to take out of the lineup that has shown the ability to put up runs, but also to struggle at times. The most recent example of that was in Monday’s 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays where they had just three hits, one each by Masataka Yoshida, Christian Arroyo, and Bobby Dalbec, who was brought up from the Worcester Woo Sox before the game to take Duvall’s spot on the roster.

Duvall has had the knack for coming up with big hits early this season, nothing bigger than a two-run home run on April 1 against the Orioles in the bottom of the ninth inning. After Yoshida reached on a dropped fly ball, Duvall hit his second home run of the game off of Baltimore closer Felix Bautista for a 9-8 win.

Now without their leading hitter in the middle of the lineup, things could get very difficult for the Red Sox. That puts more pressure on Yoshida, Justin Turner, Kiki Hernandez, and Alex Verdugo at the top of the lineup to get things going. Any time Boston fails to score in any situation, that could be the difference between winning and losing. The margin for error got a lot smaller with Duvall’s injury. Against Tampa Bay on Monday, the top four combined to go 1-for-15 with six strikeouts.

Things are not going to get any easier for the Red Sox schedule-wise. After three more with the Rays, they return to host the Los Angeles Angels, and Minnesota Twins, before a trip to play the Milwaukee Brewers and the Orioles. There is going to be a lot of pressure on the pitching staff to keep games close like Nick Pivetta did Monday, but now finding offense is going to be tough for Cora. All eyes will be on the top of the order and the guys expected to produce will need to produce to keep them competitive in the AL East in Duvall’s absence.