{"id":58540,"date":"2023-06-01T14:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T18:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=58540"},"modified":"2023-05-31T23:06:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T03:06:53","slug":"the-boston-red-sox-have-a-shortstop-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/06\/01\/the-boston-red-sox-have-a-shortstop-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Boston Red Sox Have a Shortstop Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

I visited the “Most Beloved Ballpark” on May 30 to see the Boston Red Sox<\/a> play the Reds during a crisper-than-usual May night. The game was the first home contest for Boston after a two-week west coast trip in which they finished a meager 4-5 but won respective series against the underachieving Padres and overachieving Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

With the Sox back at Fenway, I thought that a contest with Cincinnati would be a much-needed breather after facing the gauntlet on the Pacific. My naivety, however, was exposed rather quickly. I watched a feisty Reds team use patience and attrition to grind at-bats out and push Brayan Bello<\/a> to almost 50 pitches through two innings before annihilating the Red Sox bullpen in the mid-to-late-innings to take an 8-0 lead.<\/p>\n

The Sox battled their way back but eventually lost 9-8 after a Triston Casas<\/a> strikeout. A few in-game adjustments from Alex Cora<\/a> and maybe a few less walks probably would’ve shifted the game in the other direction, but it was two defensive plays from Shortstop Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez that stuck out in my mind after the game.<\/p>\n

The first play happened in the third inning when Hernandez stabbed a hard grounder from Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson<\/a> before rifling an errant ball to Casas, forcing him off first base.<\/p>\n

\n

Red Sox shortstops in the last 30 years that had 10 errors before June:<\/p>\n

1. Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez
2. Julio Lugo<\/p>\n

— Steve Perrault (@Steve_Perrault) May 31, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n