The Boston Red Sox have turned to Curtis Mead to help save their season.
There’s very little time to appreciate the irony in that. The Red Sox are playing a win-or-go-home game Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. If they don’t beat the New York Yankees, they’ll have lost the AL Wild Card Series in a quick two-game sweep.
It’s a best-of-three series, so the Red Sox need to win Wednesday, and then they need to win again on Thursday to advance to the ALDS.
It’s not clear how big a role Mead will play, but he’ll have one after it didn’t look like he would.
The Red Sox removed Roman Anthony from their Wild Card Series roster due to injury. They plugged Mead in for him.
Why Was Curtis Mead Out?
Mead got injured in his very first game with the Red Sox, in his second at bat.
A pitched ball broke his wrist.
MassLive’s Sean McAdam pointed out in a new article on Wednesday that Mead now replaces Anthony, who has a wrist injury.
“I saw Roman last night and some of the swings he was taking and I definitely felt his pain,” Mead told reporters on Wednesday, via McAdam. We kind of talked about it over the last month. I was quite interested in his return to play and the sort of things he was feeling and how long it took him to get up to speed. I definitely used him as a resource. I feel horrible for him, but I’m glad that I can kind of step in and hopefully contribute.”
Mead added to reporters: “I think I feel 100 percent.”
The Red Sox sure are hoping that’s true.
Curtis Mead Trade
The Red Sox thought they had made a solid early splash well ahead of the MLB trade deadline when they acquired Mead from the Washington Nationals for lefty pitcher Connelly Early.
Instead, Mead hasn’t played since that very first appearance with Boston.
Mead was awesome for Washington this season before being traded.
He had played 87 games, and he had an .852 OPS in that time. He had doubled 17 times, hit a triple and left the yard with 17 home runs. Mead had 48 RBI and 49 runs for the Nats, and also had stolen six bases in eight attempts.
How Curtis Mead Can Replace Roman Anthony
When a player gets hurt in the middle of a playoff series, they can be replaced if the league approves the move.
It does eliminate the injured player, in this case Anthony, from playing the rest of this round or in the next round.
So that means Anthony wouldn’t be eligible to play until the ALCS, if he’s healthy.
In the meantime, Mead will try and help the Red Sox stay alive.
How Curtis Mead Went From Trade to Injury to Red Sox Replacement for Roman Anthony