Red Sox dealing with sudden COVID-19 issues ahead of Toronto series

COVID-19 continues to have an impact on rosters across professional sports, and now, it's reached the Boston Red Sox.

On Monday, the team announced that catcher Kevin Plawecki and two additional staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. To fill Plawecki’s spot, Boston called up Connor Wong from Worcester.

Chris Cotillo originally reported the news at MassLive, and the team later confirmed. Manager Alex Cora recently disclosed that Plawecki is fully vaccinated.

The Red Sox will further be affected by COVID-19 during this week’s road series against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Players must be fully vaccinated in order to cross the border into Canada. This means Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck, who recently indicated he's unvaccinated, would not be able to start north of the border.

This upcoming series in Toronto could subtly reveal whether other Red Sox players are vaccinated, based on their availability.

One week in the books, six games scratched off the schedule, no final determinations to be made. But if you’re looking for a few initial observations after the Red Sox’ first six games of the 2022 season, here they are:

When the Red Sox traded Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee for Jackie Bradley and a pair of minor leaguers, the assumption was that Bradley would be a depth piece or that the Sox would find a legitimate right-handed-hitting complement for him. And while Bradley got his first hits of the season in Wednesday’s win, the Sox rank 26th in OPS at the position (14th in the AL) and Christian Arroyo (not his fault) has had trouble in right field.

(Before we go on … can someone explain what happened with the Sox pursuit of Seiya Suzuki, who is off to a roaring start with the Chicago Cubs?)

In the short term and the long, it already feels like the Sox need to make a move here. Maybe Rob Refsnyder has to come up from Worcester to play right field against lefties. Maybe chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has to make a trade earlier than he’d like. In the interim, the Sox should play Bradley as much as possible because the defense without him simply isn’t good enough.

Yes, Xander Bogaerts started the season with a three-hit game, but he strained a hamstring (or something) in his final at-bat of the game and has since gone 2-for-14 with five strikeouts and no extra-base hits. (He hasn’t looked right.) Meanwhile, Trevor Story missed some games with an illness and is just 3-for-14 with three strikeouts on the season. None of his three hits has been particularly well struck.

YES, WE KNOW … IT’S EARLY.

For what it’s worth, April is historically Story’s worth month, though it also worth noting that he hit .234 against right-handers over the entirety of last season. (He looks especially vulnerable to pitches away.)

We’ve seen enough of Bogaerts over the years to know what he is when healthy, but this all bears watching. Story is undergoing major transitions. Bogaerts is in what amounts to a contract year. Pay close attention as the year goes on.

Last year, after all but delivering room service to opposing hitters, Red Sox starters allowed just 106 home runs, tied with Tampa Bay for fewest in the American League. Meanwhile, their relievers allowed just 70, tied with the Chicago White Sox for second fewest. So far this season, the Sox have allowed nine homers in six games, a pace that would produce 243 home runs, well over the staff total (and league low) of 176 last season.

So far, the worst culprit has been Nathan Eovaldi, who has served up four homers in two starts. Until baseball changes some of the rules next year, home runs are likely to decide the majority of games. The Sox have hit just five while allowing nine, and there is every chance those numbers will flip as the Boston offense continues to awaken.

But while the good homers are likely to come, their value gets diminished if the Sox keep serving meatballs to the opposition.

NEXT: Red Sox’ Chris Sale resumes throwing at Fenway as rehab continues