Alex Cora is getting ready for a game of musical chairs.
When third baseman Alex Bregman returns from the injured list, the Red Sox manager will have too many infielders and not enough positions for all of them.
Right now, rookie Marcelo Mayer is holding down third base while fellow newbie Kristian Campbell plays second base. In between them is shortstop Trevor Story.
While Bregman can play all three positions, third base is his home. So how does Cora make all this work when the 31-year-old is activated? That was question The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal answered Thursday on MLB Network’s “Foul Territory” podcast.
“The one thing you could do would be I guess to bench Trevor Story, play Mayer at short. But you don’t want to do that,” Rosenthal said. “Trevor Story is starting to play better. And Trevor Story is a guy who’s a really good defender and you cannot win with all kids. You need some veterans. Trevor Story is certainly a veteran.
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“So it seems to me that when Bregman gets back, or even when Wilyer Abreu gets back, Craig Breslow, as president of baseball operations, is going to really have to take a look at this roster and maybe do something to be creative. … It’s going to be a challenge but the kind of challenge any team should welcome. Too many good players is never a problem.”
To Rosenthal’s point, Story has been red-hot at the plate during the last five games (four of which the Red Sox won), going 9-for-23 (.391) with a pair of home runs and four runs scored.
Bregman has been on the injured list since May 24 with a strained right quad. His 13 home runs and 35 RBI still rank third on the team.
