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The Red Sox are one of the teams looking to sign a free agent outfielder. Adam Duvalllike the first report Chris Henrique of Beyond the Monster. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com Tweet A resolution on Duvall’s free agency, whether he signs with the Sox or another club, could come as early as this week. The Red Sox consider Duvall to be “good enough” to play in center field, Cotillo added.
Put Duvall in center field mix alongside left-handed hitting Jalen Duran would allow Boston to shift Enrique Hernandez back to Nakano trevor story‘s recent elbow surgery. Duvall doesn’t show platoon division clearly — he draws slightly more walks against left-handers, but hits with similar power and has the same .230 average against left-handers and right-handers. Yes — so he could even get shoved into center field on a regular basis, if the socks are happy with the defensive element of that fit.
Duvall, 34, has had elite defensive records in left field in his career, but has only 593 innings in center field. Most of that has been with the Braves in the last two seasons. He has done well there as well, saving four defensive runs and recording five above-average outs in that limited amount of time.
With the bat, Duvall has a definite positive power, but a low on-base percentage and an increasing tendency to strike out in recent years (30.4% over the last four seasons). His 2022 season was cut short by a torn tendon sheath in his wrist, and he had 12 home runs in .213/.276/.401 and 315 at-bats. Duvall hit 38 home runs in his 2021 season, which came with a mix of his typical low average and his OBP mark. 228/.281/.491 in his 555 plate appearances for Atlanta in 2011.
That’s a no-brainer for Duvall, a hitter with a career batting average of .230/.289/.465 who has hit 30 homers three times in a season and won the 2021 Gold Glove Award. If last year’s season-ending wrist surgery returned him to full strength, he could give the Red Sox a much-needed right-handed bat, and only Hernandez could. Justin Turner When Christian Arroyo A project for regular personnel.Bench options such as Bobby Dalbec When Rob Levsnyder A day facing a left-handed starter could give Boston an extra right-handed at-bat.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said last week that he will likely seek multiple midfield additions to the lineup after Storyline’s injuries. Hypothetically, it could fit that bill, but the Sox might still have other additions in store. Boston was also associated with former Rangers, A’s and White Sox infielders Elvis Andrus over the weekend. Boston is currently projecting a salary of about $183.5 million next season, with a luxury tax of just over $209 million. Both are well below last year’s totals.
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