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Red Sox place J.D. Martinez on COVID-19 related injured list
Bench coach Will Venable tested positive.
Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez is joining Jarren Duran on the COVID-19 related injured list, the club announced Saturday.
According to the NESN broadcast, bench coach Will Venable tested positive, first base coach Tom Goodwin is a close contact, and both will miss Saturday’s games.
According to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, Martinez and Duran aren’t feeling well but neither has tested positive.
The Red Sox recalled catcher Connor Wong from Triple-A Worcester to fill Martinez’s spot. They also added right-hander Tanner Houck as the 27th man for Saturday’s doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays, and he’s slated to start game two.
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Martinez is hitting .284 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs on the season, but he’s off to a .190 start through five games in August.
Wong made his major league debut this season and is 3-for-12 in five games while also throwing out a runner.
Houck has a 2.45 ERA in six outings with the Red Sox this season, and manager Alex Cora said he’ll “most likely” take Martin Pérez’s spot in the rotation as Pérez heads to the bullpen.
The Red Sox rolled out a lineup of Kiké Hernandez, Alex Verdugo, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Hunter Renfroe, Kevin Plawecki, Christian Vázquez, Bobby Dalbec, and Jonathan Araúz in game one, with Nick Pivetta on the mound. Vázquez moved into the designated hitter spot, and Plawecki is the catcher.
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Boston has lost seven of eight and is currently 2.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.
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