This item originally appeared in the Sunday Baseball Notes. To read the full column, click here.
Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer won’t regress if they spend a little more time in Triple A. Mayer hasn’t even played 25 games for Worcester and Anthony is approaching 60.
But that calculus is going to change soon. Mookie Betts was deemed ready after 45 games and Xander Bogaerts after 60.
How the Red Sox make it work — or whether they can make it work — will be one of the biggest stories of this season. It’s going to be tricky.
With Kristian Campbell at second base, Mayer’s only defensive fit is at shortstop. But Trevor Story is signed through 2027 and is finally having a strong season after two seasons ravaged by injuries.
Anthony is not moving to first base, he’s an outfielder. Playing him would mean displacing Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, or Ceddanne Rafaela.
Don’t be quick to suggest Rafaela become a do-it-all bench player. Take his glove out of center field and the Red Sox won’t be nearly as good defensively.
It also wouldn’t make much sense to bring Anthony or Mayer up unless they’re playing every day. Both are lefthanded hitters, too, and the Sox already are overloaded from that side of the plate.
Somehow Craig Breslow has to come up with a way to make a series of moves that get Anthony and Mayer on the team.
That likely would entail moving Story’s hefty contract, trading some players you’d rather not trade, balancing the lineup, and protecting the organization for the possibility Alex Bregman opts out after the season.
Or you just wait. Roster problems have a way of sorting themselves out. Injuries and attrition take a toll and opportunities arise.
In April, there’s no rush. But if the Sox are still muddling around .500 a month from now and Anthony and Mayer are crushing Triple A pitching, something is going to have to give.
Prediction: Somebody will get traded that will be a big surprise.
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
• When Aroldis Chapman unleashed a 102.3-m.p.h. fastball on April 19, he set a record for the fastest recorded pitch in Red Sox history. He also holds that record with the Cubs, Pirates, Reds, Royals, and Yankees.
Chapman also pitched for Texas. But Neftali Feliz holds the record for the Rangers with a 104.1-m.p.h. pitch in 2010.
“If that’s what he did, then good for him,” Chapman said via a translator. “Throwing 104 is great.”
At 37, Chapman is more amused by his feats than impressed.
“I’m glad I can still throw hard at this point in my career,” he said. “I thank God for that. I don’t care about records.”
• That Carlos Narváez would lead major league catchers in defensive runs saved (5) a month into the season is not something that was expected.
• Rob Refsnyder and Romy Gonzalez went into the weekend having combined to hit .321 (18 of 56) with seven extra-base hits, four walks, and six RBIs.
They’ve given the Sox 0.5 bWAR, which is more than Duran, Triston Casas, and Rafael Devers.
Their ability to produce when playing so sporadically has been impressive.
• Righthander Hunter Dobbins has started two games for the Red Sox, winning both while allowing only three earned runs over 11 innings. He’s given up one home run.
Dobbins, 25, has appeared in three games for Worcester and given up nine earned runs over 12⅔ innings and allowed four home runs.
He had a strong start against Syracuse on Thursday, allowing one run over six innings.
• In case you missed it, Jackie Bradley Jr. joined ESPN as a college baseball analyst. Bradley, 35, should flourish in that role. He had a distinguished career at South Carolina and has stayed in touch with the college game.
• They would never admit it, but it’s hard not to wonder if the Red Sox regret their involvement in the Netflix documentary.
“The Clubhouse: A Year With the Red Sox” came and went without much of an impact nationally. The biggest revelation was Duran saying on camera he tried to commit suicide in 2022 but his rifle didn’t fire.
That news was handled cynically. Netflix sent the documentary to media outlets in the Boston area under the proviso that no stories could be published until the early hours of April 7.
Their publicists knew Duran’s disclosure would be major news.
At the same time, Netflix prohibited the Red Sox from making any comment until April 8. By doing that, they assured two days of stories instead of one.
That many despondent people sought help after hearing about Duran’s personal difficulties is great. But if Netflix and the Sox really wanted to help others, they could have released that clip six months earlier.
Outside of Duran revealing the depths of his despair two years prior — which was remarkable — the documentary was about an unremarkable 81-81 team.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.