This story originally appeared in this week’s Sunday Baseball Notes. Read the rest here.
Red Sox shortstop Andruw Monasterio didn’t know the team’s top prospect, 20-year-old shortstop Franklin Arias, until they met in spring training this year. But he knew plenty about him.
As a Little League player in Venezuela, Monasterio played on a state All-Star team with Arias’s brother, who’s also named Franklin. So after he was traded to the Red Sox on Feb. 9, he made it a point to seek him out at Fenway South.
“He’s a good guy, and we started talking in Florida,” Monasterio said. “Sometimes it’s about baseball, but usually we talk about other things.”
Their relationship continued via text messages and phone calls once the season started. Arias said Monasterio’s best advice was to never take a game for granted.
“Always be ready,” he said via a translator. “Every time I go out there and step on the field, I have to be ready for everything that’s going on in the game.”
Arias had a .932 OPS over 16 games after his promotion to Triple-A Worcester and drove in 17 runs. Could he be the 2026 version of Xander Bogaerts and join the team down the stretch?
His talent is hard to ignore. But Monasterio is hitting .333 with a .946 OPS since July 1 and plays passable defense. The Sox also hope to have Trevor Story back on the roster before the season ends.
Rosters expand from 26 to 28 on Sept. 1, and one addition must be a pitcher.
A few other observations on the Sox:
▪ They may be getting a little too attached to sacrifice bunts.
Willson Contreras bunted on his own at Toronto on Thursday with Wilyer Abreu on first and Ceddanne Rafaela on second with no outs and the Sox leading, 1-0.
It worked out when the Blue Jays intentionally walked Masataka Yoshida and Caleb Durbin hit a grand slam. But that doesn’t mean it was the right move.
Contreras has a 1.036 OPS with runners in scoring position, by far the best on the team and one of the highest marks in the game. In late-and-close situations, he has an .839 OPS. He also leads the team in RBIs.
Contreras spoke after the game about the satisfaction he felt being selfless. That’s great, but you’re not making $18 million a year to give yourself up. Next time, swing the bat.
Chad Tracy likes to bunt, and it has generally worked out well over the course of the season. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right move for every hitter.
▪ The Sox have an AL-best four players with at least 15 home runs and 60 RBI: Contreras, Abreu, Rafaela, and Jarren Duran.
That is tied with the Braves, Cubs, and Nationals for the most in the majors. And Durbin is three HRs away from joining that club.
▪ At 44 days, the Sox were the fastest team in MLB history to go from 14 games under .500 to 13 games over. According to Elias Sports Bureau, that bettered the mark of 59 days by the 1914 Miracle Braves.
The Braves, led by Johnny Evers (of Tinker-to Evers-to-Chance fame) and Rabbit Maranville, were in last place on July 4, but went 68-19 the rest of the way to finish 94-59, win the pennant, and then swept the 99-win Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series. Bill James and Dick Rudolph each tossed a pair of complete-game victories. Games 3 and 4 were played at Fenway Park.
▪ Matt Barnes officially retired from baseball last week. The 36-year-old righthander appeared in 429 games for the Sox from 2014-23 before one-year stints with the Marlins and Nationals.
Barnes had an enviable career. He was the 19th pick of the 2011 draft, helped the Sox win the 2018 World Series, was an All-Star in 2021, and had an 0.79 ERA in 12 career postseason games.
“Baseball gave me more than I could have imagined,” Barnes wrote on Instagram.
Blue Jays outfielder George Springer first played with Barnes when they were 9 years old in Connecticut. They then played together at UConn and against each other in the majors.
“He thought he was a better hitter when he was young,” Springer said. “But what a great career he had as a pitcher.”
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social.