{"id":34739,"date":"2025-03-21T02:36:27","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34739"},"modified":"2025-03-21T02:36:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:36:27","slug":"shocking-boost-red-sox-super-utility-man-makes-key-stride-toward-opening-day-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34739","title":{"rendered":"SHOCKING BOOST: Red Sox Super Utility Man Makes Key Stride Toward Opening Day Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tagStyle_1bmarg5-o_O-style_gt0nzj-o_O-sidesPadding_1kaga1a\">\n<div>We are now one week away from Opening Day<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wrapper_e296pg\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_oenkmd\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_1vgzeyt\">\n<div class=\"style_1q03211\">\n<figure class=\"base_1ruub6q\" data-mm-type=\"image\"><picture class=\"base_1emrqjj\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"base_1emrqjj\" title=\"Jun 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA;    A bucket of baseballs sits on the grass before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_4461,h_2509,x_0,y_462\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/inside_the_red_sox\/01jptbmh3b9z1kx1464v.jpg\" alt=\"Jun 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA;    A bucket of baseballs sits on the grass before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"Ng\u00e0y 28 th\u00e1ng 6 n\u0103m 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, Hoa K\u1ef3; M\u1ed9t x\u00f4 b\u00f3ng ch\u00e0y \u0111\u1eb7t tr\u00ean b\u00e3i c\u1ecf tr\u01b0\u1edbc tr\u1eadn \u0111\u1ea5u gi\u1eefa Boston Red Sox v\u00e0 San Diego Padres t\u1ea1i Fenway Park. T\u00edn d\u1ee5ng b\u1eaft bu\u1ed9c: Eric Canha-Imagn Images\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"ALT\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wrapper_brpv6a\">Jun 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; A bucket of baseballs sits on the grass before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images \/ Eric Canha-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inStoryContainer_1r009zu\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_qe1qt7\">\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_hays3qv0k\">The Boston Red Sox have dealt with a plethora of injuries throughout Spring Training both big and small.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_bz3jkjxzn\">With Opening Day one week away, time is running out for players to make it back to the field in time for the real action. Boston will begin its season on March 27th against the Texas Rangers. One guy who has been dealing with an ailment is super utility man Romy Gonzalez. He&#8217;s been dealing with a tight oblique but took swings on Thursday and &#8220;felt fine,&#8221;\u00a0per WEEI&#8217;s Rob Bradford.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_jfzbb6e4m\">&#8220;Romy Gonzalez just took swings and felt fine,&#8221; Bradford said. &#8220;Thinks should be back playing in few days.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_dmdt5o1v3\">This is a pretty solid update because of the fact that Gonzalez is one of just a few guys on the team right now with even a little bit of big league experience at first base. The Red Sox are fortunate to have Triston Casas in the mix, but there are not many people behind him right now at the position. Gonzalez is someone who could help out at first base and also see time elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_0zt7j5khm\">Last year, Gonzalez played in 89 games for Boston and saw time at first base, second base, shortstop, third base, left field, center field, right field, and designated hitter over that stretch. It&#8217;s unclear how ready he&#8217;ll be for Opening Day, but it seems like he&#8217;s trending in the right direction at the very least.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_f38romwoz\">Boston&#8217;s depth has been tested, but things are getting better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are now one week away from Opening Day Jun 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; A bucket of baseballs sits on the grass before a game between&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SHOCKING BOOST: Red Sox Super Utility Man Makes Key Stride Toward Opening Day Return - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=34739\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SHOCKING BOOST: Red Sox Super Utility Man Makes Key Stride Toward Opening Day Return - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We are now one week away from Opening Day Jun 28, 2024; 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