Red Sox

Raimel Tapia reportedly makes Red Sox roster, Jarren Duran sent down

The outfielder hit .326 in 17 games for Boston in spring training.

Raimel Tapia is set to play for his third big league club in the last three seasons.

March 29, 2023

It appears that on the final day of spring training, the Red Sox decided to go with Raimel Tapia as their fifth outfielder rather than Jarren Duran.

According to the Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams, Adalberto Mondesi will be shifted to the 60 day injured list to make room for Tapia on the team’s 40-man roster.

Both Tapia and Duran mashed the ball for the Red Sox in spring training, each hitting over .325. Tapia, however, was on a minor league contract and was reaching out to other teams in the event that he wasn’t selected to the major league roster.

Raimel Tapia said his agent is investigating possibilities with other teams and he's waiting to find out what happens.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) March 27, 2023

Due to the nature of Tapia’s contract and Duran’s multiple remaining minor league options, the only sure way to keep both players within the organization was to move down Duran.

The corresponding move of putting Mondesi on the IL was also due to Tapia’s contract. His minor league deal meant he was never on the team’s 40-man roster so one of the team’s major league players had to be removed from it.

Mondesi was the best option for Chaim Bloom as he still has no timetable for his return from a knee injury.

With Tapia now set to join the Opening Day roster, the Red Sox have determined all of their position players.

Tapia and Rob Refsnyder will be able to back up any of the three starting outfielders in Masataka Yoshida, Alex Verdugo, and Adam Duvall.

The infield will begin with Triston Casas at first, Christian Arroyo at second, Rafael Devers at third, and Kiké Hernández at short. Yu Chang and Connor Wong will serve as the team’s backup infielders to begin the season.

Wong will also be the team’s backup catcher behind Reese McGuire. Rounding out the position players will be Justin Turner, who will mainly play as the team’s designated hitter but who can also play the corner infield spots.