Red Sox's Curtis Mead: On IL, likely to avoid surgery
Rotowire
The Red Sox placed Mead (wrist) on the 10-day injured list Wednesday.
The Red Sox don't expect Mead to require surgery to repair his fractured left wrist and anticipate him remaining out for roughly 6-to-8 weeks, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, leaving room for Mead to return to action in the final few weeks of the regular season. With Boston also navigating injuries to Marcelo Mayer (forearm), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (forearm) and Trevor Story (abdomen), Anthony Seigler and Romy Gonzalez are the top candidates to start at second base for the time being. Nick Sogard will join the big club in a corresponding move to add depth.
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Red Sox's Curtis Mead: Bound for IL with wrist fracture
Rotowire
The Red Sox are expected to place Mead on the 10-day injured list after he was diagnosed Tuesday with a fractured left wrist, Ari Alexander of 7 News Boston reports.
Mead was hit on the wrist by a pitch during his second at-bat while making his Red Sox debut in Monday's 4-2 win over the Athletics, and the 25-year-old infielder is now facing an extended stint on the IL after follow-up tests on his wrist revealed a fracture. The team hasn't provided an estimated recovery timeline, though if Mead needs surgery, he could be lost for the season. The Red Sox plan to call up Nick Sogard from Triple-A Worcester to replace Mead on the 26-man active roster, and Anthony Seigler will likely reclaim a regular role at second base.
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Red Sox's Curtis Mead: Will play second base for new club
Rotowire
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said that Mead will be activated ahead of Monday's series opener versus the Athletics and could see most of his reps at second base initially, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports. "The cool thing was talking to all players involved, including Curtis, that the general response was '[I'll] play wherever you need me to.' So we got a good right-handed bat that looks like he's capable playing second," Tracy said of Mead, who was acquired in a trade with the Nationals on Sunday. "We'll start with that and keep eyes on it."
Mead has made 35 career big-league starts at second base, but just one has come this season as the Nationals primarily deployed him at the corner-infield spots prior to trading him. With Willson Contreras entrenched at first base and the Red Sox keen on keeping Caleb Durbin at third base, Mead looks like he'll settle in at the keystone. Boston has received solid production at second base from Anthony Seigler of late, but he could fade into more of a part-time role to clear up at-bats for Mead, who has broken out this season with an .852 OPS, 17 home runs and six steals over 87 games for Washington.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Exiting starting nine
Rotowire
Mead is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's contest in Colorado.
Mead picked up three hits in Monday's win over the Rockies but then went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Tuesday. Jorbit Vivas will cover third base while Mead rests in the series finale.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Three hits in Monday's win
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Mead went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored in Monday's win over the Rockies.
The Nationals cranked out 12 hits in total, including five extra-base hits, to kick off the Coors Field series, and Mead's three knocks led the way. The 25-year-old infielder has seven multi-hit performances through 13 games in July, slashing .431/.500/.765 on the month with 10 of his 22 hits (six doubles, one triple, three homers) going for extra bases.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Gets on base three times
Rotowire
Mead went 1-for-3 with two walks, one RBI, one stolen base and one run scored in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Athletics.
Mead has gone 19-for-46 (.413) over 12 contests in July, hitting safely in 10 of those games. He's also logged nine extra-base hits and nine RBI in that span. He's up to a .256 batting average and .861 OPS on the year while adding 17 home runs, six steals, 48 RBI, 47 runs scored, 16 doubles and one triple over 83 contests in a breakout campaign.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Getting breather Saturday
Rotowire
Mead isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Athletics, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
Mead will get a chance to catch his breath after beginning the second half by going 4-for-6 with three doubles, three RBI and four runs scored during Friday's 23-4 rout. Jorbit Vivas will pick up a start at third base as a result and bat eighth.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Stays hot, racks up three doubles
Rotowire
Mead went 4-for-6 with three doubles, three RBI and four runs scored in Friday's win over the Athletics.
Mead is up to 16 doubles on the season, and he's been seeing the ball extremely well of late. He's hit safely in all but one of his last 10 games, posting six multi-hit performances and slashing .439/.500/.829 with a 1.329 OPS, three homers, five doubles, a triple, eight RBI, 10 runs scored and a stolen base over that stretch.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Heading to bench Sunday
Rotowire
Mead is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees.
Mead will be given a break for the series finale after he started seven straight games while going 11-for-28 (.393) with two home runs, one stolen base, four RBI and three runs. Washington will go with Jorbit Vivas at third base in Mead's stead.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Not in Friday's lineup
Rotowire
Mead is absent from the lineup for Friday's contest against the Pirates.
Mead will begin this one on the bench after starting at third base in each of the Nationals' last four games. Jorbit Vivas will occupy the hot corner in Friday's series opener.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Swats 14th homer
Rotowire
Mead went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Thursday's loss to the Phillies.
The 25-year-old went deep for the second straight game and the third time in the last four, ripping a Cristopher Sanchez first-pitch sinker over the left-field fence in the first inning. Mead is still having trouble stringing together base hits -- his last multi-hit performance came June 10, and he's batting just .146 (6-for-41) over 12 contests since then -- but he's already popped for career-best power numbers with 14 home runs and 39 RBI in 237 plate appearances this season.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Receiving night off
Rotowire
Mead is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.
Mead will be handed a night off after he went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in Tuesday's 14-9 loss. Jorbit Vivas will step in at the hot corner in place of Mead, who had started each of the last four contests.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Goes deep for 12th homer
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Mead went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Monday's 4-1 win over the Phillies.
Mead launched a two-run homer off Seth Johnson in the seventh inning that extended Washington's lead. The blast was his 12th home run of the season and came at an opportune time, as he entered Monday deep in a 3-for-24 slump over his previous eight games. Mead is now slashing .227/.333/.464 with 10 doubles, 12 homers, 36 RBI, 34 runs scored and three stolen bases across 225 plate appearances this season.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Slugs 11th homer
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Mead went 1-for-3 with a walk and a three-run home run in Tuesday's win over the Royals.
The 25-year-old infielder produced the game's deciding runs when he took Daniel Lynch deep in the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie. Mead still isn't stringing together hits consistently, but over his last 20 games he's slashing .239/.325/.521 with six of his 11 long balls on the season, along with 12 runs and 17 RBI while emerging as the Nationals' starting third baseman.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: On bench Sunday
Rotowire
Mead is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
Mead has gone 2-for-17 with a walk and a homer in his past five games and will hit the bench for Sunday's series finale. Jorbit Vivas will take over at third base and bat eighth against Seattle righty Emerson Hancock.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Resting Tuesday
Rotowire
Mead is not in the lineup Tuesday versus the Giants.
Mead went 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and a strikeout in the series opener against the Giants on Monday. He'll rest Tuesday as Jorbit Vivas starts at third base and bats sixth.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Clubs eighth homer
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Mead went 2-for-4 with a walk, a two-run home run and a second run scored in Friday's 7-5 loss to the Padres.
The former Rays top prospect gave the Nationals an early 2-1 lead when he launched a mediocre Lucas Giolito fastball 414 feet to center field in the first inning. Mead is up to eight homers on the season, and four of them have come in his last six games as he seizes the starting job at third base. During that heater, the 25-year-old is batting .320 (8-for-25) with six RBI and six runs.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Making push for full-time role
Rotowire
Mead will start at third base and bat third in Wednesday's game against the Guardians.
Though he's mainly been used in the short side of a platoon at first base with Luis Garcia this season, Mead has now drawn his last seven starts at the hot corner and looks to have emerged as the preferred option at the position following Brady House's recent demotion to Triple-A Rochester. The Nationals will include Mead in the starting nine for a second straight matchup versus a right-hander (Gavin Williams), after the 25-year-old slugged home runs off righties Tanner Bibee and Matt Festa during Monday's series opener in Cleveland. Altogether, Mead is slashing .235/.355/.479 with seven home runs, three steals, 20 RBI and 22 runs in 141 plate appearances on the season, and he could be worthy of a pickup in fantasy leagues where he's available now that he's seemingly moved into a near-everyday role.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Goes yard Sunday
Rotowire
Mead went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 3-0 win over the Giants.
Mead delivered the game's biggest swing, launching a two-run homer off Robbie Ray in the fifth inning to extend Washington's lead. The long ball was his second of the season. Entering Sunday, Mead had been in a slump, going just 2-for-20 over his previous eight games, making this a much-needed breakthrough. The 25-year-old is now slashing .205/.271/.409 with seven RBI and two stolen bases across 48 plate appearances.
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Nationals' Curtis Mead: Big day in extra-inning loss
Rotowire
Mead went 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and a stolen base in Tuesday's 7-6 extra-inning loss to the Cardinals.
Getting the start at first base and batting second, Mead took left-hander Matthew Liberatore deep for a solo shot in the fifth inning, giving the Nationals a 5-2 lead that the bullpen would eventually squander. The 25-year-old has mainly been used as a short-side platoon partner for Luis Garcia since arriving in Washington, and he's finding a groove in that role -- over the last four games he's gone 5-for-11 with two doubles, a homer and three RBI. If Mead keeps producing, he could begin to see more work at DH and against right-handed pitching.
