Boston Red Sox infielder Enmanuel Valdez has been optioned to Triple-A Worcester with Vaughn Grissom (hamstring) likely to make his Red Sox debut on Friday against the Minnesota Twins. The 25-year-old struggled mightily at the plate to begin the season, hitting just .156 with two homers and just a 4.1% walk rate against a bloated 30.6% strikeout rate across 98 trips to the plate. His 18 wRC+ suggests his offensive production was a whopping 82% below the league average. Valdez was much better in his big-league debut last season, when he hit .266 with six homers, five stolen bases, and a 102 wRC+ across 49 games and 149 trips to the plate.

Boston Red Sox infield prospect Enmanuel Valdez was 2-for-4 in his major-league debut with two singles and one strikeout. The Dominican native was called up to fill in for Yu Chang (paternity list). While he has struggled to start the season in Triple-A Worcester with a line of .179/.289/.333, the Red Sox called him up over fellow minor-league infielder David Hamilton because of Valdez's spring training performance. In 15 spring training games, the 24-year-old slashed .214/.389/.429 with two home runs. He was optioned to Triple-A soon after the game, but he's now the clear preferred call-up for an injury-prone Red Sox middle infield. Valdez is only worth rostering if he's afforded an extended run at the major-league level.

Boston Red Sox infield prospect Enmanuel Valdez will start at second base in the team's first spring training game on Friday against Northeastern. The Red Sox like what they have in Valdez, whom they acquired from the Houston Astros for catcher Christian Vazquez last August. The 24-year-old hit .296 with a .376 on-base percentage, .542 slugging percentage, .918 OPS, 28 home runs, 35 doubles, two triples, 107 RBI, 92 runs and eight steals in 126 games between Double-A and Triple-A last year. In addition to second base, he also saw time at first, third, right field and left field. Manager Alex Cora said the team will move him around the infield this spring. Valdez may not make the big-league roster out of spring training, but he's a youngster to watch if he eventually sees regular playing time at the keystone in 2023.