WEST SACRAMENTO – Curtis Mead’s joy of playing his first game for the Red Sox turned into pain when he was drilled on the left hand with a 94.9 mph fastball from Athletics righty Jack Perkins in the top of the fourth inning of Monday’s 4-2 victory at Sutter Health Park.
While Mead initially stayed in the game, he was replaced on defense by Anthony Seigler to open the bottom of the fifth inning. Mead was diagnosed with a left wrist contusion and X-rays came back negative. He is day to day.
“Squeezing my hand feels OK,” said Mead. “Just a little bit of pain rotating. We already got an X-ray and everything looked OK, so I’m hopeful that I’ll feel better tomorrow morning and it won’t be a problem.”
Hyped for his Boston debut, it was a bit of a letdown for Mead to have to watch the final four innings in the clubhouse.
“I was kind of thinking, walking to the clubhouse, just super disappointed,” Mead said. “I wanted to come here and help the team and wanted to play. So yeah, it’s frustrating. But it was a pretty fun game. At least we were able to win my first game. That was the cool part of it.”
Mead had struggled to make an impact in a limited sample size at his previous stops. This time, he arrived as a sought-after bat the Red Sox brought in to increase their postseason chances.
“It was unique. I just remember speaking to my agent about the whole thing, and he was like, ‘This is a little bit different than when we were traded in March.’ Everyone here has been awesome, and I feel like they've welcomed me with open arms, and just been supportive in whatever I need,” Mead said. “My agent was like, ‘Dude, you're gonna enjoy it. Boston's an awesome place to play, and you're joining a really good ballclub.’”
Mead set himself up for success – and, indirectly, to be a key Trade Deadline acquisition for a marquee team – by improving his setup at the plate.
It has led to a career year in which he belted 17 homers with an .852 OPS in 87 games with the Nats. He looks forward to adding to that stat line in Boston.
“My setup is something that I've put stress on in the past, and I felt like it had to be absolutely perfect for me to be in a good position to hit,” Mead said. “So, I kind of took the stress away a little bit in that regard, and just wanted to be comfortable, and ultimately landed there. It’s been good, which has been nice.”
Looking back on it now, Mead realizes that he did too much self-correcting in the past.
“If I had a bad game, I'd try something new. It just wound up with me not feeling super comfortable in the box. I've tried to be super consistent with what I do every day in the cage to prepare, so that when I step in the box, I'm feeling good about myself and can just put all my focus on the ball,” said Mead.
What is the biggest adjustment he has made?
“I think the main thing for me is just trying to keep it simple. I want to keep it short. I'm trying to just stay out of my own way, keep it as compact as possible,” Mead said. “Guys just seem to keep throwing harder and harder, so I probably try to cut it down a little bit and just be a bit more direct with my swing. I don't want to go up there feeling like I have to cheat to a good fastball. So that's probably the basis of it.”
Though Mead has made 42 starts at third base this season and just one at second, the Red Sox didn’t want to move Caleb Durbin away from the hot corner, where he’s played Gold Glove-caliber defense all season.
That was fine with Mead, who made 35 career starts at second before Monday night.
“I think last year I played a lot more second than I did third, and early in the season in Washington I didn’t have regular playing time to start the year, and every day I'd take grounders – grounders at second and some at first,” Mead said. “So, you know, it's definitely a spot that I feel comfortable with. And yeah, just excited to kind of work at it and dial it in.”