ARLINGTON, Texas — After six seasons in the minors, amassing almost 2,000 plate appearances over nearly 500 games, Nick Sogard got his shot at the majors.
In the fourth inning Friday night at Globe Life Field, the Boston Red Sox had a 4-3 lead over the Texas Rangers when Sogard, in his first major-league game, came to the plate with two on and one out.
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The switch hitter slapped a 2-1 slider to right field for his first big-league hit, driving in two runs and giving the Red Sox a more comfortable 6-3 lead en route to an 11-6 win.
“It definitely was a nice weight off the shoulders,” Sogard said after the game. “And to drive in a few runs and feel like I helped the team win today was a good feeling.”
Nick Sogard's first Major League knock is a BIG ONE. pic.twitter.com/q1gkasn5PC
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Despite the family pedigree, it hasn’t been the easiest path to the majors for Sogard. The 26-year-old is the nephew of former big leaguers Steve Sax and Dave Sax (who played for the Red Sox from 1985-87), and he’s the cousin of former big-league infielder Eric Sogard. It’s been a winding path from being selected in the 12th round in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays to missing the 2020 season during the minor-league shutdown to a trade the following year.
“For me, this wasn’t necessarily a linear road,” Sogard said before the game. “I couldn’t tell you when I got drafted that I was confident this day would come. There was plenty of time throughout my minor-league career where I was sure this day was going to happen. This year, I felt confident this day would come, so I trusted the process. But there were a lot of times during my career I wasn’t sure.”
Sogard arrived in the Red Sox organization in 2021 as part of a four-player trade with the Rays. The Red Sox sent pitchers Jeffrey Springs and Chris Mazza to the Rays in exchange for catcher Ronaldo Hernández and Sogard. Hernández never stuck with the Red Sox, but Springs went on to pitch well for the Rays, earning a four-year, $31 million extension last season before his year ended in Tommy John surgery.
Meanwhile, Sogard toiled away in the minors.
This past offseason, the Red Sox challenged Sogard to add weight and work on his bat speed.
“Our player development staff does a really good job of breaking down what you do well and areas to improve,” he said.
“I was kind of hitting the ball a little harder so I was trying to gain a lot of strength,” he said. “I’ve been working on bat speed, creating a better bat path from the left side. Those working points have helped and allowed me to have a little bit better year this year, and there’s still more to come with that so keep building.”
In 89 games for Triple-A Worcester this year — where he continued working with longtime Triple-A hitting coach Rich Gedman, his uncle Dave’s teammate in Boston from 1985-87 — Sogard hit .279 with an .821 OPS, 17 doubles and 12 homers while stealing 10 bases.
In the weight room, he added strength to his 6-foot frame. He began the offseason around 183 pounds and entered spring training at 196 pounds, the heaviest he’s ever been, he said.
Still, other players around him like David Hamilton, Romy Gonzalez and Jamie Westbrook were getting promotions to Boston, but he kept his head down and kept working.
On Wednesday, one day after the MLB trade deadline, Triple-A manager Chad Tracy called Sogard to the field early. Sogard tried not to get his hopes up.
“Right as I was about to walk in the door, David Hamilton texted me just a heart (emoji),” Sogard said. “I hadn’t texted him recently so I kind of had a little bit of a hunch what was going on. It was a really cool moment for sure.”
Sogard immediately made the hour-long drive from Worcester to Boston and arrived a few hours before game time but didn’t play Wednesday. He sat in the dugout and soaked in the big-league experience, including a walk-off win in extra innings where he rushed the field with the team.
On Friday, with 16 family members in the stands, Sogard made his long-awaited big-league debut. He went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts, driving in two runs at a crucial point in the game as starter Kutter Crawford continued to struggle with home runs. The four homers Crawford allowed Friday increased his total to 12 home runs allowed over his last three starts. No pitcher in the modern era had allowed that many homers in a three-start stretch. And yet, Crawford still picked up the win thanks to another big performance from the Red Sox offense and that fourth-inning hit from Sogard that kept their rally alive.
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“It’s awesome,” manager Alex Cora said. “Like I said before the game, I think he checked all the boxes throughout player development. We asked him to do a lot of things, physically, nutrition-wise, bat speed program, he played winter ball, and he had a great spring. And he was very patient. He did an outstanding job in Worcester and he’s gonna help us.”
(Photo: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)
Jen McCaffrey is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining The Athletic, the Syracuse graduate spent four years as a Red Sox reporter for MassLive.com and three years as a sports reporter for the Cape Cod Times. Follow Jen on Twitter @jcmccaffrey
