Red Sox keep digging deeper into SS depth chart. How did they get to this point?

The typo was perfect.

When the Red Sox announced their starting lineup on Twitter Thursday, the team accidentally listed two different players at shortstop, a simple mistake easily mocked as a bold new strategy to get some actual production at the position. LOL!

In reality, the revolving door at shortstop has been anything but funny for the Red Sox. The actual starting shortstop on Thursday was David Hamilton, a 25-year-old Triple-A call-up making his first big-league start at any position. He was the sixth different Red Sox starter at shortstop this season, five of whom have played fewer than two weeks’ worth of games at the position.

And none of whom are named Xander Bogaerts.

The Red Sox are not alone in getting underwhelming production at shortstop this season. Even teams with huge names at the position have been disappointed. But the Red Sox have had more trouble than most, and that letdown has happened within the context of Bogaerts’ free-agent departure, Trevor Story’s offseason elbow surgery, and Kiké Hernández’s error-filled struggle to become an everyday shortstop at 31 years old.

Most recently, the team has been using minor-league journeyman Pablo Reyes as its primary shortstop, even though manager Alex Cora acknowledged it was a less-than-ideal solution.

“I don’t see Pablo as an everyday player,” Cora said last week when he announced that Hernández would no longer play shortstop every day. “That’s how we see it, but we’ll find a way to take the load off of Kiké, and we’ll play with the guys that we have.”

But how are these the guys the Red Sox have? After nine years of Bogaerts, how did the Red Sox get to this point at arguably the highest-profile position on the field? How much of the underwhelming production is missed opportunity and lack of preparation, and how much is plain bad luck?

Injuries and contingencies

For months, the Red Sox told anyone who would listen that they wanted to re-sign Bogaerts this offseason, but after a botched attempt to sign him to an extension last spring, the Red Sox weren’t willing to match San Diego’s 11-year, $280-million offer this winter, and Bogaerts was gone.

Within weeks, the team’s primary backup plan, Story, discovered his elbow required surgery that would keep him out of the lineup for at least half of the season. It was mid-January, and already Red Sox were down to Plan C. Carlos Correa was the only slam dunk free-agent shortstop still on the market — Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson had already signed — and Correa’s bizarre free-agent odyssey soon ended with him back in Minnesota.

The Red Sox settled on this solution: Hernández became the starting shortstop, while the team traded for Adalberto Mondesi as a risk-reward possibility, Yu Chang was signed to serve as the immediate backup, Hamilton was on the 40-man roster as ready depth in Triple A, and even Bobby Dalbec began getting some shortstop reps as a just-in-case option. A series of injuries led the Red Sox to make a tiny cash trade for Reyes in the middle of May.

Very little about that plan — or, plans — has gone as hoped. Hernández has been a below-average hitter while leading the majors in errors, an extreme worst-case scenario even for those who doubted Hernández as an everyday shortstop. His overwhelming throwing issues would have been hard to predict. Mondesi seemed to make good progress from knee surgery in spring training, only to have his rehab completely stall in early April, continuing his career-long struggle to stay on the field. Chang was a defensive standout for about two weeks as the team’s regular shortstop in April, but he broke his hamate bone April 24 and every attempt to start a rehab assignment has been shut down because of lingering discomfort. Hamilton has been terrific in Triple A and Reyes has been solid, but those two were supposed to be fifth or sixth on the depth chart. Story is progressing in his rehab but remains several weeks away from being ready to take over the position, and it’s still unclear how well his arm will hold up.

Missed opportunities

Baseball-Reference has the Red Sox with a 0.0 WAR at shortstop this season and lists them as one of 12 teams generating negative Wins Above Average at the position. Notable among the others are the Twins (Correa), Phillies (Turner), and Tigers (Javier Báez) who made significant free-agent investments at shortstop in recent years. Ditto the Pirates (Oneil Cruz) and Dodgers (Gavin Lux) who were undone by injuries to young players, and the White Sox (Tim Anderson) and Guardians (Amed Rosario) whose returning everyday players have declined sharply from last season. The White Sox, Guardians and A’s are the only teams with a negative bWAR at shortstop this season. The FanGraphs version of WAR has the Red Sox joining that group in the negative.

Point is, the Red Sox have not been alone in getting underwhelming production at shortstop, but they’ve gotten less than most, and it seems fair to wonder whether they could have done more to address it.

The shortstop free-agent market was potent but top-heavy. Beyond the big four of Bogaerts, Correa, Turner and Swanson were Elvis Andrus and José Iglesias, neither of whom has been meaningfully better than what the Red Sox have gotten this season. Andrus has a 55 wRC+ with the White Sox, and by that measure, he’s been the second-worst offensive player among the 203 with at least 200 at-bats (only Jean Segura — another middle-infield free-agent option — has been worse). Iglesias, who hit .292 in Colorado last season, signed a pair of minor-league deals with the Marlins and Padres and was released by each team without getting an at-bat in the big leagues. He’s currently a free agent.

Even the Big Four have been split. Swanson (109 wRC+, 10 DRS) and Bogaerts (106 wRC+, -1 DRS) have remained two of the best all-around shortstops in the game, while Turner (80 wRC+, -2 DRS) and Correa (94 wRC+, 1 DRS) have been more middle-of-the-pack.

The Red Sox did have extensive offseason trade talks with the Marlins about both Miguel Rojas and Joey Wendle. Rojas ultimately was traded to Los Angeles where he’s struggled mightily (-0.5 fWAR). Wendle has been solid but missed more than a month with an intercostal strain. Among other speculated offseason trade targets: Rosario has struggled in Cleveland, Nick Ahmed has been right at replacement level in Arizona, Paul DeJong has had an offensive resurgence in St. Louis (though his bat has slowed considerably after a tremendous first few weeks), and Kyle Farmer has been a solid utility man in Minnesota (league-average bat while playing solid defense at second, third and shortstop).

Missed opportunities? Sure. Maybe. But in extremely limited duty, both Reyes (0.2) and Chang (also 0.2) have an fWAR nearly identical to Wendle (0.3) and Ahmed (also 0.3) and better than Rosario, Andrus and Rojas (all 0.0 or worse).

Player development gap

The Red Sox have used each of their past two first-round draft picks on high school shortstops, and one of them — Marcelo Mayer — is among the top shortstop prospects in all of baseball. At 20 years old, Mayer is already in Double A but hitting just .157 at that level. He may very well be the Red Sox’s future at shortstop, but he’s not ready yet, and the organization has a bit of a development gap at the position.

If Jeter Downs, the top prospect acquired in the Mookie Betts trade, had come anywhere close to his projected upside, he might have given the Red Sox a ready high-end prospect at the position, but Downs struggled in the upper levels and was designated for assignment this winter. He hasn’t hit in the Nationals system, either. Ceddanne Rafaela, one of the Red Sox’s remaining top prospects capable of elite defense at either shortstop or center field, is with Mayer in Double A and still developing offensively.

Hamilton, though, has made himself an interesting possibility.

Despite public reports saying he’s stretched defensively at shortstop, the Red Sox are said to believe Hamilton can be a solid defender at the position. His speed is elite and became more valuable with the recent rule changes limiting pickoffs and shortening the distance between the bases. Hamilton’s bat may determine whether he’s ultimately a utility man or big-league starter, but he had an .825 OPS in Triple A this season, maintaining some of the offensive adjustments that made the Red Sox optimistic about him this offseason. The shifting ban might also help Hamilton at the plate. In his debut Thursday, he had one of the three Boston hits as the Red Sox were dominated by Twins starter Joe Ryan, who pitched a shutout in a 6-0 Minnesota victory. Hamilton played an error-free game in the field.

One player’s injury or disappointment is another player’s open door and opportunity, and that might be the nicest way to think of the Red Sox’s shortstop situation this season. It’s certainly offered a whole lot of opportunity.

(Top photo of Hamilton: Nick Wosika / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)