On one of the most chaotic days in recent Red Sox memory, two young ballplayers walked into Fenway Park and realized their lifelong dreams.
Chase Shugart got the news he was being called up Sunday night while the Worcester Red Sox were on their way back from last week’s road trip to Syracuse. The whole club had crammed onto a single bus after one of the two broke down, but that allowed everyone to celebrate together when manager Chad Tracy came on the intercom to announce his promotion.
“I start tearing up, crying, thinking about everything that it took to get here,” Shugart said.
Mickey Gasper didn’t find out he was Boston-bound until the following afternoon. He got a call at 2 p.m., grabbed his best suit jacket and hustled down the Mass Pike as fast as he could.
“I got a hard time for how long my sleeves were, I hadn’t had a chance to get my jacket tailored yet,” Gasper said. “It’s like in ‘The Rookie’ with Dennis Quaid, I thought there was a dress code in the big leagues, so I was like I’m going to wear a jacket and looked the part today.”
Gasper and Shugart were among the wave of reinforcements brought in by the Red Sox after a tumultuous weekend, which featured James Paxton’s potentially season-ending injury, two unplanned bullpen days and the controversy brought on by Jarren Duran’s homophobic remark.
It’s unclear how long the two will be up, but for now the Red Sox are counting on them to help keep the ship afloat.
Gasper, a 28-year-old catcher and infielder, was poached from the New York Yankees in the Rule 5 Draft this past winter and has quickly proven himself a steal. After not receiving an invite to big league spring training, he quickly earned a promotion to Triple-A and since then has batted .402 with a .515 on-base percentage and a 1.179 OPS in 40 games with the WooSox.
“Mickey, he earned it,” manager Alex Cora said. “The at bats, from everything I hear, have been amazing. Not too much swing and miss. He’s versatile, he can catch, he can play second, he can play first, just one of those with where we’re at it made sense to get him here.”
A Bryant University star who originally hails from Merrimack, N.H., Gasper grew up a Red Sox fan but had never gotten to take the field at Fenway Park until Monday. He said getting taken in the Rule 5 Draft was a welcome change after he spent five years grinding in the Yankees system, and he’s grateful to play for an organization that values what he brings to the table.
Shugart, meanwhile, has been working his way up through the Red Sox system since 2018. The 27-year-old right-hander has made considerable strides this season, dramatically increasing his strikeout rate (26.5% from 17.8% in 2023) while cutting down heavily on hits and walks allowed.
Cora said Shugart also provides versatility. He could either pitch four or five innings at a time, or he could come on with the bases loaded, two outs and a right-hander at the plate and get him out.
Besides realizing his big league dream, the promotion offered Shugart an opportunity to reunite with several old friends. He and fellow recent call-up Nick Sogard had been roommates for almost two years during their days in Worcester, and prior to that Shugart played at the University of Texas with infielder David Hamilton.
“I was called up to Triple-A for the first time and Shug was one of the only guys on the team I’d known from Double-A,” Sogard said. “We kind of knew each other so we became roommates and we’ve grown really close.”
“That’s my dog,” Hamilton said. “I’m glad he’s here.”
With the call-ups coming on such short notice Gasper and Shugart may not have as many friends or family in attendance as they might have otherwise, but even if Monday was a difficult day for the organization as a whole, it’s a day they will each cherish for the rest of their lives.
“I was texting my girlfriend earlier and I’m like it still doesn’t feel real that I’m going to Fenway to get ready for a game,” Shugart said. “It’s a lot of innings played and a lot of hard work going into it.”
