The Red Sox have signed veteran right-hander Blaine Boyer to a minor league deal, as per the official Twitter feed of the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. Boyer is represented by Moye Sports Associates.
Should Boyer make it to Boston’s MLB roster, the Red Sox will be the eighth team Boyer has suited up with, and 2017 will mark his 11th season as a big leaguer. The 35-year-old signed a minors deal with the Braves earlier this winter but was released during Spring Training.
Boyer posted a 3.95 ERA, 3.5 K/9 and 1.53 K/BB rate over 66 innings out of the Brewers bullpen last season. The soft-contact and ground-ball specialist (Boyer has a 51.9% career grounder rate) has long been able to generate good results despite a lack of strikeouts, as Travis Sawchik observed in a piece for Fangraphs last January. Since making a comeback to the majors three years ago, Boyer has a 3.31 ERA over 171 1/3 innings for the Brewers, Twins and Padres, despite only amassing 88 strikeouts in that stretch.
A grounder-heavy arsenal would seem like a good fit at Fenway Park, and Boyer gives the Sox some extra relief depth. The Red Sox have three notable relievers (Tyler Thornburg, Roenis Elias and Carson Smith) on the disabled list.
Man, 3.5 K/9 and 1.53 K/BB are some 1920s numbers.
Right?!
“Blaine? His name is Blaine? That’s not a name it’s a major appliance”. – Ducky Boy from Pretty in Pink.
Trader Dave, “I love this guy. I always love guys from other teams. I may release a few top prospects out of the blissful excitement of this signing. It may he time to trade Millie Betts and whatever the Kid’s name is in left. It’s only worth memorizing the name when it’s part of me bragging about my trades.”