The Red Sox have officially activated right-hander Tyler Thornburg, marking his first appearance on the club’s active roster. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweeted last night that the move was set to be made and the club announced it this morning.
Now 29, Thornburg came over from the Brewers in a Winter Meetings swap in advance of the 2017 campaign. The package delivered third baseman Travis Shaw and prospects Mauricio Dubon, Josh Pennington and Yeison Coca to Milwaukee.
At the time, MLBTR contributor Burke Badenhop — who had once been traded between these same teams — interviewed Thornburg to discuss the move and give him a taste of what to expect. Unfortunately, the anticipated appearances at Fenway Park never took place in the season that followed.
Thornburg came down with somewhat mysterious shoulder troubles during the offseason and ultimately underwent a procedure to address thoracic outlet syndrome in July of 2017. He has been working back ever since.
Despite the uncertainty, the Red Sox staked an additional bet on Thornburg over the winter by tendering him arbitration. He’s earning $2.05MM, a repeat of his 2017 salary, and can be controlled for one more campaign through the arb process.
Thornburg’s first appearances with the Boston organization came on his just-completed rehab assignment. In 16 1/3 total upper-minors innings this year, he owns a 4.96 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. As those numbers might hint, reports on Thornburg have wavered a bit, suggesting he may still be settling in after a long layoff.
It’s hard to know what to expect at this point, certainly, but Thornburg was quite impressive in his most recent MLB season — a breakout 2016 effort. Sitting at 94 and getting whiffs on about a dozen out of every hundred pitches, he turned in 67 frames of 2.15 ERA ball with 12.1 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 along with a 32.4 percent ground-ball rate.
Now, Thornburg will be trying to reestablish himself at the game’s highest level. The Red Sox, meanwhile, will be watching closely to see if he’s capable of fulfilling an important role down the stretch, perhaps reducing the need for any outside additions to the team’s array of right-handed setup options.
45 HRs and 149 RBIs for Shaw in his season and a half in Milwaukee. Thornburg better pitch out of his mind for Boston.
We could use him. Could be a big asset down the stretch…
I thought he died………
Right now this trade is awful for the Sox. Maybe two or three years from now it will look different.
Bottom line? It was a great trade for Travis!
Time can only make this deal look worse. It might be one of the worst trades the Red Sox have ever made. He only has 1 year left on his contract! The brewers have a combined 25+ years of team control on the 4 players they got, 1 of which immediately slotted in as their 30/100 every day 3B! What the hell dumbo!
Before his ACL tear, Dubon was killing it too. With so many questions about Pedroia, Dubon could have been the second baseman of the future in Boston.
I wish Tyler luck. He has gone through a long and hard road to get to this point. Hopefully he can reestablish himself on the MLB level.
I have to give the Brewer scouts & GM credit; Shaw was the centerpiece however Dubon should not have been a throw in. Shaw for Thornburg should have been more than sufficient.
Good luck to Thorny. In a way, I’m just hoping I don’t see a story in the near future with a headline that reads: “thornburg’s career over. Doctors warn throwing one more pitch will all but detach his arm from his shoulder.”