Right-hander Tyler Thornburg has refused an optional to Triple-A Pawtucket with the Red Sox and is “trending toward being released” by the organization, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports (via Twitter). The Red Sox recalled Thornburg’s rehab assignment yesterday, triggering a 48-hour window to either bring him to the big leagues or option him to the minors. As a player with more than five years of MLB service, however, Thornburg has the right to reject a minor league assignment.
Thornburg, 30, has been on the shelf since late May due to a hip impingement. He’s pitched 18 2/3 innings out of the Boston ’pen this year, but despite picking up 22 strikeouts in that time, he’s scuffled to a 7.71 ERA thanks to the 10 walks and four homers he’s allowed.
Injuries have decimated Thornburg’s tenure with the Red Sox since Boston acquired him from the Brewers in the December 2016 trade that sent Travis Shaw to Milwaukee. At the time, Thornburg was coming off an excellent season, having given the Brewers 67 innings of 2.15 ERA ball with a gaudy 90-to-25 K/BB ratio. Controllable for another three seasons, Thornburg looked like a potential long-term late-inning option in the Boston relief corps.
Instead, he missed the entire 2017 season due to shoulder troubles that eventually culminated in surgery to alleviate the dreaded thoracic outlet syndrome. TOS surgery has proven considerably more problematic for pitchers than Tommy John surgery in recent years, and like many others before him, Thornburg has struggled in the wake of that procedure. He’s pitched just 42 2/3 innings with the Red Sox in total, working to a 6.54 ERA while yielding an average of 2.1 homers per nine innings pitched. Thornburg’s velocity actually bounced back a bit this season, albeit not quite to his pre-surgery levels (93.7 mph vs. 94.2 mph).
Assuming Thornburg does ultimately end up being cut loose, he’ll become a free agent who can sign with any club. Given the number of teams in search of bullpen help throughout the league, he should latch on elsewhere as he looks to reestablish himself as a viable bullpen piece.
Back to the Brewers
my thoughts as well
Its gonna cost them alot more than shaw. Jeffers and alberts plus a prospect. Red sox are all in. Brewers are likely to sell. They have fallen off the wagon
Crack is wack. Put down the pipe
Brewers are closer to first place in their division than Boston, which isn’t the only piece of nonsense you spouted that should be clarified for you.
Who are Jeffers and Alberts?
He’s being released. Why would anyone give up anything for him?
It is going to cost any team nothing, nada, zilch…He will be released and declared a free agent.
Why would any team trade for an injured DFA guy?!
Just wait for the Red Sox to release him and get him for nothing.
Shaw has been even worse this year, so at least they aren’t feeling it too bad.
Well the last two seasons Shaw has 30 and 32 homers. Fairly easy call on who won that
Yep it’s happened a couple times recently. No wonder the Red Sox are gun-shy picking up relievers. Look how many flop in Boston and elsewhere.
Unless he has a job waiting for him, why leave a team in need of a quality bullpen arm? Only a team in worse desperation will just give him a 25 man spot and who is in that category? Is he going to the Mets to try to re-set himself for the off season? That I could see given their need and the bigger ball park. A team in contention though like the Brewers I just don’t see it. I’ve been wrong before…
I thought so also but in retrospect , salary wise Thornburg was almost free (injury insurance) Shaw played well But it opened door for Devers. Sox won a WS with Devers. Although I thought it was a slamdunk for Brewers The sox saved money And no drop off at third and won the World Series. Might be close to a draw.
stupid move. he could have stayed in the fold with a good team that may needed him down the stretch.
Or he could end up on a better team
Or he could end up on the Orioles and never go to the minor leagues. All jokes aside playing in the majors beats the hell out of riding the bus from Pawtucket to Norfolk.
But he sucked at Pawtucket. No team is going to take a Gamble on him the way he’s performing there. Better to choose new surroundings just for the heck of it it’s not working here.
Agree. Shawaryn out pitched him at both levels and is capable of going multiple innings. Lakins also was better. Thornburg was a lost cause, about time he got flushed.
AJ Reed sucked in AAA for Houston, was released and is going to be on the major league roster for Chicago so you never know
He will sign a minor league deal… and still have to prove himself to be called up…
Bad teams dont add veterans this time of the year and good teams want good pitchers..
Thornburg is done. The RS were overly cautious with him.
I knew it was a dumb deal back then and hindsight proved it in spades.
Nationals
Bye Felicia … and your 7.71 ERA.
If the Red Sox think he can pitch at all they’ll call him up to the ML roster simply because they’re one of the most bullpen needy teams in the league. However having said that… at this point I’m not sure they think he cannot so they might wind up releasing him. Personally (as a Sox fan) I hope they give him one last shot. Not because I particularly like him or think he can do anything great but rather because… why not? There are a couple guys in the pen already who aren’t really that good so using a roster spot on him doesn’t seem to hurt anything and IF he can actually recover to look anything like the P he was in the past then they could certainly use all the help they can get.
Despite Shaw’s struggles this year, the Thonburg for Shaw+Dubon+2 inconsequential minor leaguers (one of whom retired I believe) is probably the best trade Stearns has ever made. Yes, even more so than Yelich, whom he had to pay dearly for. He absolutely fleeced the Sox for Thornburg.
If getting Travis Shaw is the “best trade you’ve ever made” you haven’t made a lot of good trades.
I’m a Red Sox fan and completely agree. He should have been ashamed for signing off on that paperwork lol
Since 2012, two years of more than 40 innings. Both of those years were excellent, but that’s not good odds.
Both sides would greatly benefit from moving on. Sox having some tough luck trading for bullpen arms.
Dubron was in that deal too, and he could eventually be very good……DD got fleeced, but as I always say, do a lot of things, some of them are bound to be wrong…..
He could hook on at Tampa or Arizona.
Don’t tell Dayton he might be available. He would be better off with a contender than just any team .
No ones going to give him a major league contract so why sign somewhere else knowing Boston’s bullpen struggles and fact he’ll likely get called up at some point.
About time
Although this trade sucked. I am glad it happened. It guaranteed that Devers would be called up, redsox knew they had a superstar in the minors. Imagine if they had kept shaw, and traded devers…yikes.