The Red Sox have gotten off to a horrid start, but they do have a couple of potentially helpful pitching reinforcements on the way. Manager Ron Roenicke announced Thursday that the Red Sox could activate left-hander Josh Taylor this weekend, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports. Another southpaw, Darwinzon Hernandez, is on a similar timeline. Neither reliever has pitched this year after testing positive for the coronavirus July 4.
Boston’s pitching staff entered Thursday’s action as one of the worst in the league, and that was before the Rays absolutely teed off on the Red Sox. Any help is welcome, then, and based on what they did last season, Taylor and Hernandez should be able to provide some.
The 27-year-old Taylor had an under-the-radar breakout campaign as a rookie in 2019, in which he logged a 3.04 ERA/3.11 FIP over 47 1/3 innings. Taylor also notched 11.79 K/9 and 3.04 BB/9.
Like Taylor, Hernandez debuted a season ago, tossing 30 1/3 frames. The former standout prospect only mustered a 4.45 ERA with an untenable walk rate of 7.71. At the same time, though, Hernandez averaged 95.5 mph on his fastball and struck out an incredible 16.91 hitters per nine. The 23-year-old ranked first in K/9 among all pitchers who amassed 30-plus innings in 2019.
At this point,Opie Taylor would be an improvement. Actually so would Aunt Bea.
Too little, too late, while doing nothing to help with the gaping holes in the starting rotation. Talk about a waste of a service year…
You left out Gomer
These are the reinforcements? Sox might as well tank for an early draft pick
As opposed to what they’ve been doing so far?
theyre still infinitely better then what they have been rolling out there
And so goes the Evolution of Darwin-zon.
There’s no mention of it here but I believe that hernandez is going to be given a shot to start when he’s eventually called up correct? He was a starter in the minors until last season… and if he can manage to keep his walks down… he has a chance to be an effective ML SP… he can’t be worse than the guys they’ve been throwing out there so far! Long term though the bullpen may still end up being the best spot for him… and a lefty that struck out 16+ batters per 9 is definitely a potential late inning weapon if he can keep his control in check.
It’s time to bring up the young SPs. I know I sound like a broken record but this current staff is unwatchable. Bring up Houck and Mata now, letting them know this is just to get them a taste of the majors so they can learn what they need to work on. There will be no pressure on them to win but if they pitch well, the Sox can feel better about next year’s staff. If they struggle, they can tailor a plan for them to work on in the minors. It makes no sense to keep running these retreads out there who are not part of the team’s future. The Red Sox are rarely in this position so now is the time to evaluate their kids. Same goes for Dalbec, Downs, Duran and possibly even Wong on the offensive side of the ball. Service time is a non-issue now and they have plenty of dead weight to cut if a 40 man roster move or two are needed to get these kids their debuts in the bigs.
The sox claim they view Hernandez as a starter long term and that’s what he openly wants. If it is true the sox view him as one, then they will put him in the rotation this year (assuming he is 100% or close to after recovering from covid)
One word, TANK
Did anyone really think this teams starting pitching could get any worse then last year? Bingo it did! And we are seeing lackluster performances constantly now. This team has been in free fall two years running with no end in sight. The fans need some positive play guys, and stop with the woos is me routine!
Get rid of Ron Roenicke too. Guy changes lineups way too much.