The Red Sox announced they’ve selected right-hander John Schreiber and infielder Jack López to the big league roster. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, has been placed on the injured list. Infielder Yairo Muñoz has also landed on the COVID IL after testing positive today, bringing Boston up to seven positive tests. Additionally, reliever Ryan Brasier has been activated from the 60-day IL to make his season debut, while utilityman Danny Santana is back from the 10-day IL.
It’s the continuation of a virus-forced roster churn for the Red Sox. Schreiber will step into the big league bullpen for the first time this season after being outrighted off the 40-man roster during Spring Training. The 27-year-old has 28 2/3 innings of MLB experience, all coming between 2019-20 with the Tigers. Schreiber managed above-average strikeout and walk rates in that brief look, but he was tagged for a few too many home runs en route to a 6.28 ERA.
After clearing waivers, Schreiber was assigned to Triple-A Worcester. While Schreiber has had trouble keeping the ball in the yard in the majors, that hasn’t been the case at the minors’ top level, where he’s served up just three homers all year. He’s posted a 3.10 ERA with Worcester, showing the ability to work multiple innings when necessary.
López is up for his first big league opportunity. A longtime Royals farmhand, the versatile infielder also saw some time in the Braves’ organization but has spent this season in the Boston system. He’s spent the bulk of the season with Worcester, hitting .260/.321/.378 over 218 plate appearances. López is getting the start tonight at second base, where he’ll likely team with Santana and Jonathan Araúz to cover the middle infield with Bogaerts and Muñoz unavailable.
Brasier has been a reliable member of the Red Sox relief corps over the past couple seasons. He’s been held back by injury for the entire year. After suffering a calf strain early in the season, Brasier was struck in the head by a comebacker in June during his rehab. He has worked his way back to full strength and could be a key high-leverage option right away for the Red Sox with Matt Barnes, Hirokazu Sawamura and Josh Taylor all unavailable for virus-related reasons.
good for Lopez
Only reason he’s on the team because 15 players have COVID-19
An opportunity is an opportunity. Let’s see if he makes it happen. Pulling for him.
No, ya think..
Rick Burleson is on standby.
Rico Petrocelli can still play SS!!! Did you know that Rico played 3B for 9 seasons and his worst fielding year he had 13 errors!! Devers has that by June 1 usually!!!!
Amazing how Rico was so underrated. No, he was far from a HOFer, but did his job EVERY day, and was the glue that held that IF together. Look in the dictionary under “dependable every day contributor”, and you’ll se his picture.
It kills me how we’ve fallen in love with numbers, both the old ones and the new metrics. I remember a few years ago when I said that Andrew Benetendis’s ceiling ( his CEILING, his top shelf, not what I’d thought he’d be) was Nick Markakis, Red Sox fans screamed at me, as if Markakis was some kind of ham and egger, not realizing what a REALLY good player Markakis was.
Obviously, Andrew never made that ceiling; barely makes his floor. But the point being is that we so under-value the steady, dependable guys that you just run out every day there and never worry about them.
I’m speechless
How long before Red Sox management says “if it weren’t for all of the Covid positive tests, we really had a shot at a championship season?” This tram has sucked and played heartless baseball since the All Star break.
It is not a tram, but a team.
And yes their performance has not been up to the standards they set before the break. But. All the injuries and Covid related cases do have an important impcat on the teams peformance.
Complaining about tram, while ignoring the impcat on their peformance??
Cehck yorself
Nobody on the Sox says that, and neither do fans here. Everything is face value and under. Emphasis on the under with some of these guys. Stick around you’ll see it.
It’s kind of funny that the only people bringing up Covid as an excuse, are the people that already hate the RS. Everyone has gotten hit by Covid and injuries. If we don’t survive, it is because we are not as deep, and we knew that going in.
TBF the dodgers haven’t placed impact guys on the covid IL, some luck I assume?
A big reason why the Sox had the best record in the AL near the end of July was they had gone all season with virtually no key players on the IL, while their divisional opponents dealt with several. Obviously luck ran out for the Sox recently. I agree depth has been shockingly bad, but poor managerial decisions have certainly contributed. Like saving Ottavino Sunday with a late lead. Every game is important, planning to have save situations on future games is beyond foolish. I’d write a lot more if I wasn’t using my phone.
Sale is pitching tonight so Cora has already found a way to make it harder for him. First, he has 2 hot hitters in Schwarber and JD and Renfroe returned and was hot so naturally he changed the batting order from Schwarber Renfroe JD to Schwarber Renfroe Devers (who is cold) then JD. Thus eliminating the chemistry of three hot hitters together which has recently accounted for their runs. Unfortunately, Cora is so damn stupid he doesn’t even realize where they are scoring runs so he changed it up because they lost. What a moron.
No playoffs due to Bloom not doing his job and Cora being so incredibly bad at his job!!!
They’re winning for the first time in the series. So there’s that.
Go root for the yankees. They’ve spent 3 freaking billion dollars to win 1 stinking championship. There’s a success story if there ever was one. Cash man and Doctor Boone Doggle are baseball geniuses. Sure they are, so much better than the Red Sox measly four championships. The yankees have their biggest winning streak in 60 years and they’re a whopping two games ahead of the Red Sox. Wow, they are magnificent. Holy cow.
whyhayzee – I’ve hated the Yankees since 1960 and I’ve documented many times how they have turned baseball into a monopoly from 1920 to 1962 and if it wasn’t for the ineptness of guys like Cashman baseball would still be a monopoly. Now, with LAD spending like the Yankees baseball might turn into an oligopoly rather than a monopoly. Either way competitive balance doesn’t exist. But that doesn’t make Bloom or Cora any better at their jobs. There is no excuse for hiring these guys and there is no excuse for waiting so long to fire these guys.
I want Sale and the team to succeed but Bloom killed the talent level and Cora ensures wins are not maximized. They need to fix three issues. 1=Bloom needs to go, 2-Cora needs to go, and 3-Ownership needs to re-invest their profits in the future of the club and winning rings like they did for the first 20 years. 3 minor fixes and rings will be back in their future.
Well, I don’t think Cora and Bloom are the problem at all. They’re not the best in the business but they are fine for the Red Sox right now. And even the best in the business make many a blunder along the way to success. The problem is simply that they’re not as good as the Rays, White Sox, Astros and maybe not even going to make the Wild Card. They’re still in building mode and I want to see next years’ team before I pass judgement.
Whyhayzee – For me building mode suggests additions. What Schwarber? A DH who needs to play LF because the Red Sox already have 2 other DHs. I don’t see the rebuild I just hear fans wishing it was happening. That’s why I complain all the time. I want to see action.
Losing Mookie destroyed the talent level along with Price. Yes, they were expensive but ownership makes so much fricking money that should never be an issue. Lower talent means non competitive finishes.
Next year the excellent hitters from the 2018 team will bounce and regress to the mean with their hitting. That will impact runs scored and without an injection of highly talented players they will be worse in 2022 even with Sale pitching the whole year. The offense will drop off and the pitching staff will be Sale, Eovaldi and Houck and pray for rain.
Mookie was gone. This is the team that botched Fisk. Holy mackerel what a disaster. Stan Papi. The ineptitude of this organization over the years makes me appreciate what’s there now. I think Dalbec will get better. Same with Duran. And there’s Casas in the pipeline. The offense could be ok.
What exactly could Bloom do to you make you happy in the time he’s been here? Specifically, not just crying about Mookie without listing contract details and an alternative for how to add to the farm or whining about rehiring Cora without what he does wrong and who to replace him that would perform better.
People love denial. Mookie left (or was going to leave) because he didn’t want to play in Boston, later “hinting” it was racist. Jon Lester wanted out so bad he sold his house, but everyone blamed management. If a player is that dead-set on leaving, trade him. Frankly, I’d have traded Betts a year earlier since it became obvious to a 6-year old he wanted out.
Holy cow, if Dalbec gets any better, he will be the MVP.
My god you’re a dope. You would have pulled Duran in the 9th for a pinch hitter. Cora went with him and we won.
Cora also went with Ottavino instead of Barnes, in the single biggest inning of the season.
That they are even in the conversation is a testament to Bloom. The farm system is exponentially better. They are ahead of projections, but carry on.
The calculus is fairly straightforward to me. Anyone thinking that we’d be on pace for 91 wins and a top-10 farm, raise your hand. The ifs, the buts, and all the complaints can be addressed in a separate discussion.
For for right now, is there a single person, out of the 333M in this country, that thought we’d be heading for 91 wins AND a top-10 system?
A big reason why the Sox had the best record in the AL near the end of July was they had gone all season with virtually no key players on the IL, while their divisional opponents dealt with several. Obviously luck ran out for the Sox recently. I agree depth has been shockingly bad, but poor managerial decisions have certainly contributed. Like saving Ottavino Sunday with a late lead. Every game is important, planning to have save situations on future games is beyond foolish. I’d write a lot more if I wasn’t using my phone.
It was our health and our schedule. Most people don’t realize how brutal our schedule has been since the AS game. 29 of the 44 games were against the NYY, TBR and BJs. We only had 9 games against weak competition, and won 7. But a lot of folks don’t know how much your competition has to do with your record.