The Red Sox announced a slate of roster moves this morning, recalling left-hander Brandon Walter and selecting the contract of catcher Caleb Hamilton from Triple-A Worcester. In corresponding 26-man roster moves, Boston placed outfielder Alex Verdugo on the bereavement list and placed catcher Reese McGuire on the 10-day injured list due to a strained oblique. Additionally, infielder Yu Chang was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot for Hamilton on the 40-man roster.
The looming promotions of Walter and Hamilton were both reported last night, though the corresponding moves needed to get that pair on the roster weren’t clear until this morning. It’ll be the MLB debut for the 26-year-old Walter, who posted a 2.88 ERA with a ludicrous 68-to-3 K/BB ratio in 50 Double-A innings last year but has struggled so far in Triple-A — both in a late promotion there in ’22 and in a full season so far in ’23. Through his first 69 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, Walter carries a 6.49 ERA, although a .362 average on balls in play hasn’t helped his cause.
Hamilton, meanwhile, will be on the roster and possibly suit up against the team for which he made his MLB debut last year, when the Red Sox wrap up their series against the Twins in Minneapolis. The 28-year-old went just 1-for-18 in his debut season with Minnesota, though that one hit was a big fly. Hamilton also drew four walks and scored each time, giving him the rare distinction of having come around to score every time he’s reached base in the Majors. He’s hitting .180/.285/.310 through 116 plate appearances in Worcester this season.
The Red Sox haven’t yet revealed how long McGuire will be sidelined, though oblique strains tend to require absences greater than the 10-day minimum and can often last upwards of a month. The 28-year-old McGuire, acquired from the White Sox last year, earned a look at a prominent role in Boston when he hit .337/.377/.500 down the stretch following a trade. He’s fallen well short of that in 2023, however, batting .267/.313/.352 (80 wRC+) and throwing out just two of the 26 runners who’ve attempted to steal against him. Connor Wong will take on an even larger role in McGuire’s absence.
As for Chang, his transfer to the 60-day IL is a procedural move that doesn’t impact his eligibility to return to the club. The “60-day” minimum stay on that list is retroactive to his original placement on the IL, which happened back on April 25. He originally went out on a minor league rehab assignment earlier this month, but that was paused due to continued discomfort in his surgically repaired hand. He’ll likely need another rehab stint before he can return anyhow, and since he’s already spent 58 days on the injured list anyway, the move to the 60-day IL amounts to little more than a formality.
Replacing one Titanic deck chair for another as the scramble for adequate deck chairs resumes as the iceberg beladen SS Boston Red Sock sinks to its icy sea grave at the bottom of the American League East.
Ignorant – It’s true, the lack of depth is squarely on Bloom. He came into this season thinking Mondesi will be healthy, yet here it is the last week of June and he isn’t even involved in any baseball activities. Bloom overestimated Kike’s “versatility” and he also thought he could get by with just two catchers on the 40-man. The list goes on and on.
Yanks and Jays are under-performing because of injury, that won’t last much longer.
Good thing MLB expanded the postseason, eh?
Fever, this lack of depth issue is a theme I have seen on a few Wild Card contenders…Blue Jays had nobody when Manoah went haywire; they are incredibly lucky not to have any injuries to their starting rotation. Yankees had nobody for Leftfield or who would pick up the offensive slack for the inevitable Judge/Stanton absences. We could all see the flaws inherent in the construction of the Red Sox roster, especially at SS, OF, and C.
Let’s bestow the First Wild Card to Baltimore. That leaves two spots for six teams? Roughly speaking: Angels, Astros, Mariners, Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays. None of them are making convincing cases TO ME, AT THIS POINT IN TIME of unequivocally deserving a spot when all is said and done. Trade deadline will be key. Should be interesting my friend.
Ignorant – I can’t fault the Jays for banking on Manoah, I don’t think anyone on this planet thought that meltdown could possibly happen.
Regardless, the Jays starting rotation has been fantastic! They haven’t missed a start either.
Gausman, Berrios, Bassitt, Kikuchi … yes please.
I agree on the trade deadline. And I think because there will be more buyers than sellers, the pricetags will be quite high.
None of them are making convincing cases
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These things change every week. Right now, we are 1.5 back of TO, 2 back of Houston, and 2.5 back of the NYY. And over the past ten days, we have a better record than all 3.
Past that, the trade deadline is an eternity away. This team started the year with a lot of variability, and continues to show a lot of variance. In another month, we’ll know how far out we are, and should have more insight into the Sale, Story, and Houck injuries.
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Yanks and Jays are under-performing because of injury
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Have the Jays actually had an injury to their rotation, position players, or closer? A quick review and it looks like they are the healthiest team that ever played.
Joe – Certainly you’ve heard of Ryu, who finished Top 3 in Cy voting twice during the past 4 years?
All-Star Kirk?
Former Yankee great Green?
Those are just the ones that are currently on the IL.
Their #6 SP is on the IL, their catcher has missed 3 games, and an RP that was scheduled to miss all of 2023 with TJS is the reason for their record?
In terms of the average MLB team, that is about as healthy a team as I have ever seen.
EVERYONE in baseball has more injuries.
Joe – Belt, Espinal, Cimber, White, Jansen and Pop are some others.
Calling Ryu a #6 starter is just silly.
Both Green and Ryu were expected to return this season.
Look I’m not saying the Jays have been impacted the most by injuries this season, all I’m saying is they’ve been impacted. Many people picked them to win the division, I think even you would agree they’ve under-performed.
There rotation is Manoah, Gausman, Berrios, Bassitt & Kikuchi. Unless my math is failing, that adds up to 5, making Ryu #6. And Ryu’s ER last year was 5.67 and he is 36.
The fact that Green might or might not return in September has no bearing on his current impact.on their standings. That’s like saying we’d have been better this year had Mondesi not been injured. When you sign someone on the 60-day IL, you can’t complain that they are injured.
Espinal is a bench player who missed 10 days. Cimber has a 7.40 ERA. POP has a 6.59.
You’re talking about losing a couple of players, for a few days, that are bench players and back-of-the-BP types. That level of injury is not remotely close to the level of injuries suffered by other teams.
Joe – You crack me up, you really do. So you think any starting pitcher who goes on the IL automatically drops down to #6 or worse on the depth chart … too funny!
At this very moment Sale is the #1 starting pitcher based on the Depth Chart found at RedSox.com and Houck is the #2 starting pitcher. They are both currently on the IL, go figure.
mlb.com/redsox/roster/depth-chart
And think about it, if their IL status impacts their placement as you claim, then they should be completely removed from the depth chart since they are not currently available to pitch.
Make it simple-if you think he was going to be part of the rotation, whose place was he taking?
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This is where Jorge Alfaro only .130 for the Rockies makes this easier to swallow because had he stated at Worcester he would have gotten the call.
I’m interested to see how Brandon Walter does because AAA has not been kind so far and the numbers are pretty bad
Guy who’s era is almost 7 in triple A get called up?
Calling up a pitcher that has a 6+ ERA speaks volumes about the state of your minor league system. That is embarrassing!
It’s probably more about him already being on the 40-man roster and being able to go righty-lefty-righty in a BP game.
He pitched very well.
So I guess not so embarrassing.
It was okay. There is no way to tell if a guy can be a pro player without actually playing him against pros.
Simple question would you trade Bello and Mayer in a package for Ohtani ?
As a life long sox fan I would every time the team thinks they have the next best prospect that they deem untouchable that guys ends up blowing costing them major trades because the the players end up being garbage
With Ohtani you get Babe Ruth light I know he can’t play both positions forever but the dudes just nasty and would be worth every penny of his next contract for the Sox even if he’s washed after 3-4yrs into it
Because of the fan fair over seas
case – If you add Trout to the package, I’d do it.
The answer to your question is would the Angels even last 3 seconds without bursting out in laughter? Trades like if Ohtani is available usually means there’s a posturing of sorts where it’s made known he’s available to get the very best packages for him, so if he was available and you put your best package available would that move the needle? Mayer would be a good start but adding Bello? Doesn’t even come close.
It’s y I said package clearly they would need to add more what and who idk
But if I’m the Sox I also wouldn’t do the trade unless it’s comes with a extension
If the idea of the trade depends on signing him, then why make the trade at all? Just sign him when he becomes a FA.
Because they would not have to fight with anyone else kinda a boneheaded question you think
Joe – Case beat me to it.
Easier to sign a player with no competition. Remember the Mookie and Xander contracts?
They still have to pay the guy. So you can pay him and keep Mayer & Bello, or pay him and lose Mayer or Bello..
Not even remotely close. 6 years of Bello and 6 years of Mayer, for a half-season of Ohtani? There is no player in history I’d make that trade for.
Joe – I think the assumption is the trade wouldn’t be made unless Bloom was prepared to blow Ohtani away with a $500M+ extension offer. Sure there’s no guarantee he’d accept, hence the reason why I’d demand Trout too.
But keep in mind one other benefit of the trade … there would be a 50% less chance of the Sox losing their best hitter or best pitcher to injury.
Trout makes the trade even worse.. You’d be paying $87M to two players, and have already lost your two best prospects. Meaning you’d need to spend more money to replace those two prospects.
Two other things to note:
1-I don’t think Trout will be a value-added addition. He’s still an AS-level player, but hasn’t played a full season since 2016. He’s almost 32, and is signed thru age 38. Those contracts hardly ever play out well.
2-IRT Ohtani, it is worth mentioning that, since the end of April, Bello has out-pitched Ohtani by a not insignificant margin.
Today was good, they used no important pitchers and gave the new guy a nice long outing.
I am a little confused why they don’t just stretch out Pivetta again and make him number 5, but yes today could have been much worse,
hayzee – No losses are good, but some losses are tolerable and today was a good example of that. Sox wouldn’t have won no matter who pitched for them.
But yesterday’s loss, that one still stings … ridiculous way to end a winning streak.
FPG, they need to start winning those games. That’s the way they will escape the .500 tag. Not saying much, but they have the second best run differential in the division. They could easily have 5 more wins. This team is still a bit of a mystery to me. Bello and Paxton look pretty darn good right now, build on that.
Hayzee – I don’t see the mystery, they are a .500 team that will hang in the WC chase for another month or two. Only because of playoff expansion, basically every AL team is still in it except Oakland, Chicago, Tigers and KC.
“Meanwhile” belongs at the start of the sentence, not in the middle of it, set off by commas.