The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves this evening, headlined by the club placing outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day injured list due to a left leg infection. The move is retroactive to August 4. Replacing O’Neill on the active roster is infielder Enmanuel Valdez, who has been recalled to the big league roster, and the Red Sox also activated right-hander Chris Martin from the 15-day IL. Lefty Cam Booser was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Martin.
O’Neill, 29, was acquired from the Cardinals over the offseason and has enjoyed an excellent campaign during his first season in Boston. In 342 trips to the plate this season, the 29-year-old has slashed an excellent .268/.357/.544 (142 wRC+) with 16 doubles and 22 homers. While he’s striking out at a hefty 31.9% clip, he’s paired those strong power numbers with a solid 11.1% walk rate that has given him a more well-rounded profile than he flashed in his career-best 2021 campaign when he crushed 34 homers and posted a 143 wRC+ but walked at a clip of just 7.1%.
The slugger’s performance this year seems likely to line the pending free agent up for hefty raise in free agency this winter, although one red flag for O’Neill has been his frequent trips to the shelf. After suffering hamstring, back, foot, and shoulder injuries during his final two seasons with St. Louis, he’s now made three trips to the shelf with the Red Sox this year: once for a concussion in April, once due to knee inflammation in May, and now today’s most recent ailment that manager Alex Cora described to reporters (including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe) as a worsening infection on his left leg that has caused swelling.
The silver lining in O’Neill’s repeated trips to the IL this year is that they’ve all been fairly short-lived, and Cora indicated that this one should be more of the same as he’s likely to be activated once eligible to return next week. In the meantime, the Red Sox figure to turn to some combination of Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Rob Refsnyder in the outfield. With Rafaela frequenting the outfield in recent days, Valdez should help to shore up the club’s middle infield mix alongside David Hamilton, Nick Sogard, and Romy Gonzalez. The 25-year-old enjoyed a strong rookie season in 2023 but has taken a step back this year with a .226/.282/.402 slash line in 182 trips to the plate at the big league level.
As for Martin, the right-hander’s return to action is welcome news for a beleaguered Red Sox bullpen that has been second-worst in the majors since the start of July, ahead of only the White Sox. The 38-year-old veteran sports a solid 3.42 ERA with a matching 3.40 FIP in 26 1/3 innings of work this year and is coming off an even better season in 2023 where he dominated to the tune of an eye-popping 1.05 ERA in 55 appearances. Adding Martin to the late-inning mix to be the primary set-up man for closer Kenley Jansen should further shore up a bullpen that got reinforcements in the form of Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia prior to the trade deadline. He’ll take the roster spot of Booser, who heads to Triple-A to become the club’s top depth option with an excellent 2.77 ERA and 2.99 FIP in 39 innings of work this year.
While the bullpen will hopefully be revitalized by the return of Martin, Cora suggested to reporters today (including Abraham) that the Red Sox intend to skip right-hander Nick Pivetta’s next start. While the veteran righty doesn’t appear to be injured, Cora indicated that he’s “not responding well” coming out of his last start and that the club had some concerns about a dip in his velocity. With a day off scheduled tomorrow, the Red Sox will be able to utilize the rest of their rotation on regular rest without needing to call up another arm to take the spot on Pivetta. The righty has a middling 4.44 ERA through 18 starts this year thanks primarily due to a trio of brutal outings his last three times out that have seen him surrender 13 runs (12 earned) in 14 innings of work while serving up six home runs.
Tyler O’NeILl
Why option Booser? He’s been probably the best reliever since the break
Martin comes off the DL, need a roster spot and Booser pitched a bunch recently.
Not that I love it, Cam has been great, but it’s roster shuffling with guys who still have options.
Red – They have a long history of pulling this crap. Remember demoting Bernardino earlier this season in favor of Joely? Games were lost because of that decision.
Winning is never a priority with this front office.
Never got what teams saw in Joely Rodríguez.
Dark – They saw a lefty in him, if he was a righty he’d have retired 2 years earlier.
Would Boozer have given up the 2-run shot tonight? Probably not, but winning isn’t a priority obviously.
Booser is overrated no loss there
Bernardino should have gone down this time over Booser, no matter he finally put together a clean inning his last time out for 1st time in a month. Booser has been one of the most solid guys in a worn out pen all season and yet again? Loser move roster wise by this team, which has become normal all season ling and like u wrote Fever.. It’s cost them several games.
John – Totally agree! I’ve been a fan of Bernardino since Day One, but he needs to work on his game in AAA.
The key to winning is going with the hot hand.
Negative fans like you, who have no clue what they are talking about are the worst part about this sport. Root for another team and leave the Sox alone if you actually believe the crap you spew
Eric – We have no clue to whom you are responding because you didn’t mention anybody in particular or anything in particular.
So how about this, instead of you hurling blanket insults at everyone, how about you act like an adult and say what it is you specifically disagree with. Then we will reply …. it’s called a discussion. Think you can handle that?
If I’m not mistaken Bernardino has one option left. That’s probably why they made that decision
Booser just pitched 3 days in a row and 4 of the last 5. He could probably use a break.
Winning is a priority and they are winning.
All in – agree 100%. Booser has been excellent, and he can return immediately if the Red Sox (have an injury like Crawford – tired arm – 10 days off). Booser goes down for two or three days and returns immediately for the injured pitcher.
Booser’s K/W has weakened considerably in Jul/Aug (5/4 in 11 IPs). And he’s appeared in 10 of the RS last 16 games. That’s a lot of warming up and pitching, even if it just situational.
What kind of leg ink did you get, Tyler? – Aroldis Chapman
YBC – Could be from a needle, what kind of needle is the question. He claims to not have a clue how he got the infection.
Bodybuilders are 100% focused on their bodies, hard to believe he is clueless.
A buddy of mine owns a meathead gym. A roid/PED jab barely leaves a mark and fresh syringes/needles are dirt cheap. I’m not implying he is doing that. Infection isn’t from that for a young, healthy any-kind-of-athlete.
no but Fever pitch is implying that which his pretty gross but in line with his general worldview
YBC – Any type of injection can go wrong. I know someone on Wegovy who got an infection from it.
I am by no means saying he’s a juicer, but when someone that jacked grows up in an environment where his dad was Mr Canada with the help of PEDs it’s not far fetched for the apple to fall close to the tree. Remember ARod had a similar rash of injuries.
O’Neil can’t stay healthy for more than 2 weeks. He could have been a contender, but…..
He’s a strikeout machine, too. When he’s connecting for power he can be amazing but between the injuries and the high strikeout slumps, he’s one of the most frustrating players out there.
Pun – He’s basically Story, great hitter when he’s on a streak but horrible when he’s not.
He’s not Trevor Story, as far as a bat goes with strikeouts and power he’s a more athletic Kyle Schwarber but has more injury issues. Schwarber also gets a ton of walks because he sees the importance of getting deep into counts whether he strikes out or walks. If T.O. develops the same approach it’d be great for a lineup with Devers and Duran….
O’Neill’s injuries this season have been more freakish than chronic. Hard to fault a guy for a concussion. Same for a mysterious leg infection. The knee injury was concerning, but that’s been his only wear and tear injury so far this season. Pretty good for TON.
Exactly as far as I’m concerned he’s played well beyond expectations and they need to keep him. If there’s anyone in Boston I’m looking to move off of it’s Trevor Story. I make Rafaela the everyday short, keep my outfield Abreu, Duran, T.O and Refsynder will be my 4th. Maybe you can keep Story as DH if ya can move off of Yoshida. I think the injuries just prove Story isn’t built to field everyday even though his glove is pure.
QO?
That seems right to me. But I’m not sure he takes it.
Troll….I’m keeping Refsnyder because I know Abreu can’t hit lefties. If I’m trading an OF it would be Abreu not Refsnyder. He benefits from a platoon situation the most right now which is fine with me. Abreu hits righties at around a 300 clip and Refsnyder hits lefties at the same clip. Finding someone good against lefties is harder than finding someone who can hit righties. I am interested in how Anthony looks in ST, if he’s impressive maybe you can package Yoshida and Abreu for some starters that can pitch 6 whole innings. Cora drives me nuts pulling people in the 5th. I want dudes capable of throwing 180 innings and a manager that will let them.
Learn before speaking their 8-9 since asg about to be 8-10
you should take your own advice
12-18 on the road and 12-18 against teams > .500.
Time to move Pivetts back into the long relief role he occupied at the end of last year. I don’t know if the changed routine and workload made the difference, or whether it was grit and determination not to be demoted, but it seemed to rejuvenate his performance down the stretch.
Meanwhile, it seems like it’s time for Bello to develop a phantom calf strain and take a break. I’d rather he rest up and just miss the playoffs than continue to be ineffective and overworked, squeak into the playoffs only to bow out early, and have a high risk of injury.
If they time it right, Bello, Crawford and Houck could each take a 15 day break before the end of the regular season.
Check out Tyler O’Neill’s new book ” My Life on the Baseball IL” Coming to a bookstore near you. They still have bookstores right? It’ll be right near his old book ” How lifting a billion pounds of weights helped my overall baseball performance”. It’s a 2 pack. They’re in crayon of course. Easy reading.
They could have brought Dalbec back. Or Reese McGuire.
When I hear Tyler O’Neill, I think durability. I have images of Cal Ripken Jr. running the warning track at Camden Yards.
For a guy built like a Greek God he gets hurt a lot. I’ve theorized for awhile that he’s proof MLB isn’t testing for PEDs strictly anymore.
They realized that drug testing wasn’t a big enough deterrent when the legacies of all the roiders were destroyed and it ultimately hurt the MLB brand more than the players being banned.
I think a 2nd era of PEDs is coming, this time, MLB is going to take a page out of the pro wrestling book and turn a blind eye. Perhaps they already have, they know if they don’t attract a younger audience in the next 15 years, baseball is going to be irrelevant as a major sport.
For a guy built like a Greek God he gets hurt a lot.
=======================
Or it’s the reason why he gets hurt a lot. BB players often need more flexibility than muscle strength.
And LOLd at BB’s demise. I remember those headlines in the ’70s when soccer was just about to overtake BB.
I’m a huge fan of baseball, however, facts are facts. According to the Sports Business Journal, in 2021 the average age of fans watching MLB games is 57 years old.
In regards to flexibility over muscle strength, that’s not the point I’m making. PEDs actually have an adverse effect after some players take them long enough. Ken Caminiti for instance, stated the original reason he started taking steroids was to recover quicker. He continued because it enhanced his performance. But he did eventually hit a wall in the PEDs aiding in his recovery.
Yes. Example: Tyler Fitzgerald at SF hitting a homer at least every other day and was only in the 30s in their prospects list. Hit very few homers in college.
So are the Red Sox going to offer O’Neill a QO? Makes sense based on the numbers but he is hurt so often you can’t depend that he will be in the lineup. I’m sure he would take the offer since I doubt many teams want to give him a long term contract.
Darn it. I came in the raise that question, thinking I was the only one that would think of it.
However, it is now your question, with a thumbs-up to Kingbum.
I’d offer him the QO. Even if Story returns full-force, we still have some L/R split issues. I think Anthony is still a solid year away, and doesn’t resolve the L/R issues. Campbell will help with that, but I think he ultimately winds up at 2nd,
And he might not accept it. He’s a young 29, so a team can sign him for 4 years without him physically declining (other than injuries). If he finishes with ~ 30 HRs and ~ a 3 bWAR, I think someone will offer him ~ $48M/4.
Hasn’t responded well does that mean knocked around like a pinata? Same for Kutter Crawford, where’s the starting help gonna come from except Paxton? Criswell?
ted – Rich Hill is auditioning, don’t rule him out … especially if Kutter continues to pitch like Krap.
These next 16 games are without question the toughest stretch of the season. The starting pitching MUST improve, otherwise their deficit will quickly grow.