2026-27 Club Options: AL East
A couple weeks ago, MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald highlighted the players who could choose to return to the free agent market via opt-out clauses. We’ll now take a division by division look at those whose contracts contain club, mutual or vesting options. That kicks off tonight with the AL East.
Although it’s early in the season, a lot of these provisions are fairly easy to predict. The mutual options are almost certain to be declined by either the player or team (usually the latter). They’re accounting measures, essentially an unofficial deferral within the term of the contract itself. The player agrees to push back a percentage of the guaranteed money to the end of the deal in the form of an option buyout — which is paid after the end of the World Series rather than evenly distributed during the regular season as salary.
Baltimore Orioles
- RHP Zach Eflin: $25MM mutual option ($2MM buyout)
Eflin’s return to the Orioles was dashed by yet another injury: an elbow ligament that required Tommy John surgery. The O’s probably weren’t signing up for a $25MM salary even if he’d stayed healthy this year, but this is as obvious a buyout as these decisions get.
- LHP Dietrich Enns: $3.5MM club option ($125K buyout)
Enns pitched well for the O’s down the stretch after a deadline trade from Detroit. The 34-year-old southpaw worked to a 3.14 ERA while striking out 28% of batters faced across 28 2/3 innings. Although he’s nowhere close to six years of MLB service time, his contract contained a 2026 club option that presumably had a clause ensuring he’d become a free agent if the team declined. That’s fairly common for players like Enns who had spent the preceding couple seasons pitching in Asia.
The O’s restructured Enns’ contract to pay him a $2.5MM salary and guarantee a $125K buyout on a $3.5MM team option for the ’27 season. He has walked five batters over 4 1/3 innings to begin this season. Enns landed on the injured list a couple weeks ago with a foot infection. He began a rehab assignment in Triple-A on Saturday. This one is too early to judge.
- 1B Ryan Mountcastle: $7.5MM club option
Mountcastle agreed to tack on a $7.5MM option to avoid going to an arbitration hearing last offseason. Speculatively, that’s probably due to the CBA provision which doesn’t fully guarantee salaries determined at an arbitration hearing until Opening Day. Had Mountcastle not settled, the O’s might’ve released him for termination pay during Spring Training after making a splash on Pete Alonso earlier in the winter.
Although the O’s were surely happy to get the extra year of club control, it probably won’t be of much benefit. Mountcastle broke a bone in his left foot last week and will miss at least two months. It’s his second straight year with a significant injury. He lost a couple months to a hamstring strain in 2025. Mountcastle was already an odd roster fit who’d make more sense as a trade chip. Maybe he’ll return in the second half and hit well enough that the O’s feel the option price is too good to pass up, but it’s likelier this is getting declined.
Boston Red Sox
- LHP Aroldis Chapman: $13MM mutual option ($300K buyout); vests at $13MM at 40 innings pitched
Chapman’s option vests if he reaches 40 innings pitched this season and passes an end of year physical. He has surpassed 40 frames in three straight seasons. He’s at 7 2/3 innings thus far. It’d take at least one injured list stint — probably an absence of 6-8 weeks — for him to fall short of 40 innings.
In any case, the Sox would be happy to have him back at that price if he’s healthy. Chapman was probably the best reliever in MLB last season, firing 61 1/3 innings of 1.17 ERA ball with a 37% strikeout rate. The punchouts are down early this year in an exceedingly tiny sample, yet he has only allowed one run and is 4-4 in save opportunities. He remains at the top of his game at age 38.
- RHP Sonny Gray: $30MM mutual option ($10MM buyout)
Gray restructured his contract as a condition of the offseason trade that sent him from St. Louis to Boston. The deal initially came with a $35MM salary for this year and a $5MM option buyout. Gray agreed to move $4MM of salary back to the buyout while picking up an extra $1MM as a condition for waiving his no-trade clause. He’ll be a free agent.
- RHP Garrett Whitlock: $8.25MM club option ($1MM buyout)
Whitlock’s contract comes with an $8.25MM team option that includes $4MM in unspecified escalators. There’s also a $10.5MM club option for the ’28 season. Whitlock has been one of the best setup arms in MLB throughout his career. He rebounded from an injury-plagued ’24 season to fire 72 frames of 2.25 ERA ball with a 31% strikeout rate last year.
The righty’s command has been a little wobbly this year and his sinker velocity is down a couple ticks. Still, he’s only allowed two earned runs while striking out 11 through his first nine innings. No other Boston reliever is getting higher-leverage assignments on average. This is one of the likelier options to be exercised.
New York Yankees
- None.
Tampa Bay Rays
- 1B Yandy Díaz: $10MM club option; converts to $13MM option which automatically vests at 500 plate appearances
Tampa Bay preemptively locked in Díaz’s $12MM club option for the 2026 season during Spring Training ’25. In exchange, the first baseman gave the team a $10MM option for ’27 that would vest at $13MM as long as he stayed healthy enough to reach 500 plate appearances. Díaz is a little over 20% of the way there. Even if he suffers an injury that takes the vesting provision off the table, he’s been such a good hitter that Tampa Bay would probably be happy to exercise the $10MM option.
- RHP Nick Martinez: $20MM mutual option ($4MM buyout)
The mutual option in the Martinez contract was purely one of the aforementioned accounting mechanisms. The Rays aren’t paying him a $20MM salary even if he pitches to their expectations. He’ll be bought out.
- CF Cedric Mullins: $10MM mutual option ($500K buyout)
The same is very likely true for Mullins. A $10MM option price is rich for Tampa Bay unless the former All-Star outfielder has a resurgent season — in which case, he’d decline his end and look for a multi-year deal. The early returns aren’t encouraging, as Mullins is hitting .156 with two homers through his first 21 games. Over the past calendar year, he’s a .194/.257/.336 hitter.
- RHP Drew Rasmussen: $8MM club option ($500K buyout); option could escalate up to $20MM depending upon Rasmussen’s health and innings total
Before the 2025 season, the Rays signed Rasmussen to a two-year deal that bought out his final arbitration years. It included a complex club option for 2027 that was heavily dependent on his health. The option comes with an $8MM base value but includes up to $12MM in escalators based on starts and time spent on the injured list.
Rasmussen had only once topped 80 MLB innings at the time of his extension. He has undergone multiple elbow procedures and broke into the league as a reliever because of durability concerns. Rasmussen has stayed healthy over the past year-plus. He pitched a career-high 150 innings en route to a top 10 Cy Young placement in 2025. He’s out to a similarly excellent start to the ’26 campaign, allowing just four earned runs through his first 19 2/3 innings.
The option value will begin to climb before long. It’ll jump to $8.5MM once he reaches eight starts and includes additional escalators for every fourth start up through 28 appearances. If he makes 28+ starts, it’d jump to a minimum of $14MM. That’s just the beginning, as the number climbs if he avoids a long-term injured list stint. It’d get up to $20MM if he goes the entire season without an arm injury.
At $8MM, Rasmussen is an unmitigated bargain even for a low-payroll Rays club. The escalators will probably climb quickly enough that he’ll be a trade candidate. That could happen midseason if the team isn’t in the playoff hunt or early next offseason if they hold him at the deadline. If Rasmussen repeats last year’s production, he’s not going to be in any danger of being bought out — as closer Pete Fairbanks was when escalators pushed his option value from $7MM to $11MM.
Note: The Rays hold a $3.1MM club option on INF Taylor Walls. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the team declines.
Toronto Blue Jays
- CF Myles Straw: $8MM club option ($1.75MM buyout); Guardians paying Toronto $1.75MM at season’s end as part of 2025 trade
The Blue Jays acquired Straw in a salary dump trade with the Guardians over the 2024-25 offseason. Toronto agreed to cover $11MM of the remaining two years and $14.75MM on Straw’s underwater contract. (He’d gone unclaimed on waivers that same offseason and was no longer on Cleveland’s 40-man roster.) In exchange, the Guards sent the Jays international bonus pool space. Toronto could then increase their offer to Roki Sasaki by an extra $2MM in a late, ultimately unsuccessful effort to sway the star NPB pitcher away from signing with the Dodgers.
Sasaki’s decision to join L.A. made this initially look like a complete bust for Toronto. To his credit, Straw has salvaged the move. He made the team in 2025 and did a nice job in a fourth outfield role, hitting .262/.313/.367 while playing his typically excellent outfield defense. He’s out to a good start this season as well and provides a high-floor depth option if Daulton Varsho misses any time.
Will that be enough to convince the Jays to keep Straw around? They certainly didn’t anticipate exercising an $8MM option at the time of the trade. That’s made clear enough by the teams’ agreement for the Guardians to send Toronto a $1.75MM payment — which matches the buyout value — at the end of the ’26 season. Cleveland is sending the money either way, though, so it’d amount to a $6.25MM call if the Jays want to bring Straw back.
That’s a little rich for a fourth outfielder, which is what Straw has been for the last few seasons. Varsho is an impending free agent and the Jays don’t have anyone waiting in the wings from the farm system. Straw’s play and the possibility of Varsho walking has made this a tougher call than even the Jays’ front office would have anticipated.
D-Backs Release Shawn Dubin
The Diamondbacks released reliever Shawn Dubin from his minor league deal, according to the MiLB.com transaction log. Arizona also re-signed first baseman Luken Baker on a new minor league contract. Baker had briefly elected free agency after being outrighted on Monday but will return to Triple-A Reno.
Dubin joined the Snakes on a non-roster invite over the offseason. He made five spring appearances and pitched twice for Reno within the first few days of the regular season. Dubin surrendered four runs on five hits and a walk over two innings and was quickly transferred to the development list. That’s generally to afford non-injured minor league players time to make mechanical adjustments outside of game action.
The righty didn’t wind up returning to Reno’s active roster. He’ll now seek an opportunity elsewhere, likely on another minor league contract. Dubin has spent a good chunk of the past two seasons in the big leagues. He pitched a career-high 45 1/3 innings for the Astros in 2024. The former 13th-rounder split last year between Houston and Baltimore, allowing a 5.08 earned run average through 33 2/3 frames. He has a 4.81 ERA with a nearly league average 22.3% strikeout percentage over 88 MLB innings.
Baker is back in the Reno lineup tonight. The righty batter played in nine games for the Aces early in the season, batting .242 with a homer. He was called up when Carlos Santana went down with an injury and held a bench spot for a couple weeks. Arizona designated him for assignment last weekend once Lourdes Gurriel Jr. returned from the injured list.
The Diamondbacks have gotten surprisingly strong production out of Ildemaro Vargas and rookie Jose Fernandez between first base and designated hitter. Arizona first basemen have hit .305/.317/.492 in 60 plate appearances since the Santana injury. Vargas is a light-hitting utilityman, while Fernandez is a mid-tier prospect who’d played one Triple-A game before being pressed into action. They’re probably not going to continue hitting at this rate, but it has been a nice boost from lineup spots that could’ve been zeros after injuries to Santana, Pavin Smith, and Tyler Locklear.
Rockies Trade Nicky Lopez To Cubs
The Rockies announced they’ve traded minor league infielder Nicky Lopez to the Cubs for cash. He was on a minor league contract and will not immediately occupy a 40-man roster spot for Chicago.
Lopez has been an organizational favorite of the Cubs as a depth infielder. He appeared in 14 MLB games for them last year between April and May. Lopez had also been with the club last spring on a minor league deal before being granted his release to pursue an MLB opportunity with the Angels. The Cubs waived him in late May but brought him back on a new minor league contract in August.
The Naperville, Illinois native signed with Colorado in December. He’s out to a nice start with Triple-A Albuquerque, batting .333 with a home run and a couple stolen bases over 15 games. Although the offense is surely inflated by playing in the Pacific Coast League, he’s showing his typically strong bat-to-ball ability while playing in the middle of the diamond.
Lopez is a lifetime .245/.310/.311 hitter in a little under 700 big league contests. He’s a quality defender at any of second base, third base, or shortstop. If the Cubs wanted to call him back up, he could replace Scott Kingery (who still has a minor league option) as the team’s utility infielder. Chicago would need to select Lopez onto the 40-man roster but essentially has a free roster spot with Porter Hodge a lock to move to the 60-day injured list after this week’s UCL surgery.
Will Braves Add Drake Baldwin To List Of Early-Career Extensions?
The Braves have had a fantastic start to the 2026 season. They've outscored opponents by 62 runs, the best mark in MLB. Their 18-8 record has them atop the National League.
That's before considering the dismal starts of their two biggest threats in the division. The Mets are eight games under .500 and the Phillies nine. Atlanta has already built a 5.5 game lead in the NL East and is nine games clear of the two other teams that most observers would have considered realistic candidates to win the East. Teams cannot lock up a division in April, of course, but the Braves couldn't have drawn up a better first month.
There are myriad reasons for the hot start. The back of the rotation, easily the biggest weakness on paper given all their injuries, has performed admirably. They've been one of the best defensive teams in the league. No team has scored more runs. While some of that is driven by Mauricio Dubón and Dominic Smith hitting well above previous levels, any regression from those hitters should be offset by Ronald Acuña Jr. shaking off a middling start.
Although Acuña is still the face of the lineup, Drake Baldwin is making a strong case that he's their second-best position player. Last year's NL Rookie of the Year has come out on fire. He's tied with Matt Olson for the team lead with seven home runs while batting .318/.392/.551 over 120 plate appearances. The former third-round pick is up to a .283/.351/.488 slash over his first 561 career trips to the dish.
Baldwin already looks like one of the three to five best catchers in MLB -- no small accomplishment in a time with a lot of excellent young backstops. One would imagine the front office would love to keep him in Atlanta long term. The Braves are notably diligent about keeping their contract talks close to the vest, so there hasn't been any substantive reporting about extension conversations with Baldwin. It seems fair to assume they've at least quietly broached the possibility.
President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has been extremely aggressive on the extension front. What kind of money might it take to add Baldwin to the likes of Acuña, Austin Riley, Spencer Strider, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II as homegrown talents whom the Braves have extended?
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Braves Select Carlos Carrasco, Place Dylan Dodd On Injured List
April 23: Atlanta formally announced the selection of both Carrasco and Ritchie. Fuentes was indeed optioned back to Gwinnett, and Dodd heads to the 15-day injured list. However, Dodd’s formal injury designation from the team was not an oblique strain, but rather “left thoracic spine inflammation.” The team’s initial announcement doesn’t provide a timetable for Dodd’s return, but manager Walt Weiss will probably provide more details in today’s pre-game media session.
April 22: The Braves are selecting veteran righty Carlos Carrasco onto the MLB roster, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Left-hander Dylan Dodd will go on the 15-day injured list with an oblique strain. Carrasco will be available in long relief behind JR Ritchie, who is coming up to start tomorrow in his major league debut.
Atlanta already had two openings on the 40-man roster. They lost Osvaldo Bido on waivers to the White Sox over the weekend and designated Ian Hamilton for assignment this morning. Adding Ritchie and Carrasco will put their roster back at capacity.
The 39-year-old Carrasco will be in the big leagues for a 17th season. He made three starts for Atlanta last summer as part of a revolving door of depth arms while the rotation was decimated by injury. Carrasco allowed 15 runs across 13 2/3 innings and finished the season in Triple-A. The Braves brought him back on a new minor league deal at the beginning of the offseason.
Carrasco is out to a nice start with their top affiliate in Gwinnett. He carries a 1.71 earned run average through his first four appearances. Carrasco has fanned 21% of opposing hitters with a sub-6% walk rate. He’s only in the 90-91 mph range on his fastballs, leaning more heavily on his slider and changeup to compensate.
The arsenal hasn’t played at the MLB level for the past few seasons. Carrasco owns a 6.36 ERA between four teams since the start of the 2023 campaign. Atlanta needed a length option for a bullpen that has gotten a lot of work over the past couple days.
Their last two starters, Reynaldo López and Didier Fuentes, threw a combined four innings. While Ritchie is a very good prospect, he’s not a lock to work deep in the game in his first outing against a big league lineup. He’ll take on a Nationals team that has started the season hot offensively behind fantastic months from James Wood and CJ Abrams. Excluding the just optioned Fuentes, Ritchie and Carrasco have been Atlanta’s two best Triple-A starters.
Braves To Select JR Ritchie
The Braves are promoting pitching prospect JR Ritchie to start tomorrow afternoon’s game against the Nationals, reports Harrison Smajovits of Sports Illustrated. Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports that Didier Fuentes is being optioned back to Triple-A Gwinnett in the corresponding transaction. Atlanta will also promote Carlos Carrasco to work in long relief.
Fuentes was just recalled this morning. He started this evening but labored over three innings, allowing seven hits and a walk. Fuentes’ inefficiency forced the Braves to bring in Martín Pérez for long relief. The veteran southpaw tossed three innings of two-run ball, which obviously took him out of consideration to start tomorrow’s ballgame.
Atlanta needed a spot starter for the finale of their four-game set in Washington. Long relievers José Suarez and Dylan Dodd each pitched on Tuesday, and Dodd is reportedly going on the injured list. A bullpen game would have been a lot to ask. Reynaldo López only completed one inning last night, so every Braves reliever has pitched within the past two days.
Ritchie was the logical candidate to take the ball. The 2022 supplemental first-round draftee has been Gwinnett’s best pitcher in the early going. Ritchie has only given up three runs through his first 27 1/3 innings while striking out 26.2% of opposing hitters. He has tiptoed around erratic command, as he’s walked 13 batters and plunked four more.
Although the 22-year-old isn’t a finished product, he’s likely to be up and down throughout the season as a key rotation depth piece. Baseball America ranks Ritchie as the #2 prospect in the Atlanta system, crediting him with a deep arsenal and a chance to be a #4 starter. Ritchie has been in the 93-94 mph range with his four-seam fastball and sinker this season. He throws four distinct offspeed pitches — a changeup, cutter, slider and curveball.
It’s past the point at which Ritchie can reach a full year of service time in 2026. He was on the preseason Top 100 lists at each of BA, MLB Pipeline and ESPN. He therefore meets the threshold for the Prospect Promotion Incentive and could “earn” a service year if he finishes top two in Rookie of the Year balloting. The Braves would not receive an extra draft choice in that scenario because he wasn’t on the MLB roster for 172+ days.
There’s a decent chance this is a one-off appearance regardless. Ritchie will be the only healthy, optionable pitcher on their active roster aside from top setup man Dylan Lee. Atlanta has an off day on Monday. The Braves could option Ritchie after tomorrow’s appearance to get an extra bullpen arm up for their weekend series against the Phillies. Pérez would be ready to start in the middle of next week. Spencer Strider probably only needs one more rehab outing before he returns to the rotation.
Rangers Outright Marc Church
The Rangers announced Wednesday afternoon that they’ve outrighted reliever Marc Church to Triple-A Round Rock. He was designated for assignment last week when Texas called up Cal Quantrill and Gavin Collyer.
This is the first career outright for Church, who’ll stick in the organization without holding a spot on the 40-man roster. The Atlanta native was an 18th-round pick out of high school in the 2019 draft. Church received a $300K signing bonus that reflected a higher ceiling than his draft spot indicated. He developed into a reasonably promising bullpen prospect until injuries sidetracked him.
Church nabbed a 40-man spot following the 2023 season. He missed most of the following year with a rotator cuff strain. Church did get an MLB cameo in the final weekend of the ’24 campaign. He built that into an Opening Day bullpen spot a year ago but was optioned out after five appearances. Church spent much of the season on the minor league injured list for a second straight year. He battled elbow, oblique and lat issues before sustaining a teres major strain that bothered him this offseason.
Optioned back to Round Rock to open the ’26 season, Church has shown signs of rust. He has walked four batters and hit another over his first 4 2/3 innings. His stuff has still looked sharp, as he’s averaging 96 mph on his heater with an 86 mph slider. Church has also toyed with a changeup after rarely using it in previous seasons.
It’s moderately surprising that no other team was willing to take a flier on the stuff, though the league was evidently deterred by the recent health history. Church will try to iron out the command woes to put himself back on the radar in a Texas bullpen that again looks sharp despite being mostly patched together via modest free agent signings.
Cubs Notes: Assad, Palencia, Hodge
The Cubs are moving Javier Assad to the bullpen, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). He makes way in the rotation for Matthew Boyd, who was activated from the 15-day injured list to start tonight’s game against the Phillies.
Assad keeps his spot on the active roster for now, as southpaw Luke Little was optioned out in the corresponding move. The righty opened the year on optional assignment to Triple-A. Chicago recalled Assad when Boyd went down on April 6 with a biceps strain.
The 28-year-old Assad took three turns through the rotation, pitching quite well in two of those appearances. Assad worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings to beat the Rays in his season debut. He allowed only an MJ Melendez solo home run across 5 2/3 frames in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over the Mets. The intervening appearance was rough, as Philadelphia torched him for nine runs and a loss on April 13.
In other bullpen news, Counsell provided an update on injured closer Daniel Palencia. The Cubs placed him on the 15-day injured list last Friday. The team initially announced it as a left oblique strain. Further testing revealed that Palencia actually suffered a mild lat strain, relays Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.
Lat strains can lead to extended absences for pitchers, though this one isn’t expected to be serious. Palencia is a right-handed pitcher, so a left lat strain isn’t as concerning as one on the other side of his body would be. He’s likely to resume throwing this week and could be reinstated around two weeks from now. Palencia is eligible to return next Wednesday, and while he’s unlikely to be ready quite that soon, he’ll probably be back shortly after a minimal stay. Caleb Thielbar has picked up Chicago’s two saves since Palencia landed on the shelf.
The Cubs also announced that Porter Hodge underwent his previously reported UCL surgery this week. The team indicated it’ll be a 12-14 month recovery, as he required a Tommy John ligament reconstruction and the internal brace procedure. He’ll inevitably move to the 60-day injured list once the Cubs need a 40-man roster spot. Hodge will begin next season on the injured list as well, probably requiring another 60-day IL stint.
A’s Place Denzel Clarke On Injured List
The Athletics placed center fielder Denzel Clarke on the 10-day injured list before today’s loss in Seattle. Colby Thomas was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to take the vacated active roster spot.
Clarke is dealing with a bone bruise in his right foot. Manager Mark Kotsay told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com that the issue relates to a lingering injury to his big toe that Clarke has battled for some time. It reached a point where the defensive stalwart felt better shutting things down rather than continuing to play through the discomfort.
This is Clarke’s first full season at the MLB level. He’s living up to his reputation on both sides of the ball. Clarke has rated highly in center field and had another of his patented home run robberies to take one away from Drake Baldwin on April 1. The 6’3″ Clarke is among the most talented defensive players in the sport. His bat is well behind, and he’s hitting .170 while striking out 24 times in 60 plate appearances (40%).
Lawrence Butler got the start in center field today against Logan Gilbert. The A’s had turned to Zack Gelof at the position for the first two games of the Seattle series. A career-long second baseman, Gelof has begun working in the outfield this year after the A’s traded for Jeff McNeil to handle the keystone.
It’ll likely be Gelof taking the bulk of the center field work. Butler can play there on occasion, with Carlos Cortes drawing into right field on those days. The righty-hitting Thomas will also be in the mix after a strong start to his year in Triple-A. Thomas was batting .309/.397/.574 with five homers in 17 games for Las Vegas. He debuted last season and popped six homers in 132 plate appearances, but he struck out 49 times (37.1%) en route to a meager .267 on-base mark.
Red Sox Select Eduardo Rivera
April 22: The Sox have made it official today, announcing they selected Rivera, optioned Anderson and put Casas on the 60-day IL. Chris Cotillo of MassLive confirmed the Casas move prior to the official announcement.
April 21: The Red Sox are promoting left-hander Eduardo Rivera, as first reported by Javier Sabath. The Sox will option righty Jack Anderson to Triple-A Worcester, according to Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News. They’ll also need to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Triston Casas stands as a 60-day injured list candidate after suffering an intercostal strain on top of his work back from knee surgery.
Rivera makes the jump directly from Double-A Portland. The 22-year-old southpaw dominated over his first two starts of the season. He recorded 16 strikeouts against three walks over 10 innings of one-run ball. Rivera also missed bats for his native Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic. He fanned nine hitters over 6 2/3 frames in two WBC games. Rivera allowed three runs on two hits, four walks, and a hit batter.
Listed at 6’7″ and 237 pounds, Rivera cuts an imposing figure on the mound. The long limbs have also contributed to strike-throwing issues in his minor league career. Rivera was an 11th-round selection by the Athletics in 2021. He never advanced out of A-ball in their system and was released in May ’24.
The Red Sox took a flier on his size and a fastball that runs into the mid-90s. They’ve been rewarded for the pickup, as Rivera has pitched well since joining the Boston organization. He combined for a 2.48 ERA while striking out 29.7% of batters faced over 87 innings between High-A and Double-A last season. That came with a near-13% walk rate, but Rivera has been around the strike zone over his first couple appearances this year.
Rivera did not crack Baseball America’s Top 30 prospects. However, MLB Pipeline slotted him #26 in the system with praise for his fastball-slider combination. Rivera probably projects to a bullpen role but is stretched out enough to work multiple innings.
The Red Sox used seven relievers to get through Monday’s game. Their leverage arms got a rest today, as the duo of Anderson and Tyler Samaniego finished the 4-0 loss to the Yankees. Rivera will replace Anderson as a potential mop-up arm. They’re carrying a ninth reliever for the next couple days after placing Sonny Gray on the injured list but will need to drop back to an eight-man bullpen to call up a starter (most likely Payton Tolle) this weekend.