Tommy Kahnle Has Upward Mobility Clause In Red Sox Deal
Veteran right-hander Tommy Kahnle, currently pitching with the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate, has an upward mobility clause in his deal that he can trigger tomorrow, writes Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. The clause was reported at the time of Kahnle’s signing in Boston, but it still bears mentioning with the seasoned setup man pitching well in the upper minors at present.
If triggered, an upward mobility clause would push the Sox to make Kahnle available to all 29 other clubs. If any other club would put him on its major league roster, the Red Sox would either have to select Kahnle to their own 40-man roster or, if they’re not willing to do so, allow him to depart to an organization that would put him in the major league bullpen. Such clauses are common in minor league deals for veteran players.
Through the season’s first month, Kahnle has done a nice job trying to force Boston’s hand. The 36-year-old has pitched 8 1/3 innings out of the Worcester bullpen, allowing three earned runs (3.24 ERA) on eight hits and three walks. He’s fanned eight of the 36 batters he’s faced (22.2%), hasn’t allowed a home run and has done a decent job avoiding too much hard contact (88.3 mph average exit velocity, no barrels, 41.7% hard-hit rate).
Kahnle’s 92.7 mph average fastball would be the lowest of his career, although through the first month of the 2025 season in Detroit, he wasn’t much higher (93.1 mph). He sat 93.6 mph the rest of the way. It seems reasonable to expect Kahnle’s heater to gain a bit of life as he continues to build up this season, but the four-seamer is a secondary pitch for him anyhow; Kahnle is perhaps the foremost changeup specialist in the game. This season’s 59.5% usage rate on his changeup is actually a stark decrease relative to recent seasons. From 2022-25, Kahnle threw 79% changeups against just 18.7% fastballs with a very, very occasional slider (2.4%) mixed in to throw some hitters off balance.
Although he’s coming off a lackluster season with the Tigers — hence the minor league deal — Kahnle has a lengthy track record of success in the majors. He’s been hurt more frequently than he or the teams for which he’s pitched would prefer, but from 2016-24, the right-hander logged a combined 3.11 ERA, 31.1% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 271 2/3 innings between the White Sox, Yankees and Dodgers.
It’s not clear whether the Red Sox would be amenable to adding Kahnle to the big league bullpen. Relief pitching has been a strength in an otherwise disappointing season for Boston. Sox relievers have combined for a 3.67 ERA that ranks eighth-best in the majors. The only Red Sox relievers who can be optioned are Greg Weissert, Zack Kelly and Tyler Samaniego. Plugging Kahnle into the ‘pen would give the Red Sox a sixth reliever who cannot be sent down without being exposed to waivers.
The decision will belong to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, but interim skipper Chad Tracy — who managed Kahnle for several weeks to begin the season — sounded amenable to the idea. Asked by Smith just yesterday whether Kahnle could help the big league club, Tracy replied:
“For a veteran of his caliber that’s been around, yes, he can help out. He’s been around the big leagues for a really long time. He knows how to pitch. He’s been here, he’s pitched in the playoffs. So absolutely can help out.”
If not the Red Sox, there seems to be a decent chance Kahnle could draw the interest of another club. Each of the Nationals, Cardinals, Twins, Royals, Angels and Astros have received a combined ERA of 5.00 or worse from their bullpen so far in 2026. The Phillies, Astros, Cubs and Marlins all have their closers on the injured list. Chicago’s Daniel Palencia is expected to return soon, but he’s one of six Cubs relievers on the shelf.
Guardians Option George Valera
The Guardians announced Thursday that outfielder George Valera has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus. They’re off today, so a corresponding move won’t be announced until tomorrow.
A longtime top prospect, the 25-year-old Valera hasn’t been the boost to the lineup for which the team hoped. Injuries have repeatedly set Valera back, to the point where he was at one point designated for assignment and non-tendered. He returned on a minor league deal and rebuilt his stock in 2025 with a .318/.388/.550 slash in the minors. Cleveland called him up for his big league debut late last year, and Valera hit .220/.333/.415 with a pair of homers in 48 plate appearances. He tacked on another homer during postseason play.
Valera opened the season on the injured list due to a calf strain and hasn’t hit since returning. He’s taken 38 plate appearances and floundered with a .216/.237/.297 slash. Valera has chased off the plate at a huge 40.4% clip, nearly doubling his chase rate from last year’s small-sample debut (21.7%). He’s beaten 52% of his batted balls into the ground and already popped up to the infield four times.
The Guardians quite literally did nothing to improve their lineup over the offseason. They’re running a payroll under $70MM and hanging their 2026 hopes on big steps forward from young players like Valera, Chase DeLauter, CJ Kayfus, Travis Bazzana and others. It’s worked out in some respects. DeLauter has been great, and both Brayan Rocchio and Angel Martínez are hitting at career-best levels. Utilityman Daniel Schneemann has improbably been one of the best hitters in the American League, though he’s striking out at a 30% clip and isn’t going to sustain his current .438 average on balls in play or 21% homer-to-flyball ratio.
On the other end of the spectrum, José Ramirez has been good but hasn’t hit at his typically elite levels. Meanwhile, the Guardians have seen Steven Kwan and Kyle Manzardo take substantial steps back with the bat. Kayfus struggled before being optioned earlier in the year, and already light-hitting catcher Bo Naylor is mired in the toughest slump of his career.
The end result is a lineup that’s slashed .228/.314/.371. That comes out to a 93 wRC+ that ranks 23rd in the majors. Cleveland is tied with Boston for 23rd in runs scored. The Guardians are 17th in home runs, 26th in batting average, 22nd in on-base percentage and 25th in slugging percentage.
With Valera sent down, Cleveland’s outfield options include Kwan, DeLauter, Martínez and Schneemann. They’ll make a move to add another position player tomorrow. Candidates already on the 40-man roster include Kayfus and outfielders Petey Halpin and Kahlil Watson. Juan Brito is also down in Columbus, but he was optioned just a couple days ago, so he can only be recalled if he’s replacing an injured player. Non-roster outfielders Nolan Jones and Stuart Fairchild are both hitting well in Columbus. Top catching prospect Cooper Ingle opened the season on a ridiculous tear (.394/.630/.788 in 54 plate appearances) but is currently on the minor league injured list due to a hip injury.
This is Valera’s final option year, so if he spends 20 days in the minors on this assignment, he’ll be out of options heading into the 2027 season. Valera is controllable for at least five more years beyond the current season — possibly six depending on how long he spends down in Columbus. He entered the season needing 144 days of service to reach a full year, and he’s already accrued 36 of those days. If he’s down until June 12 or later, he’ll fall shy of a year of service and be controllable all the way through 2032.
Mets Place Luis Robert Jr. On Injured List
11:30am: Robert is receiving an epidural injection and will be reevaluated in a week to 10 days, per Tim Britton of The Athletic. The Mets don’t currently expect him to miss too much more than the minimum.
9:20am: The Mets have formally placed Robert on the 10-day injured list due to a lumbar disc herniation. Corner infielder Eric Wagaman is up from Triple-A to take his spot on the roster.
9:12am: The Mets are expected to place center fielder Luis Robert Jr. on the 10-day injured list today, reports SNY’s Chelsea Janes. Robert has been battling back discomfort for several days and underwent an MRI yesterday, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo noted.
Trips to the injured list are nothing new for Robert, a star-caliber outfielder whose health hasn’t allowed him to regularly reach his sky-high ceiling. The 28-year-old raked at a .264/.314/.542 clip and belted 38 homers to go along with 20 steals and plus-plus defense with the White Sox back in 2023. He’s only played in 234 of 354 possible games since that time (66.1%). That 2023 season is the only time Robert has reached even 450 plate appearances or exceeded 110 games played in a single season. (He did play in 56 of 60 possible games as a rookie in the shortened 2020 season.)
Along with that decline in health came a downturn in performance. Robert suffered an MCL sprain at the end of September in 2023 and a hip flexor strain early in 2024, the latter costing him about two months of action. When he was on the field in ’24, he stumbled through the least-productive season of his career, slashing just .224/.278/.364 with a career-worst 33.2% strikeout rate.
It was more of the same to begin the 2025 season, though Robert caught fire in early June after the Sox sat him for a few days to refocus his mechanics in the batter’s box. Robert took a few games to find his stroke even after that little breather, but he went on a tear thereafter, slashing .282/.344/.471 (125 wRC+) in nearly 200 plate appearances … before again returning to the injured list — this time due to his second hamstring strain of the ’25 campaign.
Along the way, the White Sox fielded trade interest in Robert, but they opted to hang onto him after not finding offers to their liking. They exercised the first of two $20MM club options on Robert to begin the offseason, and several months later the Mets landed him in a trade sending infielder/outfielder Luisangel Acuña and minor league righty Truman Pauley back to Chicago.
Robert is currently mired in a 2-for-19 slump, dropping what was a solid .258/.372/.379 batting line to a .224/.327/.329 output that checks in about 7% worse than league-average overall, by measure of wRC+. The dip in production coincides with the Mets beginning to sit Robert on occasion about a week and a half ago. Manager Carlos Mendoza eventually revealed that Robert has been dealing with back discomfort. Last night’s MRI, it seems, did not produce favorable results.
A formal diagnosis isn’t clear. The Mets have not yet announced an IL placement and thus have not revealed the nature of Robert’s ailment. Robert last appeared in a game on April 26, so his IL stint can be backdated to April 27 — the maximum three days allowed. That technically makes him eligible to return in just a week’s time, though his actual timetable will naturally hinge on the specific injury that’s been plaguing him.
Robert joins Francisco Lindor and Jorge Polanco on the shelf. That’s a third of the Mets’ starting lineup sidelined. With Robert out of the equation for the time being, the Mets’ options in center field include veteran Tyrone Taylor and rookie Carson Benge (who’s been their primary right fielder but has four games in center this year). Recently signed veteran Austin Slater has a fair bit of center field experience but hasn’t played there this season and has only logged 63 frames at the position since Opening Day 2024.
Down in Triple-A, the Mets have 2022 No. 75 overall pick Nick Morabito, who’s already on the 40-man roster (but has yet to debut) and is slashing .262/.382/.452 with four homers, four doubles and six steals. Morabito entered the season ranked 11th among Mets farmhands at Baseball America. He’s the Mets’ No. 12 prospect at MLB.com and No. 19 over at FanGraphs. Scouting reports peg him as a plus runner and center field defender with well below-average power.
Mets Designate Carl Edwards Jr. For Assignment
The Mets announced Thursday that reliever Carl Edwards Jr. has been designated for assignment. They also confirmed the previously reported IL placement for center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who’s been diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation. Righty Austin Warren and recently claimed corner infielder Eric Wagaman are up from Triple-A Syracuse in a pair of corresponding moves.
Edwards, 34, signed a minor league deal back in December. The longtime reliever opened the season as a starter in the Mets’ Syracuse rotation but was added to the big league bullpen earlier this month. He’s pitched well, holding opponents to one run in six innings. Edwards has punched out a whopping 44% of his opponents (11 of 25) but has also dished out four free passes already (16%).
A key member of the Cubs’ bullpen from 2016-18, Edwards has bounced around the league in the eight years since. The Mets are Edwards’ ninth club in the majors, and this year’s six innings already tie his highest single-season workload since 2023.
Edwards also had a productive two-year stint with the Nats in 2022-23, but his stops with the other seven clubs for which he’s pitched have typically been fleeting. In addition to the Cubs and Nationals, he’s suited up for the Padres, Mariners, Braves, Blue Jays, Angels and Rangers. However, Edwards hasn’t pitched more than six innings for any of those teams. Overall, he carries a career 3.51 ERA in the majors, though most of his production came during that initial run with the Cubs, when he had about three extra miles per hour on his fastball over his current 92.5 mph average velocity.
The Mets will have five days to place Edwards on waivers, release him, or trade him. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment to the minors even if he clears waivers, so barring a minor trade for cash, he’s likely to end up a free agent. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so his DFA will be resolved in no more than seven days.
Tigers Hire Kyle Hendricks As Special Assistant
The Tigers have hired recently retired right-hander Kyle Hendricks as a special assistant to the baseball operations department, reports Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. While Hendricks never pitched for Detroit during his excellent 12-year major league career, he knows both Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris and general manager Jeff Greenberg dating back to the pair’s days in the Cubs’ front office. Stavenhagen adds that Hendricks is expected to focus his efforts on pitching development.
Hendricks, 36, spent 11 seasons (2014-24) pitching with the Cubs and finished up his career with the Angels in 2025. He retired with a career 3.79 ERA, 105 wins and 1373 strikeouts through 1745 innings in the major leagues. All of that success came despite Hendricks lacking the prototypical power arsenal associated with modern pitchers. He never averaged even 91 mph on his four-seamer in a given season, finishing with an overall average velocity of 87.2 mph on his “fastball” in his career.
A throwback to generations past, Hendricks thrived thanks to excellent command, a good feel for pitching and a knack for avoiding hard contact. “The Professor” and his thoughtful approach to attacking hitters with less-than-premium stuff could well prove to be an asset in developing young arms in the Detroit pipeline.
There’s been a growing number of former big leaguers climbing to prominent positions in major league front offices in recent seasons. Former players who are currently running baseball operations for their clubs include Jerry Dipoto (Mariners), Chris Getz (White Sox), Craig Breslow (Red Sox), Buster Posey (Giants) and Chris Young (Rangers). Brandon Gomes isn’t the top decision-maker for the Dodgers but holds the general manager title and sits No. 2 on their baseball operations hierarchy behind president of baseball ops Andrew Friedman. The same is true of Marlins GM Gabe Kapler, who’s the No. 2 executive behind Peter Bendix over in Miami. Sam Fuld recently held a GM position with the Phillies but is in the process of moving over to become their new president of business operations.
Hendricks’ eventual aspirations on the executive side of things aren’t yet clear, but there are certainly some parallels between the path he’s charting and the ones taken by Young and Breslow in particular. Both Young (Princeton) and Breslow (Yale) are former Ivy League standouts who enjoyed successful big league careers while operating with middling velocity. Young got his start in baseball operations working in the league’s central offices, while Breslow jumped right into the Cubs’ baseball ops department with an emphasis on strategic initiatives and pitching development. Hendricks, a Dartmouth product, could pursue a similar trajectory, though given his lengthy career and reputation within the game, he’d also surely have opportunities on the coaching side of things if he preferred to throw his hat into that ring at some point down the line.
Tigers Place Casey Mize, Javier Báez On Injured List
The Tigers have placed righty-hander Casey Mize and utilityman Javier Báez on the injured list, per a club announcement. Mize heads to the 15-day IL due to a right adductor strain. Báez is going on the 10-day IL due to a sprained right ankle. Lefty Enmanuel De Jesus and infielder Jace Jung were recalled from Triple-A Toledo in a pair of corresponding moves.
The loss of Mize is a tough blow for the rotation. He’s out to the best start of his career, having pitched to a 2.90 earned run average with a 27.3% strikeout rate that would easily register as a career-high in a full season. He’s walked 8.6% of his opponents and kept 38.8% of batted balls against him on the ground. Mize’s prior career-highs in opponents’ chase rate and swinging-strike rate were 28.3% and 10.8%, respectively; he’s at 30.8% and 12.1% so far in 2026.
Mize exited his most recent start in the third inning. He pulled up with an apparent injury while attempting to field a bunt up the first base line. He wound up being charged with two earned runs that game — just the second time in six starts this season that he’s been charged with multiple earned runs in a start.
With Mize sidelined for at least two weeks and Justin Verlander also on the injured list, the Tigers’ rotation depth is being tested. Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez remain a formidable one-two punch atop the staff. Keider Montero is also out to a career-best start. Veteran Jack Flaherty, conversely, is having one of the worst starts to a season in his career. Swingman Drew Anderson, who’s stretched out and has gone as long as 3 1/3 innings this season, is a candidate to step into the vacant spot in the rotation. Detroit could also turn to Triple-A, where righties Sawyer Gipson-Long and Ty Madden are possibilities.
Báez, meanwhile, had to be carted off the field in yesterday’s game after injuring himself on a slide. He underwent an MRI that revealed the sprain. A timetable for his return isn’t yet clear. He’s been getting frequent run in the infield and in center field, following the Parker Meadows injury, and is hitting .256/.280/.397 with a pair of homers in 82 plate appearances this year.
With Báez out of the equation for the short term at least, Detroit’s options in center field include Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez. Young outfielder Max Clark, a former top-five pick and one of the ten top prospects in all of baseball at the moment, looms as an option in Triple-A. He’s slashing .303/.377/.444 with a homer, eight steals, an 11.4% walk rate and just a 13.2% strikeout rate in 116 trips to the plate. Clark isn’t on the 40-man roster but seems quite likely to make his big league debut at some point this season. It’s possible that Báez’s injury accelerates that timetable, although for now, center field will seemingly be entrusted to more experienced options.
Giants Select Gregory Santos
2:07pm: The Giants announced that Santos has indeed had his contract selected from Sacramento. Oliva was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. He’s now out until mid-June at the earliest. San Francisco optioned righty Blade Tidwell to Triple-A to clear a spot on the active roster. Tidwell would’ve been unavailable for several days after tossing 47 pitches in long relief yesterday.
9:21am: The Giants will select the contract of right-handed reliever Gregory Santos from Triple-A Sacramento today, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. San Francisco has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding transaction.
Santos won’t turn 27 until August but already has experience in parts of five major league seasons — including two seasons with the Giants. He originally signed with the Red Sox as a teenager out of his native Dominican Republic but wound up going to the Giants organization alongside righty Shaun Anderson in the 2017 trade that sent utilityman Eduardo Nunez to Boston. Santos made his big league debut with the Giants in 2021 and briefly appeared again in 2022, though he totaled only 5 2/3 innings in orange and black before being designated for assignment and flipped to the White Sox in a cash swap.
Santos had a breakout showing in the South Side bullpen, tossing 66 1/3 frames with a 3.39 ERA, five saves, six holds, a 22.8% strikeout rate, a 5.9% walk rate and a hefty 52.5% grounder rate. Those results, coupled with a sinker that averaged 98.9 mph and a sharp slider averaging 91.3 mph, made Santos look like a potential long-term piece in the bullpen for the White Sox … or for the Mariners, who pounced on that breakout and traded outfielder Zach DeLoach, righty Prelander Berroa and a Competitive Balance Round B pick to the Sox to acquire Santos in February of 2024.
Unfortunately for both the Mariners and Santos, injuries ruined his time with the Seattle organization. Santos suffered a lat strain during spring training just six weeks after the trade and was on the injured list into mid-July. He returned to throw 5 1/3 innings before a biceps injury put him back on the shelf for another eight weeks. Santos did make it back to close out the 2024 season with a pair of scoreless frames, at least giving some hope that he could be on track for a healthier, productive season in 2025.
That didn’t prove to be the case.
Santos opened the 2025 season with diminished velocity and yielded four runs in seven innings (5.14 ERA). He walked eight batters and didn’t strike anyone out. In late April, he underwent surgery to repair some cartilage in his right knee. That procedure effectively ended his season. Santos made it back to a minor league mound in mid-September but issued nine walks against five strikeouts in five rehab innings. He didn’t return to the majors. The Mariners non-tendered him in November.
Now back in the organization for which he made his major league debut, Santos has posted nice results in Triple-A. His sinker and slider are both down a bit more than a mile per hour from their peak, but he’s tossed 11 innings and held opponents to three runs (2.45 ERA) on nine hits and three walks. He’s only fanned six of his 44 opponents (13.6%) and has just a 7% swinging-strike rate, which are both cause for some concern, but he does have three strikeouts in his past 2 2/3 frames (12 batters faced). Given all the recent injuries, some early rust would only be natural.
Time will tell whether this is a a quick cup of coffee or an opportunity to grab a lasting job in the relief corps. Santos has a minor league option remaining, so now that he’s being added to the 40-man, he can be sent down again without needing to pass through waivers. If he can get back to his pre-injury form, he still has at least two seasons of club control remaining beyond the current season.
The Giants don’t have any surefire 60-day IL candidates to open a 40-man spot. Relievers Sam Hentges and Joel Peguero have spent the whole season on the IL but are both on minor league rehab assignments; Peguero is approaching the end of his rehab window. Outfielder Jared Oliva is a candidate after suffering a hamate fracture earlier this month, but while some hitters take eight or more weeks to return from that injury, there are plenty of cases of players returning after only four to five weeks.
Pirates Designate Ryan Harbin For Assignment
Pirates right-hander Ryan Harbin has been designated for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to veteran reliever Chris Devenski, whose previously reported promotion to the major league roster is now official. Lefty Hunter Barco was optioned to Triple-A to open a 26-man roster spot for Devenski.
Harbin, 24, was the Pirates’ 17th-round pick back in 2019. The Bucs added him to the 40-man roster this past November in order to protect him from being selected by another organization in December’s Rule 5 Draft. He was rocked in his first taste of Triple-A last summer but had pitched 50 combined innings between High-A and Double-A prior to that, logging a 2.88 ERA with a massive 36% strikeout rate.
The 6’4″, 228-pound Harbin relies primarily on a three-pitch mix: a four-seamer that averaged 97.2 mph last year, a slider that sat 87 mph and a sinker that averaged 96.7 mph. He also mixed in a very occasional cutter (87.8 mph) and splitter (89.8 mph), though his usage rate on both pitches in Triple-A sat just north of 5%.
With a good start to the season in Triple-A, Harbin might have gotten his first big league look this year. Instead, injuries have derailed his season. Harbin suffered a strained teres major during spring training not long after being optioned to minor league camp. The Bucs put him on the 60-day injured list in the minors. He hasn’t pitched yet in 2026, and there’s no clear timetable for his return to the mound. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, so now that he’s been designated for assignment, Harbin will either be traded to another club or released.
Pirates To Select Chris Devenski
1:17pm: The Pirates optioned Hunter Barco to clear an active roster spot, per Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They still need to open a 40-man spot.
1:06pm: The Pirates are selecting the contract of veteran right-hander Chris Devenski from Triple-A Indianapolis, reports Alex Stumpf. They’ll need to make a corresponding roster move prior to first pitch (about four and a half hours from now). Ethan Hullihen reports that Devenski had an upward mobility clause in his contract, which means the Bucs would’ve had to either add him to the 40-man roster or allow him to go to another club willing to put him on its own major league roster.
The 35-year-old Devenski signed a minor league deal with the Bucs back in January. He’s logged big league time in each of the past 10 seasons. In 2016-17, Devenski was a dominant force out of the Houston bullpen, combining for 189 innings of 2.38 ERA ball with a 28.2% strikeout rate against a 6.4% walk rate. He’s never recaptured that form, however, and has bounced around the league journeyman style for the past several seasons.
Since Opening Day 2018, Devenski has pitched 227 2/3 frames in the majors and logged a 5.18 earned run average — a far cry from his outstanding first two seasons. Along the way, he’s pitched not only for the Astros but also the D-backs, Phillies, Rays, Angels and most recently the Mets. Devenski tossed 16 1/3 frames for New York last season and held opponents to a 2.16 ERA with a 21.5% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. That was his first season with a major league ERA under 4.46 since 2018.
Devenski has had a strong start to his season down in Indy. He’s pitched 10 2/3 innings out of the bullpen and held opponents to just one earned run on five hits and a pair of walks with 15 punchouts. That comes out to a huge 38.5% strikeout rate against a tiny 5.1% walk rate. That lofty strikeout rate is supported by excellent swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates (17.2% and 41.8%, respectively). Devenski’s 92.7 mph average fastball is a ways from its 94.7 mph peak but still higher than last year’s 91.9 mph average from Triple-A (and 92.4 mph in the majors).
Devenski has seven-plus years of big league service, so the Pirates aren’t able to option him without his consent. Hullihen suggests that Devenski will likely be amenable to that setup if the team chooses. Given his strong performance in Indianapolis, however, there’s a chance he’ll simply be given an opportunity to carve out a role in a Pirates bullpen that still has some spots up for grabs.
Red Sox Place Garrett Crochet On Injured List
The Red Sox have placed ace Garrett Crochet on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his left shoulder, per a club announcement. Utilityman Nate Eaton has been recalled from Triple-A Worcester to fill Crochet’s spot on the roster for the time being.
Crochet tells Christopher Smith of MassLive.com that he’s “pretty confident” he’ll be back after a minimum stay on the injured list. The 6’6″ lefty said he felt some fatigue during his last start, which prompted the team to take a cautious route and shut him down for the time being. He hasn’t stopped throwing, per Smith, so it seems the club also does not fear a lengthy layoff.
It’s been a strange start to the 26-year-old’s season. He’s turned in three quality starts — two of them scoreless six-inning gems — but also been hit hard on three occasions. In particular, Crochet was bludgeoned by the Twins in a visit to Target Field that saw him tagged for a career-worst 11 runs (10 earned) in only 1 2/3 innings. A drubbing that extreme, this early in the season, will take awhile to recover from — hence Crochet’s grisly 6.30 earned run average through his first six starts.
The average velocity on Crochet’s four-seamer and sinker is down this year, albeit not egregiously so. He’s down about 0.6 mph on the former (from 96.4 mph to 95.8 mph) and 0.8 mph on the latter (from 96 mph to 95.2 mph). It bears noting that Crochet’s velocity sat in a similar range through his first six starts last season but climbed as the season progressed. That brutal day in Minnesota featured his lowest single-game averages of any start this season (94.9 mph and 94.2 mph, respectively).
In swapping out Eaton for Crochet, the Sox will be playing a pitcher short today. They’d originally released a lineup without Roman Anthony, presumably to get him consecutive rest days — the Sox are off tomorrow — after his recent struggles with back pain. They’ve since released an amended lineup with Anthony atop the order and Jarren Duran out. Eaton’s recall to the roster gives interim manager Chad Tracy a full contingent of four bench options even if the Sox are trying to get Duran a breather for a couple days.
Boston’s rotation for the weekend will need to be reshuffled. Crochet, Connelly Early and Ranger Suarez would’ve been lined up to take the mound had everyone remained on turn, but they’ll have some choices now. They could move Early and Suarez up to start Friday and Saturday, respectively, as tomorrow’s off-day would keep them on regular rest. Smith also noted last night that prospect Jake Bennett was scratched from yesterday’s start in Triple-A Worcester. Tracy told the Sox beat that the team was just keeping its options open with an off-day Thursday; the reason for keeping those options open is now much clearer.
Bennett, 25, would be making his major league debut if he gets the call for a spot start. Acquired in an offseason trade with the Nationals, he’s begun the season with a 0.86 ERA in five starts and 21 innings with Triple Worcester. Bennett’s 20.3% strikeout rate is below average, but he’s only walked 3.8% of his opponents this season. He’s never sustained that level of command in the past, and he’s currently benefiting from a minuscule .207 average on balls in play, but there’s no denying it’s been a strong start to his season.
Bennett is already on the 40-man roster, which surely works in his favor as well. If not this weekend, it seems likely he’ll make his debut at some point before too long. In addition to Crochet, the Red Sox also have Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval and Tanner Houck on the injured list.