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Red Sox Designate Dan Butler For Assignment

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The Red Sox announced that they’ve activated catcher/utilityman Blake Swihart from the 10-day disabled list and designated catcher Dan Butler for assignment to open a spot on the roster. Boston had selected the contract of Butler, 31, when Swihart hit the DL earlier this month. The organization will now have a week to trade Butler or run him through outright waivers.

Butler appeared in just two games for the Sox and went 1-for-6 with a single and a sacrifice fly in that short time. It marked his fist MLB action since a cup of coffee as a 27-year-old back in 2014. In all, Butler has just 27 MLB plate appearances, though he comes with plenty of experience at the Triple-A level. In 1715 plate appearances there across parts of nine seasons, he’s posted a .246/.332/.383 slash at that level. Butler, who has thrown out 30 percent of would-be base thieves in his minor league career, is out of minor league options, meaning any team that acquires him (via waivers or trade) him would have to keep him on the MLB roster.

 

Red Sox Activate Chris Sale From Disabled List

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  • The Red Sox have activated left-hander Chris Sale from the 10-day disabled list, and he’ll take the hill today for a start against the Orioles.  Righty Brandon Workman has been sent down to Triple-A to create a roster spot for Sale (Boston also sent down right-hander William Cuevas, who was the 26th man on the roster for yesterday’s double-header.)  Sale’s DL placement was retroactive to July 28, and while he missed a bit more than the minimum 10 days, that was more due to some scheduling preferences than any further issue with the inflammation in his throwing shoulder.  The ace southpaw is enjoying another outstanding season, with a league-best 2.04 ERA and 13.2 K/9 over 141 IP.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/10/18

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Today’s minor league moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

  • The Diamondbacks outrighted infielder Deven Marrero to Triple-A, as per a team press release.  Marrero was designated for assignment earlier this week.  After being acquired by Arizona from the Red Sox back in March, Marrero appeared in 45 games for the D’Backs this season, hitting .167/.224/.205 over 85 PA.  Selected by Boston as the 24th overall pick of the 2012 draft, Marrero has been able to reach the big leagues by virtue of his excellent defense, though he has never been particularly strong at the plate even at the minor league level.
  • First baseman/outfielder Brock Stassi is joining the Giants organization after it purchased his contract from the New Britain Bees, Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com notes in a tweet. The 29-year-old Stassi cracked the majors last year with the Phillies for the first time, but didn’t hit enough to stick. He also struggled earlier this year at the Triple-A level with the Twins organization. Even as his younger brother, Astros catcher Max Stassi, has enjoyed a breakthrough MLB campaign, the elder Stassi found himself out of the affiliated ranks. Fortunately, he’s now back after destroying indy ball pitching to the tune of a .361/.458/.592 batting line.

Dombrowski On Dealing Prospects

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  • The powerhouse Red Sox roster has come at the expense of a rather depleted farm system, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski tells the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato that it wasn’t his intent to deal away as many prospects in Boston as he did in his previous job as the Tigers’ GM.  When the White Sox approached Dombrowski about dealing Chris Sale, however, it was an opportunity Dombrowski couldn’t pass up.  “The Chris Sale trade came out of the blue, because we were not anticipating the White Sox (trying) to trade him and we wanted to get involved and we traded some talent,” Dombrowski said.  While Boston has dealt a lot of blue chip talent, however, it was also firm in holding onto other youngsters that the Red Sox feel are cornerstone pieces, such as Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers.  “I don’t think it was ever tempting to trade Devers,” Dombrowski said. “People continue to ask about him a lot. But we like him a lot, same thing with Benintendi.”

Red Sox Move Drew Pomeranz To Bullpen

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Manager Alex Cora announced today that Drew Pomeranz is being shifted to the bullpen, as Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe was among those to tweet.

The move hardly comes as a surprise by measure of Pomeranz’ merit. After all, the lefty has walked more batters than he’s struck out in three starts since returning from his second stint on the disabled list already this season. On the whole, the 29-year-old has averaged fewer than five innings in his 11 starts on the season while pitching to an eye-popping 6.31 ERA (5.96 FIP). He currently owns a 1-5 record, and although that’s not the greatest measure of a pitcher’s talent, he also allowed at least four earned runs in four of those five losses.

The move will make room for the return of Chris Sale to the rotation when he ultimately returns from the DL this weekend, leaving Rick Porcello, David Price, Brian Johnson and the recently-acquired Nate Eovaldi to round out Boston’s starting five. Though Pomeranz certainly won’t intimidate many hitters coming out of bullpen if he continues to pitch the way he has, it’s interesting to point out that he’ll become the lone left-handed reliever that Sox have on hand. Though his overall 2018 performance has been thoroughly disastrous, a quick look at his splits show that Pomeranz has actually done a reasonable job at getting out opposing left-handed hitters. They own just a 3.61 FIP against him in a limited sample.

Of course, there’s not much in the way of a silver lining for Pomeranz himself. The timing of his struggles couldn’t be worse, as the southpaw is slated to hit free agency at season’s end and previously figured to be one of the most sought-after targets in a thin 2018-2019 free agent starting pitcher class. After some early-career struggles that led to somewhat of a journeyman adventure, Pomeranz caught fire with the Athletics in 2014 and went on to hurl 499 1/3 innings through the end of the 2017 season. During that span, he managed to consistently out-pitch his peripherals and earned a 3.24 ERA mark that bested his FIP by more than half a run. He also struck out more than a batter per inning during that time.

For now, though, it seems as though Pomeranz is destined to pitch out of the bullpen for the remainder of the season. In order to restore his free agent stock, he’ll need to pitch well enough to earn a place in Boston’s playoff rotation, and he’ll face a difficult battle in that area considering how little time he has to make that case.

Drew Pomeranz's Roster Spot In Jeopardy?

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  • Left-hander Drew Pomeranz has been one of the few weak links on this year’s juggernaut Red Sox team, and he may not be long for their roster as a result, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com suggests. Boston has an upcoming 25-man roster crunch, Cotillo points out, and it’s likely Pomeranz, Hector Velazquez or Ryan Brasier won’t survive it. Working in Pomeranz’s favor is that he, unlike fellow hurlers Velazquez and Brasier, is out of minor league options. That means Boston could simply send either Velazquez or Brasier down and keep all three players in the organization. On the other hand, parting with Pomeranz would mean saying goodbye to a player whom the Red Sox paid a high price to acquire from the Padres prior to the 2016 non-waiver trade deadline. Pomeranz was a high-end starter at that point, but injuries and inconsistency have weighed him down in Boston. Thus far in 2018, the 29-year-old pending free agent has posted a 6.31 ERA/5.95 FIP with 7.71 K/9 and 5.61 BB/9 in 51 1/3 innings.

Red Sox Injury Notes: Sale, E-Rod

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After suffering a four-game sweep at Fenway Park, the Yankees are now 9.5 games behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East.  New York has posted only a 18-20 record over its last 38 games, and this slump has not only seemingly put the division title out of reach, but also raised some concern that a turn-around is needed just to ensure a wild card berth.  As the New York Post’s Joel Sherman puts it, “the Red Sox are no longer the Rivals in 2018. The A’s and Mariners are.”  The Yankees are just 2.5 games ahead of the red-hot Athletics for home field advantage in the wild card game, while Seattle (who also been struggling lately) is 2.5 games behind Oakland.  It’s worth remembering, of course, that the Yankees are still 68-42 on the season and one rough series doesn’t write them off as World Series contenders, particularly since the club will eventually get key players like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez back from the disabled list.

  • While Chris Sale won’t be activated from the disabled list as soon as he’s eligible, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato) that the delay isn’t due to any setback with Sale’s shoulder.  The team was simply lining up its rotation so that Sale wouldn’t be starting, and thus batting, during an interleague series in Philadelphia next week.  The ace left-hander will likely make his return to start against the Orioles on August 11 or 12, Cora said.
  • In other Red Sox health news, Eduardo Rodriguez threw 30 pitches off a mound on Sunday and came away “feeling good,” he told reporters (including Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe).  While it isn’t yet certain what the next step in the left-hander’s recovery process will be, or even if Rodriguez will be able to return before August is through, Sunday’s throwing session was a good sign given that Rodriguez looked to have suffered a particularly severe ankle sprain back in mid-July.  Rodriguez hopes to come back as a starter but is open to pitching out of the bullpen; Abraham notes that returning as a reliever would likely mean a shorter rehab process.  One would think that Rodriguez (3.44 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.44 K/BB over 104 2/3 IP) has pitched well enough that the Sox would want him back in the rotation, but with Nathan Eovaldi now in the fold, Rodriguez may have more value in a Boston bullpen that currently lacks any left-handers.

Red Sox Injury Updates: Sale, Devers

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  • Chris Sale will also spend some extra time on the DL, as the Red Sox ace wasn’t listed as a probable starter during Boston’s three-game series in Toronto from Tuesday to Thursday.  (MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith was among those with the information.)  Mild shoulder inflammation sent Sale to the DL on July 31 (retroactive to July 28), and the expectation was that Sale would only miss one start, with a return targeted for Wednesday’s game.  Instead, Brian Johnson will take the hill for the Sox against the Blue Jays.
  • The Red Sox could get third baseman Rafael Devers back for that Wednesday game, as the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato tweets that Devers will rejoin the team in Toronto after playing in a minor league rehab game on Monday.  A hamstring strain sent Devers to the DL on July 28, and Wednesday is the first day he is eligible to return.  Devers also missed some time earlier this month with shoulder inflammation.  The young slugger has been inconsistent (.245/.295/.425 in 396 PA) over his first full Major League season, and his particular struggles against left-handed pitching could put Devers in platoon duty down the stretch rather than an everyday role at third base.

Red Sox Inquired About Kyle Barraclough

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  • The Red Sox inquired about Marlins closer Kyle Barraclough before the deadline, but Boston ultimately “backed off,” Cafardo writes. Barraclough wound up staying with the Marlins, who placed a high asking price on the flamethrowing right-hander. The 28-year-old hasn’t been good of late, as his ERA has skyrocketed from .99 to 3.28 since the beginning of July, but he still comes with a quality track record and affordable team control. As a result, the Marlins elected to keep Barraclough, who will make his first of three possible trips through arbitration during the winter.

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Red Sox Place Ian Kinsler on DL, Pedroia To 60-Day DL

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The Red Sox have officially placed the recently-acquired Ian Kinsler on the disabled list and moved fellow second baseman Dustin Pedroia to the 60-day DL. Infielder Tony Renda has been added to the MLB roster to take Kinsler’s place.

Kinsler, of course, recently came to Boston by way of a July 30th transaction that sent a pair of minor leaguers to the Angels. The Red Sox also received about $1.83MM in the swap. The 36-year-old had already amassed four hits in just 11 plate appearances with the Red Sox and has enjoyed a strong season to date, accruing 2.1 fWAR across the 2018 season in part due to typically stellar defense.

It remains to be seen how the Sox plan to proceed in Kinsler’s absence. The “tight hamstring” probably won’t shelve the veteran for too long, but it’s not as though Boston has a host of capable keystone defenders. Following the removal of Kinsler from last night’s matchup, MVP candidate Mookie Betts shifted from the outfield to second base (his natural position, though one he hasn’t played since 2014).

As for Pedroia, it would appear that recent concerns were not without cause. Following offseason knee surgery, the veteran (and one of the long-time faces of the Red Sox franchise) hasn’t been able to make a clean comeback to the field. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that Pedroia has already been back on the disabled list for over 60 days, so this transfer won’t in and of itself affect his timetable to return to the field. Still, there’s been no word of any change to his status.

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