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Bryan Mata Begins Rehab Assignment

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The Red Sox are approaching a crossroads with regards to right-hander Bryan Mata. As noted by Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Mata has begun a rehab assignment as he works his way back from a hamstring strain that he suffered back in February. The 25-year-old was once one of the club’s top pitching prospects but has struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness over the past two seasons, pitching to a combined 6.39 ERA in 31 innings of work across all levels of he minors since the start of the 2023 campaign.

While the rehab assignment for a struggling pitcher who has yet to make his big league debut wouldn’t typically be especially notable, Mata’s rehab assignment is particularly worth noting because the righty is out of options. Given that, the Red Sox will have to make a decision regarding his future in the organization once his rehab clock runs out on June 12. If the club isn’t willing to offer Mata a spot on the active roster, they’ll need to designate him for assignment and risk losing him on waivers to get the chance to outright the young righty to the minor leagues. MassLive’s Sean McAdam reported back in February that the Red Sox expect Mata to be claimed if he’s exposed to waivers, though it’s possible that could change depending on how he looks throughout his rehab assignment.

Losing Mata on waivers would be a frustrating outcome for the Red Sox given the tantalizing talent he flashed prior to injuries sidetracking his career. In his most recent healthy season, the right-hander pitched to a strong 2.49 ERA in 83 innings while advancing through four levels of the minor leagues, including a 1.85 ERA in 10 appearances at the Double-A level and a 3.47 ERA in five starts at Triple-A. That season, Mata struck out a whopping 30.3% of batters faced, albeit with an elevated 13.3% walk rate. If the righty can get anything close to those huge strikeout numbers during his rehab assignment, it could certainly make sense for the club to offer him a role in the bullpen given the number of optionable relief arms they’re currently utilizing.

Red Sox Shut Down Garrett Whitlock Due To Elbow Soreness

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The Red Sox are pausing Garrett Whitlock’s throwing program after the right-hander reported elbow soreness, manager Alex Cora told reporters on Friday (link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). He’ll head for imaging over the weekend to determine the severity.

Whitlock has spent exactly one month on the injured list, but not for an elbow problem. A left oblique strain knocked him out of action after four starts. He made a rehab appearance at Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday. Whitlock looked good in that outing, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Cora indicated he felt fine during the appearance before experiencing the elbow discomfort the following day.

Boston expected that Whitlock would return to the MLB rotation at the start of next week. That’s no longer the case. The test results will determine how long he’s out of action. Whitlock had two elbow-related injured list stints in 2023, the latter of which cost him five weeks between July and August. Back in 2019, he underwent Tommy John surgery while a prospect in the Yankee organization. Ironically, that procedure is likely a big reason Whitlock ever landed in Boston, as it presumably contributed to New York’s mistake of leaving him off their 40-man roster before the 2020 Rule 5 draft.

Whitlock hasn’t had a full season as a starting pitcher since his time in the minors. He was an excellent multi-inning relief weapon for his first two MLB campaigns. Boston gave him 10 starts last year before his July injured list placement. He worked out of the bullpen after returning. The Sox moved him back into the starting staff to open this year. He allowed only four runs in 18 1/3 innings prior to the oblique injury.

Cooper Criswell has stepped into the rotation behind Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck. Signed to a $1MM contract last winter after being non-tendered by the Rays, Criswell has been quietly excellent through his first 29 1/3 frames for the Sox. He owns a 2.76 ERA with a solid 23.3% strikeout percentage and a tidy 5.8% walk rate.

Red Sox Activate Brayan Bello From Injured List

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The Red Sox announced this morning that the club has activated right-hander Brayan Bello from the 15-day injured list. Right-hander Josh Winckowski was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move. Bello is slated to start this afternoon’s game against the Nationals at Fenway Park.

Bello, who will celebrate his 25th birthday later this week, has been on the shelf since late April due to a bout of lat tightness. Prior to the injury, the young righty had pitched solidly through five starts with the Red Sox this year with a 3.04 ERA and 4.06 FIP in 26 2/3 innings of work. He’s struck out a respectable 23.6% of batters faced and generated groundballs at a 51.3% clip during that time, although a whopping 19% of his fly balls leaving the yard for home runs stands out as a potential red flag in an otherwise impressive early-season performance.

That success on the mound has been par for the course among Red Sox starters this year, as the club’s 2.42 rotation ERA is the best figure in the majors to this point in the season thanks to excellent starts from the likes of Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck. With righty Nick Pivetta having also been activated from the injured list in recent days, the club’s rotation is once again approaching full strength. While righty Garrett Whitlock remains on the shelf due to an oblique strain, righty Cooper Criswell has performed admirably in his absence with a 2.10 ERA and 3.94 FIP in 25 2/3 innings of work.

Making room for Bello on the active roster is Winckowski, who will turn 26 next month. It’s a somewhat surprising move given his success over the past two seasons. The righty was among the best multi-inning relief arms in all of baseball last year as he posted a 2.88 ERA with a 3.91 FIP in 84 1/3 innings of work across 60 appearances. He hasn’t quite kept that performance up this year, although he’s still enjoyed solid results with a 3.33 ERA and 4.27 FIP in 24 1/3 innings of work.

While that sort of performance would seem to warrant a spot in the club’s bullpen over other optionable arms such as Cam Booser, it’s worth noting that Winckowski’s peripherals have taken a significant turn for the worse this year. The right-hander has struggled to miss bats this year as his strikeout rate has fallen from a respectable 22.3% last year all the way to just 16.8% this season. Meanwhile, his walk rate has ticked up from 8.4% to 9.7% and his groundball rate has dropped more than five points after sitting at a strong 51.2% last season. Those shaky peripheral numbers suggest that regression may have been on the horizon for Winckowski had he remained in the majors, a possibility supported by is elevated 4.53 xFIP and 5.43 xERA.

Going forward, Winckowski will head to the Triple-A level and look to recapture what made him such an effective reliever for the club last season while acting as an optionable depth arm for the club to lean on alongside former NPB starter Naoyuki Uwasawa. Meanwhile, the Red Sox appear poised to lean on right-hander Justin Slaten to fill the sort of high leverage, multi-inning role they turned to Winckowski for last year. Slaten has impressed in 13 contests this year with a 1.74 ERA and 2.34 FIP in 20 2/3 innings of work.

Masataka Yoshida Avoids Surgery On Thumb, Facing Extended Absence

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Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida was placed on the injured list at the start of May due to a sprained left thumb, but after he underwent an MRI it was reported that he would be receiving a second opinion on the injury, with surgery potentially on the table. That ominous signal eventually gave way to a more positive update yesterday after Boston received a third opinion on the injury, with Christopher Smith of MassLive among those to relay that manager Alex Cora told reporters Yoshida’s injury would not require surgery.

While the most worrisome outcome is now off the table for Yoshida, that isn’t saving him from an extended absence. Cora told reporters (including Smith) that the 30-year-old figures to return this season but also noted that the club will “see how he feels in a few weeks.” In the meantime, Cora added, Yoshida won’t be swinging the bat at all. With even the most optimistic reading of that language suggesting the earliest Yoshida could resume full baseball activities is early June, it appears safe to assume that he’ll have missed at least two months with the injury when all is said and done.

The lengthy absence comes at an unfortunate time for both Yoshida and the Red Sox. Now in the second season of his five-year, $90MM pact with Boston, Yoshida got off to a rough start this season with a .229/.302/.271 slash line in his first 53 trips to the plate this season but had begun to heat up in recent weeks, hitting a scorching .344/.417/.563 in his final ten games before being placed on the injured list. If Yoshida was beginning to get into a groove, it would’ve been a relief for a Red Sox offense that had recently lost young slugger Triston Casas to a rib fracture that figures to keep him out of action for the next several weeks, if not longer.

Without Yoshida and Casas in the mix for at-bats, the Red Sox have turned to players outside the organization to add some thump to the lineup. The club acquired first baseman Garrett Cooper from the Cubs and signed Dominic Smith to a one-year deal in recent weeks, though Cooper has hit a paltry .130/.231/.174 in 26 trips to the plate since arriving in Boston while Smith has similarly struggled to a .190/.227/.238 slash line so far in his Red Sox tenure. Both players’ struggles come in microscopic sample sizes and could certainly turn around in the coming weeks, but the tepid starts to their seasons do little to instill confidence in either player as quality options for regular at bats in the middle of the lineup.

Unfortunately, the club’s options in terms of internal help are fairly minimal. Infielders Bobby Dalbec and Enmanuel Valdez are on the 40-man roster at Triple-A, but both players faced even deeper struggles during cameos at the big league level than Cooper and Smith are currently scuffling through. First base prospect Niko Kavadas is hitting well at the Triple-A level this season and could be a potential solution, but the 25-year-old is not yet on the club’s 40-man roster and sports an unsustainable .375 BABIP that’s helped to bolster his numbers.

The Red Sox’ Surprising Rotation Anchors

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The Red Sox are out to a decent start in 2024. Despite dropping five of their last six, they’re above .500 at 19-18. They’re currently in third place in a division where most observers felt they’d finish fourth or fifth. That’s a credit to a pitching staff that leads the majors with a 2.75 earned run average.

Boston’s bullpen looked solid coming into the year, yet the rotation was more of a question mark. It wasn’t that the group was devoid of talent. It was light on pitchers with a proven track record as starters, though, particularly after Lucas Giolito went down for the season in Spring Training. That left the Sox relying on a handful of pitchers who’d been productive as relievers to shoulder important rotation jobs. They’ve delivered thus far, with Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford out to particularly excellent starts.

Houck and Crawford are the only members of Boston’s season-opening rotation who haven’t spent time on the injured list. Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello and Nick Pivetta have all missed time. (Pivetta returned on Wednesday and Bello could be back by the weekend.) Houck wasn’t even a lock for the Opening Day starting five until Giolito’s injury. By all accounts, the Sox rotation should have struggled to this point.

Instead, they easily lead the majors with a 2.33 ERA. That’s at least partially a reflection of their usage. Only the White Sox — whose rotation has been one of the league’s worst — have allowed their starters to face an opposing hitter for a third time in an outing less often. Alex Cora is getting to the bullpen early, which takes some of the higher-pressure at-bats off the rotation. Yet that doesn’t entirely detract from how effective Boston’s starters have been.

Crawford, 28, has appeared in parts of four seasons. He held a rotation spot from June onward last year, turning in solid if unexciting results. Over 23 starts, he worked to a 4.51 ERA with an above-average 26.2% strikeout rate. It was enough for the Sox to guarantee him a rotation spot even when they expected Giolito would be healthy. He went into 2024 with a season-opening starting job for the first time in his career.

The right-hander has doubled down on last year’s success. Through eight starts, he carries a 1.75 ERA that ranks seventh among qualified starters. He has fanned 24.3% of opponents and is generating swinging strikes at a solid 12.3% clip. Crawford has held opponents to two or fewer runs in seven of his appearances.

Crawford probably isn’t an ace. He’s not missing bats at the level associated with the game’s truly elite pitchers. He’s a fly-ball pitcher who’ll surely allow a few more home runs over the course of the year. Crawford looks like a legitimate mid-rotation arm, though. He’s attacking hitters with more offspeed stuff — part of a team-wide philosophical shift under new pitching coach Andrew Bailey — and has done an excellent job staying off barrels. That’s true against left-handed and righty batters alike, making it difficult for opponents to play matchups and allowing him to at least work through the batting order twice in a start.

That has also been true for Houck, at least this season. Concerns about the right-hander’s low arm angle and heavy reliance on a sinker/slider combination have led some evaluators to project him to the bullpen going back to his college days in Missouri. It’s difficult to avoid huge platoon splits with that kind of profile. Left-handed batters can identify the ball early in his delivery. For most of his career, Houck hasn’t had a pitch to keep opposing southpaws at bay.

Houck kicked between starting and relief over his first three-plus seasons. He worked out of the rotation for all 21 of his appearances last year but struggled to a 5.01 ERA. Handling left-handed hitters was indeed an issue. Through the end of the 2023 season, Houck stifled righties to a .214/.282/.283 batting line behind a 27.4% strikeout rate. Lefty batters turned in a much more productive .251/.343/.420 slash while striking out 22% of the time. Lefties drew more walks and hit for much more power against him.

That hasn’t been the case this season. While Houck has still been better against right-handed hitters in 2024, that’s more a reflection of his dominance against everyone than any kind of issue handling southpaws. Houck is holding left-handers to a .227/.279/.258 slash in 104 plate appearances. His 21.2% strikeout rate isn’t great, but he has more than halved his walks and pushed his ground-ball percentage north of 60%. Even if they’re still putting the ball in play at a decent clip, lefty batters aren’t doing any kind of damage. (Houck has completely befuddled right-handed opponents, limiting them to a .203/.234/.284 mark behind a huge 31.2% strikeout rate.)

As is the case with Crawford, Houck has found that new level by moving away from his heater. Houck has essentially doubled the usage of his splitter against left-handed batters while scaling back on his fastball and cutter. The split isn’t a new pitch — he has had it throughout his career — but he’s getting more downward action on it. The uptick in its deployment suggests Houck is far more comfortable with the pitch than he’d been before this year.

Whether Crawford and Houck can maintain an upper mid-rotation pace or better over a full schedule remains to be seen. Neither pitcher has yet reached 130 major league innings in a season. Opposing lineups will adjust to their heavier reliance on offspeed stuff, and league-wide offense generally improves as the weather warms. They’ve each been among the best pitchers in the majors through six weeks, though. These kinds of breakouts are necessary for a team to outperform expectations and stick in the playoff mix against the odds.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Braves Acquire Zack Short From Red Sox

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The Red Sox have traded infielder Zack Short to the Braves in exchange for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs. Boston had designated him for assignment earlier this week. Atlanta opened up a roster spot earlier today by trading Luis Guillorme to the Angels.

Short, 29 this month, is a utility player with a distinctly patient approach at the plate. He has 469 career plate appearances, walking in 11.5% of those but also striking out at a 29.4% clip. He has only swung at 20.9% of pitches outside the zone. Among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances since the start of 2021, only seven batters have chased less. And one of those is Brett Gardner, who hasn’t played since 2021.

Despite the keen eye, Short hasn’t been able to produce much at the big league level. He currently has a career batting line of .169/.262/.299. The results have been a bit better at Triple-A, as he has slashed .226/.361/.397 there since the start of 2021. His 16.2% walk rate at that level helped him produce a 106 wRC+, though he was also punched out at a 26.6% clip.

In addition to an intriguing approach at the plate, Short also provides defensive versatility. At the major league level, he’s played the three infield positions to the left of first base, as well as center and right field. He’s also spent a bit of time in left field in the minors.

Short exhausted his final option year with the Tigers in 2023 and is now out of options. That has led to him bouncing around the league since the end of last season. The Mets claimed him from the Tigers in November but then designated him for assignment at the end of April when J.D. Martinez was ready for his team debut. He was traded to the Red Sox for cash but only lasted on that roster for a week before being designated for assignment again.

It’s entirely possible that he ends up in DFA limbo again on account of his out-of-options status, but he’ll join Atlanta’s roster for now. The club has a lineup full of stars but Short will take over Guillorme’s previous role as a versatile bench piece alongside Luke Williams. If Short lasts on the roster all year, he can be retained for future seasons since he has less than two years of major league service time.

Red Sox Designate Zack Short For Assignment

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May 8: The Red Sox made the official announcement today. Pivetta and Gonzalez were both activated with Short designated for assignment and Uwasawa optioned.

May 7: The Red Sox will designate infielder Zack Short for assignment, reports Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe (X link). Boston also optioned right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa to Triple-A Worcester. The moves clear active roster spots for Romy Gonzalez and Nick Pivetta, each of whom will return from the injured list before tomorrow’s game in Atlanta.

Short is out of minor league options, so the Sox didn’t have the ability to send him to Worcester without taking him off the 40-man roster. That out-of-options status contributed to him landing in Boston in the first place. The Mets designated Short for assignment two weeks ago. Boston acquired him for cash on May 1.

The 28-year-old appeared twice for the Sox, going hitless with four strikeouts in seven at-bats. He has only tallied 19 plate appearances all season between New York and Boston. The majority of Short’s big league playing time came with the Tigers a year ago. In 253 trips to the plate, he hit .204/.292/.339 with an elevated 26.1% strikeout rate. Short drew a decent number of walks but didn’t make much of an impact when he put the ball in play.

Teams have nevertheless been intrigued by his ability to handle multiple spots on the infield. He has nearly 600 innings of career shortstop work and more than 200 frames at both second and third base. His defensive grades are mixed. Statcast has given him average marks for his second and third base work while rating him as a below-average shortstop. Defensive Runs Saved has been more favorable, crediting him with average shortstop defense and well above-average work at the keystone.

The Sox will trade Short or place him on waivers within the next few days. He has yet to clear waivers despite being designated for assignment by each of Detroit, New York and now Boston since the end of last season.

Pivetta will take the ball tomorrow, his first MLB start in a little more than a month. The right-hander suffered a flexor strain, but the Sox expressed confidence it was a mild issue that wouldn’t necessitate a long-term absence. He’ll rejoin a rotation that has been arguably the best in the majors in 2024. Pivetta, an impending free agent, was brilliant in his first two starts. He allowed only one run in 11 innings with 13 strikeouts and one walk.

Red Sox Outright Vladimir Gutierrez, Pablo Reyes

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Red Sox righty Vladimir Gutierrez went unclaimed on outright waivers and has accepted an assignment to Triple-A Worcester, reports Francys Romero. Boston designated him for assignment last week. Also sticking with the organization following a DFA is utilityman Pablo Reyes, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Like Gutierrez, he went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Worcester. Either player could’ve rejected the assignment in favor of free agency, but they’ll stick with the organization and no longer require 40-man spots.

Now 28 years old, Gutierrez was a high-profile signing out of Cuba back in 2016, when the Reds gave him a $4.75MM bonus and paid a 100% tax on top of that sum. He was one of Cincinnati’s top pitching prospects for a few years but wound up giving them just 150 2/3 innings of 5.44 ERA ball while posting strikeout and walk rates of 17.3% and 10.4%, respectively — both worse than the league average.

Despite those struggles, Gutierrez would surely have received a longer look with the Reds if not for injuries. A torn ulnar collateral ligament in 2022 led to Tommy John surgery. Gutierrez returned to the mound to toss a handful of minor league innings last September but didn’t get back to the big leagues. He was removed from Cincinnati’s 40-man roster and became a free agent following the season. After a few showcases for big league scouts, he signed a minor league deal with the Marlins. He’s since bounced from Miami, to Milwaukee, to Boston via waivers and will now stay put in Worcester for the time being.

The 30-year-old Reyes has been with the Sox since 2023 but hasn’t been able to follow up on a solid .287/.339/.377 slash he posted in 185 plate appearances last season. He hit just .183/.234/.217 in his first 64 trips to the plate this season while fanning at a 29.7% clip that’s nearly triple his 11.4% mark from the prior season.

Reyes has appeared in six straight big league seasons, but last year’s 185 plate appearances were the most he’s accrued in a single season. Overall, he’s taken 572 turns at the plate in the majors and produced a .248/.309/.349 batting line between the Pirates, Brewers and BoSox. The versatile Reyes has appeared at every position on the diamond except for catcher. His career numbers at third base are particularly solid, though he made a few costly errors there earlier this season.

Red Sox Notes: Grissom, Pivetta, Bello, Yoshida

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Vaughn Grissom will make his Red Sox debut tonight against the Twins. Boston reinstated the young infielder from the 10-day injured list, optioning Bobby Dalbec to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding move. Grissom gets the nod at the keystone and is hitting seventh against Chris Paddack.

Acquired from the Braves for Chris Sale, Grissom entered camp as Boston’s expected second baseman. Groin and hamstring issues (plus a recent bout with the flu) kept him off the field for the first five weeks. That paired with a season-ending injury to Trevor Story to leave the Sox very shorthanded in the middle infield. They moved Ceddanne Rafaela in to handle shortstop.

It’s been more of a revolving door at second base, where no one has produced. Boston second basemen are hitting an MLB-worst .179/.202/.299 over 125 plate appearances. Enmanuel Valdez and Pablo Reyes took the majority of those reps. Valdez was recently optioned, while Reyes has been designated for assignment.

Grissom, 23, brings quite a bit more offensive upside. He’s coming off a .330/.419/.501 line in Triple-A in the Atlanta system. The Braves’ loaded infield limited him to 64 big league contests over the past two seasons, but he turned in a solid .287/.339/.407 showing. Grissom collected 10 hits (eight singles and two doubles) over nine games on his minor league rehab stint.

Manager Alex Cora provided positive updates on a handful of injured pitchers this evening (link via MassLive’s Christopher Smith). Nick Pivetta is expected to return to the rotation during next week’s series in Atlanta. The righty tossed three innings in a rehab start with Worcester yesterday. While the results weren’t good — he allowed four runs on three hits and four walks — the Sox don’t feel he needs another minor league appearance. Pivetta dominated through two starts before a mild flexor strain sent him to the IL on April 9.

Brayan Bello and Garrett Whitlock are a bit further behind, but both are set to take steps in their respective recoveries. Bello, who went on the shelf on April 21 with lat tightness, will make one rehab start at Double-A Portland and could return to Boston by the end of next week. Whitlock is set to throw a bullpen session tomorrow, his first mound work since an oblique strain knocked him out on April 17.

Despite the injuries, the Red Sox’s rotation has been fantastic. Boston starters enter play Friday with an MLB-best 2.03 ERA. They’re ninth in strikeout rate and sixth in strikeout/walk rate differential. Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck have each logged around 40 innings of sub-2.00 ERA ball. Bello, Whitlock and Pivetta were each performing well before going on the IL. Depth arms Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski have stepped in effectively in their respective trio of starts.

The news wasn’t universally positive for Boston, however. Designated hitter Masataka Yoshida is heading for a second opinion after his recent IL placement, tweets the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham. The Sox initially announced his injury as a left thumb sprain. It’s not entirely clear what the initial evaluation suggested, but news of a second opinion is at least somewhat alarming.

Yoshida started the season slowly but had begun to find his form before the injury. He’s hitting .275/.348/.388 over 89 plate appearances for the year. Injuries to Yoshida and Triston Casas led the Sox to go outside the organization for Garrett Cooper and Dominic Smith to split playing time between first base and DH.

Red Sox Outright Joely Rodriguez

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The Red Sox have sent reliever Joely Rodríguez outright to Triple-A Worcester, tweets MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. Boston had designated the left-hander for assignment over the weekend.

Rodríguez signed a minor league deal with the Sox over the offseason. Boston carried him on the Opening Day roster to keep him from opting out and retesting free agency. That didn’t work as the team hoped, as he surrendered 12 runs (eight earned) over 11 innings. Rodríguez ran an 11:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio and induced grounders on over 55% of batted balls, but the Red Sox clearly weren’t overly bullish on his chance to get back on track.

It is the second straight season in which Rodríguez struggled over an 11-inning stint for Boston. Oblique, shoulder and hip injuries kept him to just 11 appearances a year ago. Rodríguez also allowed eight earned runs in that season, which came on the heels of a $2MM major league free agent deal. He divided the 2021-22 seasons between the Rangers and the two New York franchises, combining for a 4.56 ERA across 107 appearances.

Rodríguez has the requisite three years of major league service to decline an outright assignment, but he has not crossed the five-year threshold necessary to retain his salary if he does so. If Rodríguez accepts the assignment, he’ll join Lucas Luetge as a veteran non-roster southpaw in Worcester. Boston has Brennan Bernardino and Cam Booser in the big league bullpen. They acquired Bailey Horn from the White Sox earlier this week. He’s on the 40-man but was immediately optioned to Worcester and hasn’t yet pitched in the big leagues.

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