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Kutter Crawford

Red Sox Notes: Crawford, Mills, Wong, Tapia

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Right-hander Kutter Crawford will begin the season in the Red Sox’s rotation, manager Alex Cora confirmed (link via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). He’s expected to take the ball for the fourth game of the season, the opener of a series against the Pirates.

It’s not likely to be a long-term stint. Crawford steps in with Garrett Whitlock and Brayan Bello both opening the year on the 15-day injured list. Whitlock, in particular, is expected back midway through the season’s first month. Assuming each of Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta remain healthy by that point, Crawford could find himself in long relief or optioned back to Triple-A Worcester. Potential returns from Bello and James Paxton later on would push him further down the depth chart.

Crawford, 27 next month, started 12 of 21 outings for the Sox last season. He pitched to a 5.47 ERA in 77 1/3 innings overall, though his 23.1% strikeout percentage and 8.7% walk rate were both solid. He predictably missed more bats in relief than he did as a starter but threw more strikes when working from the rotation.

In other news out of Boston:

  • Reliever Wyatt Mills has been shut down from throwing after experiencing elbow inflammation, Speier writes. Fortunately, the issue is believed to be muscular rather than structural. Mills still seems likely to open the season on the 15-day IL but there doesn’t appear to be concern about a long-term absence in spite of the ominous-sounding diagnosis. Boston acquired the righty from the Royals over the winter, sending minor league reliever Jacob Wallace back to Kansas City. Mills split the 2022 campaign between Seattle and K.C., throwing 29 1/3 frames of 4.60 ERA ball. He still has a minor league option year remaining and wasn’t a lock to crack the season-opening bullpen.
  • Catcher Connor Wong was hampered by a left hamstring strain early in camp. While the issue initially seemed as if it could lead to a season-opening IL stint, Wong now looks on track to be ready for Opening Day. Cora told reporters yesterday the 26-year-old backstop was a “full go” at this point (relayed by Ian Browne of MLB.com). With a week left until the start of the regular season, he should be in position to open the year on the roster. Wong and Reese McGuire are the two backstops on the 40-man. The catching outlook is one area the Sox will have to sort out in the coming days, as Boston could lose minor league signee Jorge Alfaro to an upward mobility clause in his contract if they’re not willing to put him on the MLB club. Alfaro has been on a tear in Spring Training, collecting 11 hits (including two homers) in 21 at-bats.
  • Like Alfaro, Raimel Tapia is a veteran in camp on a minor league deal. The lefty-hitting outfielder is battling for a depth role behind the presumptive starting outfield of Masataka Yoshida, Adam Duvall and Alex Verdugo. Righty-swinging Rob Refsnyder is a virtual lock to secure a bench role, as is a backup catcher. That’d leave two spots, one of which seems likely to go to an infielder. Tapia brings plus contact skills and speed, though he’s not a prototypical fourth outfielder considering he’s spent the bulk of his career in left field. Chad Jennings of the Athletic writes that Boston is increasingly open to using Tapia in center field, where he played a career-high 249 2/3 innings for Toronto last season. That would increase his chances of making the roster, particularly since his skillset would be complementary to that of Duvall. Tapia is 13-40 with two walks, six strikeouts and a pair of homers this spring.

Latest On The Red Sox’ Rotation

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The Red Sox’ rotation will likely be down several starters to begin the season, as MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo writes that each of Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello and James Paxton are expected to begin the season on the injured list. Paxton had already been trending in this direction, but Whitlock and Bello now join him in missing at least the beginning of the 2023 season. Cotillo notes that Whitlock, who got a late start while recovering from hip surgery is expected to be ready sometime in mid-April. Bello, who battled forearm tightness early in camp, should follow shortly thereafter. Paxton isn’t expected to return until May at the earliest.

The Red Sox announced this week that offseason signee Corey Kluber would get the nod on Opening Day. Left-hander Chris Sale, eyeing for a rebound campaign after a dreadful run of injuries in recent seasons, is slated to start the second game of the season. Righties Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck and likely Kutter Crawford should round out the quintet to begin the year.

With Whitlock and Bello both expected to return by the end of the season’s first month, though, the rotation will likely be reconfigured early in the regular season. Crawford, who struggled to a 5.47 ERA in 77 2/3 frames last season, figures to be the odd man out once either Whitlock or Bello is able to reclaim a  spot in the starting staff. In that case, Crawford would figure to serve as optionable rotation depth alongside Josh Winckowski.

Assuming everyone remains healthy by the time both Whitlock and Bello are ready to return, the Sox will be faced with a decision between Houck and Pivetta for the final rotation spot. Pivetta made a league-leading 33 starts last season and paced the team with 179 2/3 innings pitched. That impressive volume came with mediocre results, however, as the right-hander posted a slightly below-average 4.56 ERA during the 2022 campaign.

Houck, meanwhile, has been a successful pitcher both as a starter (3.22 ERA in 92 1/3 innings) and a reliever (2.68 ERA in 53 2/3 innings) to this point in his career. The former first-rounder has long been seen as a potential rotation piece at Fenway, but the Red Sox were noncommittal early in the offseason when asked about his role. Houck also had back surgery late last season and ended the year on the injured list after making 28 of his 32 appearances as a reliever. It’s easy to see why the Sox would be intrigued by the idea of Houck upping his workload this year and even getting some more run in the starting staff, but he’s coming off a 60-inning season that ended in back surgery; a jump to a full starter’s workload would be something of a surprise.

Of course, this needn’t be a strict either-or proposition. Situations like this tend to work themselves out, often as injuries pop up elsewhere on a pitching staff. Getting Houck some early rotation work and perhaps moving him to a multi-inning relief/sixth starter role once everyone is healthy would be a good means of managing his workload as he ramps up from last year’s 60 innings.

Even if the plan is to ride Houck as a starter as long as possible, that doesn’t mean Pivetta will be decidedly forced out of the rotation. Given that each of Sale, Whitlock, Bello, Houck, Kluber and especially Paxton have some notable injuries within the past few seasons, it’s likely the Sox will need to shuffle through quite a few starters. All six of their top options figure to spend ample time in the rotation this summer, and they’ll also have depth options like Crawford, Winckowski, Brandon Walter, Chris Murphy and Bryan Mata as candidates for rotation work down in the minors.

The Volatile Red Sox Rotation

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The Red Sox have been one of the more capricious teams in recent history. This millenium has seen them win the World Series four times but also finish fifth in the American League East five times. The past five seasons have seen them go from winning it all in 2018 to missing the playoffs in 2019, falling to last in 2020, back to the playoffs in 2021 but then back to the basement last year.

That mercurial nature seems to be embodied in this year’s rotation. There’s plenty of talent but also plenty of risk. It wouldn’t be a total shock to see this group be completely dominant or an utter disaster. Let’s take a look at the candidates and their respective error bars.

Chris Sale

From 2012 to 2018, Sale was one of the best pitchers in the league. He tossed 1,388 innings over that stretch with a 2.91 ERA, 30.2% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate and 42.7% ground ball rate. His 39.2 fWAR in that period was bested only by Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer.

Unfortunately, that’s starting to feel like ancient history now. Sale struggled in 2019 with a 4.40 ERA over 25 starts. That was the “juiced ball” season and his 19.5% HR/FB rate was a career high, so perhaps it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, but ERA estimators still pointed to him taking a step back from his previous work. The three subsequent seasons have been mostly lost to injuries, with Sale undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2020. He returned in 2021 and made nine starts that year, but then the injury bug came back the next season. A right rib stress fracture put him on the injured list to start the year, and then he was hit by a comebacker when he returned and suffered a left fifth finger fracture. While on the IL with that finger injury, he fractured his right wrist in a bicycle accident.

Some of those injuries are of the fluky variety and don’t necessarily point to any irreversible core issue. However, Sale will turn 34 years old in March and has pitched less than 50 major league innings in the past three years, including just 5 2/3 last year. It’s difficult to know what to expect from him after so little recent work, and even if he’s in good form, will he eventually hit some kind of wall? Either mandated by the club or just a physical limit?

James Paxton

Paxton is in a fairly similar situation to Sale, though his previous highs aren’t quite as high. From 2016 to 2019, he posted a 3.60 ERA over 568 innings. He struck out 28.5% of batters he faced while walking just 6.7% and got grounders at a 42.6% clip. His 15.1 fWAR in that period was 12th among all pitchers in the league. But various arm injuries have limited him to just six starts since then, with his last in April of 2021. He required Tommy John at that time and was on his way back last year but suffered a lat tear during his rehab.

The Sox could have locked him in for another two seasons by triggering a $26MM option but made the obvious choice to turn that down. Paxton then turned down a chance to return to free agency by triggering his $4MM player option for this year. Like Sale, he’s coming off three mostly lost seasons and will be 34 this year, but he’ll be almost two years removed from his last major league appearance once the season begins. Will he be able to get things back on track and, if so, for how long?

Corey Kluber

Kluber’s arc has some echoes of the two guys already mentioned in this piece, though with more optimistic developments recently. From 2014 to 2018, he made 160 starts with a 2.85 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate. His 30.3 fWAR just nudged out Sale and trailed only Scherzer and Kershaw.

But after that, a forearm fracture and teres major muscle tear limited him to just eight starts over 2019 and 2020. He got back on track somewhat in 2021, as a shoulder strain sent him to the IL for about three months, but he still made 16 starts with a 3.83 ERA. He stayed healthy enough to take the ball 31 times last year, posting a 4.34 ERA. That came with excellent control as he walked just 3% of batters, but his strikeouts were down to a 20.2% clip.

Those past couple of seasons are encouraging but Kluber turns 37 in April. His fastball averaged 88.9 mph last year, well down from his 94-95 mph peak form. He seems like he has the ability to succeed despite that diminished stuff, but that will likely become more challenging over time, even if he does stay healthy.

Nick Pivetta

Compared to the three previous pitchers on this list, Pivetta is the picture of reliability. He hasn’t been to the injured list for a non-COVID reason during his time in the majors, which began in 2017.

However, that might be his best asset, as he hasn’t exactly wowed with the results. He has a 5.02 ERA for his career and registered a 4.56 mark last year. His 22.6% strikeout rate was slightly better than that of the average starter last year, but his 9.4% walk rate and 38.5% ground ball rate were both a few points worse. He’s not terribly exciting but there’s certainly value to that kind of steadiness, especially amid this erratic group.

Garrett Whitlock

Whitlock had a great season in 2021 after being plucked from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft. He tossed 73 1/3 innings over 46 relief appearances with a 1.96 ERA, 27.2% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 49.7% ground ball rate. He began 2022 back in the bullpen but the Sox tried stretching him out midseason. He made nine starts before a hip issue sent him to the injured list in June. He returned in July but was kept in a relief role until the hip issue put him on the IL again in September. He underwent surgery for that hip at that time but is expected to be ready for spring.

The club plans on implementing him as a starter here in 2023, which will be an interesting experiment. The 120 2/3 innings he threw in the minors in 2018 are the most in a single season on his résumé, as he’s been in the 70-80 range since then. With just those nine big league starts to his name, can he suddenly jump to a full starter’s workload? And even if he can, will he be able to maintain the same quality of of work that he did in relief in 2021-22?

Tanner Houck

Houck is in a fairly similar boat to Whitlock, as there are intriguing results there but it’s tough to map out the best path forward. He has a 3.02 ERA in 146 innings for his career thus far, striking out 27.6% of batters faced, walking 8.7% and getting grounders at a 49.3% rate. That work has involved 20 starts and 33 relief appearances. The splits aren’t huge, as he has a 3.22 ERA as a starter and a 2.68 out of the ’pen. He dealt with lingering back issues last year that sent him to the injured list in August and he ultimately underwent surgery in September.

The club has indicated they may stretch Houck out as a starter in camp but move him to the bullpen if the five guys ahead of him are all healthy. That still leaves a decent chance of him spending some time in the rotation this year. He made just four starts last year and hasn’t reached 120 innings in any of his professional seasons.

Brayan Bello/Kutter Crawford/Josh Winckowski

These three all have made their major league debuts but likely need more time to develop. Bello registered a 4.71 ERA last year, with Crawford at 5.47 and Winckowski at 5.89. They all have options and might be in the minors to start the year. But given the unstable nature of the arms ahead of them on the depth chart, there’s a chance they will be needed at some point.

Brandon Walter/Bryan Mata/Chris Murphy

These three are all on the 40-man but have yet to reach the majors. Walter and Murphy just got added in November to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Walter has just nine Double-A starts and two at Triple-A, meaning he likely won’t be lined up for his debut in the immediate future. Murphy made 15 Triple-A starts last year but put up a 5.50 ERA in that time. Mata underwent Tommy John in April of 2021 and was able to return last year and toss 83 innings in the minors, but he has just five Triple-A starts to his name thus far. This group could be called upon if things really go south, but they will likely be behind the Bello/Crawford/Winckowski trio unless things shift as the season progresses.

_____

As mentioned off the top, there’s plenty of talent here but there are so many ways this could play out. Five years ago, Sale, Paxton and Kluber would have been a dominant front three but the odds of them all suddenly clicking into their previous ace levels are low. Whitlock and Houck have had tantalizing results but each is coming off a season ended by surgery and both are generally unproven as starters over any kind of meaningful stretch. The younger depth options could always take a step forward and seize a job but they probably can’t be counted on yet.

It seems the error bars are quite wide for the Sox going into 2023. Center field and shortstop will be manned by players with minimal experience at those positions in Adam Duvall and Enrique Hernández, respectively. Their first baseman will be Triston Casas, who has 27 MLB games to his name. Their left fielder will be Masataka Yoshida, attempting to make the transition from NPB to MLB. They’re hoping to get some kind of contribution from Adalberto Mondesi, who’s been limited to just 50 games over the past two years combined. There’s uncertainty all over the place, including the rotation. In a style that fits the organization, they could have a miracle season or it could all go horribly wrong.

Red Sox Promote Triston Casas

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TODAY: Casas’ promotion was officially announced, with the Red Sox also calling up Josh Winckowski from Triple-A.  Houck was indeed moved to the 60-day IL, Dalbec was optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Kutter Crawford was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement.  Crawford was supposed to start today’s game against the Rangers but Sox manager Alex Cora said yesterday that the righty would be scratched.  Winckowski will instead make today’s start.

SEPTEMBER 3: The Red Sox are going to add first base prospect Triston Casas to the team tomorrow, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. That report has been confirmed by Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe, who adds that Bobby Dalbec will be optioned to Triple-A Worcester. Casas is not currently on the club’s 40-man roster, meaning they will have to open a spot for him. However, it would likely come down to transferring someone to the 60-day IL, such as Tanner Houck, who was previously reported to be done for the season.

Casas, 22, was selected by Boston in the first round of the 208 draft, 26th overall. He got a brief showing in rookie ball that year and jumped to A-ball to start 2019. He hit 19 home runs for the Greenville Drive while slashing .254/.349/.472, producing a wRC+ of 136 and earning a brief promotion to High-A to finish the year.

After that strong showing in his first full season as a professional, he was ranked the #70 prospect in the sport by Baseball America. Of course, the minor league seasons were canceled that year by the pandemic, preventing Casas from playing organized ball that season. In 2021, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 14 homers and slashing .279/.394/.484. He walked in 15.4% of his plate appearances while striking out in just 19.1% of them, producing a wRC+ of 141.

After that excellent season, he jumped up to #19 on BA’s 2022 top prospects list and seemed a candidate to make his major league debut this season. The Red Sox stuck with Dalbec as their first baseman to start the year and Casas was taken off the table when he suffered an ankle injury in May, returning to Worcester at the end of July. In Triple-A this year, he’s hit .273/.382/.481 for a wRC+ of 127, walking in 14.5% of his trips to the plate while going down on strikes just 21.5% of the time. He’s currently ranked as the #28 prospect in the league by Baseball America, #14 by FanGraphs and #31 by Keith Law of The Athletic.

Fans of the Red Sox have been calling for this move for some time, not just because of the strong showing of Casas, but also the struggles of Dalbec. After hitting 25 home runs last year and slashing .240/.298/.494 for a wRC+ of 107, he’s slumped this year to a showing of .211/.282/.363. That production is 22% below league average, as evidenced by his 78 wRC+. Based on those disappointing results, he and Casas will switch places, with Dalbec going down to the minors to try to get back on track.

The Red Sox are seven games behind the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot in the American League with three teams in between, making it very difficult for them to make a serious playoff run over the final month of the season. Regardless, they will give Casas a look over the remainder of the campaign to see how he fares against big league pitching in the next few weeks and hopefully go into the winter with some momentum towards next season. Eric Hosmer was acquired from the Padres at the trade deadline but is currently on the IL. Assuming Casas shows well enough to earn himself regular playing time, the club will have to figure out how to balance having both on the team.

With only a few weeks to go until the offseason, it’s unlikely that Casas will reach 130 at-bats here in 2022, meaning he will hang onto his rookie/prospect status through the winter. That’s a potentially important note under the new collective bargaining agreement. Players with less than 60 days of service who appear among two preseason Top 100 lists at Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline can net their team a bonus amateur draft choice based on their early-career finishes in awards voting, so long as their club carries them on the MLB roster for a full service year. If Casas cracks next year’s Opening Day roster and sticks around all season, and he wins a Rookie of the Year or places highly in MVP balloting during his first couple seasons, the club could pick up an extra draft choice down the line.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Red Sox Recall Kutter Crawford, Option Connor Seabold

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The Red Sox swapped a pair of right-handers between Boston and Triple-A Worcester this morning, the team announced, optioning Connor Seabold and recalling Kutter Crawford. Seabold had made his third big-league start yesterday against the Cubs, tossing four innings of one-run ball.

The move gives manager Alex Cora an extra arm while his team deals with a spate of injuries in rotation: in addition to the long-term absences of Chris Sale and James Paxton, Rich Hill, Nathan Eovaldi, and Garrett Whitlock are all on the 15-day IL while Michael Wacha is, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, dealing with a dead arm that may require an IL stint. Because optioned players are allowed to return at any time if replacing a player headed to the IL, Seabold could return to start late in the week should Wacha — who last pitched on June 28th — need more time.

While Cora might have to make some uncomfortable decisions in the short term, there could be help on the way. While neither Whitlock nor Eovaldi is yet close to returning, Sale, who’s yet to pitch this season due to a stress fracture in his ribcage (and who’s covered only 42 2/3 innings since 2019, all of them last year), has already made one rehab start and is scheduled for another on Wednesday, and consensus top 100 prospect Brayan Bello appears likely to make his big-league debut the same day after Cora told reporters (including McCaffrey) that he’s probably the best option currently pitching in Worcester.

After hitting a bit of a rough patch in his first taste of Double-A last year, the 23-year-old Bello has tossed 85 innings 2.33 ERA ball across 15 appearances (14 starts) between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. His excellent ERA is backed up by a stellar strikeout rate (33.7%), though his walk rate (9.8%) leaves a bit to be desired.

Crawford, who’s struggled while shuttling between both Boston and Worcester and bullpen and rotation this year, could also be an option to start, though he likely won’t be Cora’s first choice. In 21 2/3 career big-league innings, he’s logged an unsightly 7.89 ERA (5.66 FIP). He has consistently missed bats at every level in the minors, however, and given the tattered state of the Boston pitching staff, he may well get an extended opportunity to do so in the bigs.

Roster Moves: Reds, Red Sox

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The Reds have placed reliever Alexis Diaz on the 15-day injured list, per Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter). Diaz has arguably been the Reds most reliable reliever so far this season, logging 30 innings over 27 appearances with a 2.40 ERA/3.94 FIP. No corresponding roster move has yet been made, but the Reds did make another roster move today…

  • The Reds recalled right-hander Dauri Moreta and optioned TJ Friedl to Triple-A, per the team. Moreta, 25, made 15 appearances but was hit hard to the tune of a 9.88 ERA/9.21 FIP over 13 2/3 innings. He posted better results in Triple-A with a 4.05 ERA in 15 appearances spanning 13 1/3 innings.
  • The Red Sox have officially added James Norwood to the active roster, the team announced. They acquired the right-handed reliever yesterday from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations. Kutter Crawford was optioned to Triple-A to create the roster spot. Crawford, 26, has started a pair of games and pitched eight times in relief with a 6.41 ERA/5.17 FIP covering 19 2/3 innings of work.

 

Red Sox Place Nathan Eovaldi On 15-Day IL With Back Inflammation

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The Red Sox announced that starter Nathan Eovaldi has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 9, due to low back inflammation. Kutter Crawford has been recalled in a corresponding move and is starting tonight’s game.

This is the second blow to the Red Sox rotation in recent days as Garrett Whitlock also landed on the injured list two days ago. That leaves the rotation doubly handicapped for the next couple of weeks at least. After a rough start to the year, the club has charged their way back into the postseason picture with strong play of late, but now they will have to try to keep that up with diminished starting depth. As of right now, Crawford will join a rotation that also features Michael Wacha, Rich Hill and Nick Pivetta.

The club has an off-day tomorrow but then plays nine games in a row. After another off-day on June 23, they will begin a stretch of 23 consecutive games going into the All-Star break. If Whitlock and Eovaldi can return to health, they can rejoin the club in that latter stretch, though it seems the club’s rotation is going to be tested one way or another. Josh Winckowski, Connor Seabold, Brayan Bello and Bryan Mata are all on the 40-man roster and are candidates to be called up to help, if needed.

The loss of Eovaldi will surely hurt, though, as he’s having another strong season. Through 68 1/3 innings, he has a 3.16 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, 3.6% walk rate and 45.1% ground ball rate. He is set to reach free agency at the end of the year.

Red Sox Activate Rich Hill, Designate Jaylin Davis

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The Red Sox have activated Rich Hill from the COVID-related injury list, and the veteran southpaw is set to start tonight’s game against the Rangers.  Righty Kutter Crawford was optioned to Triple-A after yesterday’s game, creating space for Hill on the active roster.  In another move, the Sox also announced that outfielder Jaylin Davis has been designated for assignment.

Hill returns after a little over a week on the COVID-IL, as the lefty tested positive for the coronavirus.  Now in his age-42 season and in his fourth different stint with the Red Sox, Hill is still effective, posting a 2.86 ERA over his first five starts and 22 innings of the season.

With Michael Wacha still on the regular injured list due to left intercostal irritation, Hill’s return will bring one full-time starter back into the Red Sox rotation.  Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck comprised the rest of the starting five, with the expectation that Houck will likely return to bullpen duty once Wacha is ready.

Davis was claimed off waivers from the Giants in late April, and the outfielder has played nine games at Triple-A Worcester and two games at the big league level.  That makes it a fourth straight season of MLB action for Davis, albeit in somewhat sparing fashion, with only 28 games and 72 plate appearances on his resume in the Show.  The 27-year-old Davis is struggling to shed the “Quad-A” label, as he has yet to produce much in the majors, but also little else to prove in the minors (a .958 OPS over 554 PA at the Triple-A level).

Travis Shaw Elects Free Agency

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TODAY: Shaw has elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.  As noted by WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, the Red Sox will only owe Shaw the prorated portion of his $1.5MM salary for the time spent on the active roster.  Because Shaw was let go within the season’s first 40 days, the Sox don’t owe the entire salary.

APRIL 29, 4:06pm: The Red Sox informed reporters (including Tara Sullivan of the Boston Globe) that Cordero has been selected and Shaw was DFA. Boston also reinstated right-handers Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford from the restricted list. To clear 40-man roster space for those two hurlers, the Sox returned COVID “substitutes” Rob Refsnyder and John Schreiber to Triple-A Worcester. They’ve also optioned righty Tyler Danish and recalled outfielder Jaylin Davis.

10:50am: The Sox indeed plan to select Cordero’s contract from Worcester, Cotillo tweets. Cordero struggled immensely through 136 plate appearances in Boston last season, hitting at just a .189/.237/.260 clip while fanning at a 37.5% rate. He’s out to a massive .296/.375/.535 start through 81 plate appearances in Triple-A, where he’s slugged three homers and eight doubles with a slightly lower (though still troubling) 28.3% strikeout rate.

10:23am: The Red Sox are designating struggling corner infielder Travis Shaw for assignment, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports (via Twitter). The team has yet to formally announce the move or a corresponding transaction, though Cotillo suggests that outfielder Franchy Cordero could be brought up from Triple-A Worcester to take Shaw’s spot on the roster.

Shaw, 32, has a lengthy history with the Sox and has had plenty of success in prior stints with Boston, but his 2022 campaign has gotten out to a disastrous start. Through 19 plate appearances, he’s yet to collect a hit or even reach base, punching out seven times along the way. Were the Red Sox’ lineup performing better on the whole, perhaps the front office might have been more willing to give the veteran Shaw a bit more leash to right the ship. Boston, however, is batting just .229/.275/.344 as a team, translating to a 78 wRC+ that ranks 27th among baseball’s 30 teams. Their 72 runs scored this season rank 20th. The Sox have scored two or fewer runs in nine of their 20 games thus far.

Shaw returned to the Red Sox for a second stint late last season after the Brewers placed him on waivers, and his second stint with the Sox proved productive. In 48 plate appearances down the stretch, Shaw hit just .238 but got on base at a healthier .319 clip and slugged a robust .524. He smacked three homers and three doubles along the way, showing enough for Boston to bring him back to the organization on a minor league contract this winter. Shaw didn’t hit much in Spring Training (4-for-24), but management saw enough positives from him to carry him on the Opening Day roster.

Now designated for assignment, Shaw will be either traded, placed on outright waivers or released within a week’s time. Given his early struggles, it seems unlikely that another club would immediately place Shaw on its 40-man roster (via a small trade or waiver claim). If he goes unclaimed or is released, however, his track record ought to get him a look elsewhere on a minor league contract. Shaw has a pair of 30-homer campaigns on his resume and is a career .237/.319/.437 hitter in 2690 plate appearances.

Red Sox Promote John Schreiber

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4:30pm: Boston announced that Garrett Whitlock will get the start for Thursday’s contest. The Red Sox also reinstated catcher Kevin Plawecki from the COVID-19 injured list this afternoon, optioning fellow backstop Connor Wong to Triple-A.

2:57pm: The Red Sox announced this afternoon they’ve added right-handers John Schreiber and Tyler Danish to the major league roster as replacements for Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford, both of whom have been placed on the restricted list. Schreiber had not previously been on the 40-man roster, while Danish had.

The Sox are kicking off a series in Toronto this evening, and players who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 are barred by the Canadian government from crossing the border. Under the terms of the 2022 health and safety protocols agreed upon by MLB and the Players Association, players who miss games because of their vaccination status are placed on the restricted list and don’t receive pay or service time.

Schreiber returns to the active roster, where he could get an opportunity to suit up in the big leagues for a fourth straight year. He made 18 appearances with the Tigers from 2019-20, posting an ERA above 6.00 in both seasons. Boston added him on a minor league deal during the 2020-21 offseason, and he spent the bulk of last season at Triple-A Worcester. He tossed 66 1/3 innings over 33 appearances, posting a 2.71 ERA with average strikeout and walk numbers and a strong 50% ground-ball rate. Boston selected him for one three-inning MLB appearance during their late-season COVID outbreak, then returned him to the minors.

This season, Schreiber has allowed four runs (two earned) in 10 1/3 frames with the WooSox. He’s punched out 13 batters against just two walks and will temporarily replace Crawford as a right-handed bullpen option for acting skipper Will Venable. The Red Sox’s press release noted that Schreiber had been “added” to the active roster, not that his contract had been selected. That could indicate he’s up as a designated COVID substitute, in which case Boston would be able to return him to Worcester and off the 40-man roster without clearing waivers. Danish could be assigned back to Worcester but would remain on the 40-man, since he was on there prior to today’s call.

Houck and Crawford figure to return to action when the Sox come back stateside Friday, beginning a weekend series at the Orioles. Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta and Michael Wacha are lined up for the first three games of this week’s set in Toronto, with their starter for Thursday’s game yet to be determined.

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