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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 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 Notes: Casas, Pivetta, Grissom

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The Red Sox will be without Triston Casas for a while after a rib issue sent him to the injured list. Boston hasn’t revealed a timeline beyond comments from manager Alex Cora that the young slugger is in for an extended absence.

Casas spoke with reporters yesterday, saying that there’s wide variance in the recovery timetable. “(Doctors) said anywhere from three weeks to six weeks to nine weeks,” the first baseman told the Boston beat (link via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). “They don’t know. It’s just depending on how my body is feeling. But for right now, I’m still in pain to breathe.”

While the Sox announced the injury as a rib fracture, Casas clarified that the problem is a tear in the cartilage in his midsection. That may not be particularly consequential in terms of his recovery, since “the way that the doctors kind of explained it to me is that one isn’t better than the other. [Whether the injury] was a muscle or a bone or cartilage, they’re all similarly timetabled schedules.” Despite the uncertainty about the specific timeline, Casas said he’s confident he’ll be able to play “a good amount of the season.”

Bobby Dalbec has taken over at first base. With Dalbec out to an .093/.152/.116 start as his longstanding strikeout issues continue, the Sox could look outside the organization. They’ve reportedly considered bringing back C.J. Cron, who was in camp this spring but opted out of a minor league deal after he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. Jared Walsh returned to free agency after being waived by the Rangers, while Garrett Cooper remains in limbo since being designated for assignment by the Cubs.

The Sox will need to piece things together at first base for some time. They’ve gotten better news on the injury front with a few other players, though. Vaughn Grissom is expected to wrap up a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester this weekend, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Their biggest offseason trade pickup has been out all year after straining a hamstring in Spring Training. Grissom could make his Red Sox debut on Tuesday when they open a series against the Giants.

Starter Nick Pivetta isn’t much further behind, as Cora indicated the righty could make a rehab start next week. Pivetta went on the shelf after two starts with the ominous designation of a flexor strain. The team downplayed any long-term concern, however, and it seems he’s on track to return around a month after the injury.

Pivetta was brilliant over his first two appearances, tossing 11 innings of one-run ball with 13 strikeouts and one walk. He’ll be a free agent for the first time at the end of the season, making this a pivotal year for him personally. Depending on his health and the team’s competitive outlook, Pivetta could be one of the top rental starters available around the trade deadline.

AL East Notes: Pivetta, LeMahieu, Tiedemann

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Nick Pivetta threw a bullpen session today, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) a rough timeline of when the righty might return from the right flexor strain that sent Pivetta to the 15-day injured list on April 6.  Cora outlined that Pivetta is around 10 days away from facing live hitters and then will get probably two minor league rehab starts, so if all goes well, Pivetta should be back in Boston’s rotation by around the middle of May.

There was some initial hope that Pivetta could miss just the minimum 15 days when he first went on the IL, yet it isn’t surprising that Pivetta and the Sox are showing extra precaution with a flexor injury.  Cora said that Pivetta “felt good today” after the bullpen, which is a nice first step in the recovery process.  The IL stint interrupted a great start to the season for the righty, who looked flat out dominant in posting an 0.82 ERA over his first two outings and 11 innings of the 2024 campaign.

Some items from around the AL East…

  • DJ LeMahieu was set to begin a minor league rehab assignment yesterday, but an MRI revealed that his right foot fracture hadn’t entirely healed.  The infielder could still begin his assignment as early as Tuesday, though “we’re just being conservative with this thing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told ESPN News Services and other media.  “He’s doing really well and I know he feels ready to go, but the foot specialist has weighed in.  We want to make sure this thing’s 100 percent.”  LeMahieu suffered the injury about a month ago after fouling a ball off his foot in Spring Training, and is healthy enough to partake in such baseball activities as batting practice and fielding drills, even if he hasn’t gotten the green light for rehab games just yet.
  • Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann underwent an MRI on Thursday to explore discomfort in his throwing elbow, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports (X link).  Tiedemann was already placed on the Triple-A injured list earlier this week, and perhaps ominously, there haven’t yet been any updates over the MRI results.  Shoulder and biceps problems limited Tiedemann to only 44 total minor league innings in 2023, and while a potential Major League debut is seemingly on the horizon for the southpaw this season, the Jays’ first priority is just rebuilding Tiedemann’s arm strength and getting him back in the groove of regular starting assignments.  Tiedemann is ranked as both Toronto’s top prospect and one of the better pitching prospects in all of baseball, though he has been shaky in posting a 5.63 ERA over three starts and eight innings for Triple-A Buffalo this season, with more walks (nine) than innings pitched.

Red Sox Place Nick Pivetta On IL With Right Flexor Strain

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12:20 pm: Pivetta’s flexor strain is mild, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow tells reporters (including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe). The right-hander could come off the IL as soon he is eligible, barring any setbacks. In the meantime, the Red Sox will skip Pivetta’s turn in the rotation when off days allow and fill in the gaps with either Chase Anderson or Cooper Criswell.

11:56 am: The Red Sox have placed starting pitcher Nick Pivetta on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor strain, the team announced. The IL stint is retroactive to April 6. Brennan Bernardino has been recalled from Triple-A Worcester to fill Pivetta’s spot on the active roster.

It’s been a rough day for the Red Sox so far. Earlier this morning, manager Alex Cora revealed that shortstop Trevor Story is headed for an appointment with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache due to “concern with the bone structure” of his shoulder. His 2024 season could be in jeopardy. The possibility of losing Story and Pivetta will loom large over the Red Sox’s home opener today at Fenway Park.

Elbow problems are always worrisome, especially for pitchers, and especially given the recent rash of injuries to star hurlers like Spencer Strider, Shane Bieber, and Eury Pérez. Pivetta was expected to take the mound tomorrow against the Orioles. Now, he is not eligible to rejoin the Red Sox until April 20. There is currently no timeline for his return. However, it’s getting hard to hear the words “flexor strain” and not prepare for the worst.

Twins right-hander Anthony DeSclafani recently underwent season-ending flexor tendon surgery. Rays righty Drew Rasmussen missed most of the 2023 season and remains on the IL after suffering a flexor strain last May. At the time, he hoped to be back for the stretch run in August and September, but eventually, he needed an internal brace procedure to repair his elbow. To make things worse, flexor tendon injuries often cooccur with UCL injuries. Dodgers starter Walker Buehler initially landed on the IL with a flexor strain in June 2022; two months later, he went under the knife for Tommy John.

A perennial breakout candidate, Pivetta, 31, often underperforms his advanced metrics; he has a career 4.81 ERA and 4.00 SIERA. Still, he has blossomed into a reliable arm for the Red Sox, tossing 498 1/3 innings with a 4.26 ERA and 6.2 FanGraphs WAR since 2020. He has pitched at least 140 innings in each of the past three seasons, and his only previous trips to the IL were due to COVID-19 protocols in 2021. The righty looked especially sharp in his first two starts this season, giving up a lone earned run while striking out 13 and walking just one over 11 innings of work.

The Red Sox, already without Lucas Giolito for the season, will be hard-pressed to replace Pivetta in the rotation if his flexor strain proves to be serious. For his part, Pivetta’s injury could not have come at a worse moment. He is set to reach free agency for the first time this offseason.

Craig Breslow Discusses Red Sox’s Outfield, Rotation

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The Red Sox are open to adding another right-handed hitter to their outfield mix, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow tells Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. To that end, Abraham reports that Boston remains in contact with free agent outfielder Adam Duvall’s camp.

Duvall had a solid, if volatile, 2023 season. Signed to a one-year, $7MM contract over the offseason, he was arguably the best hitter in MLB for the first couple weeks. Duvall ran a .455/.514/1.030 line over his first 37 plate appearances before fracturing a bone in his left wrist while diving for a fly ball. The injury cost him two months.

He was mired in an extended slump upon coming off the injured list, limping to a .175/.253/.313 showing through the All-Star Break. Duvall found his stride again coming out of the Break, raking at a .293/.349/.654 clip through the end of August. The year ended on a dismal note, as he struck out in over 40% of his plate appearances while hitting .149/.177/.324 from September 1 on.

Despite the extreme peaks and valleys, Duvall’s overall offensive production was well better than average. He hit 21 homers with a .247/.303/.531 slash in 353 plate appearances. Boston’s decision to give him nearly 500 innings in center field predictably didn’t work out well, as he rated between three and five runs below average by Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved. Duvall has been a plus defender in left field throughout the course of his career though. Between the strong corner outfield defense and 30-homer upside, he’s a valuable player despite high strikeout totals and subpar on-base marks.

The Angels are the only other team that has been publicly linked to Duvall this offseason. At age 35, it seems likely he’ll sign another one-year pact, although there’s an outside chance he lands a second guaranteed season.

Breslow wasn’t with the Sox when they signed Duvall last January. Yet the front office has sought right-handed power in the outfield throughout his first offseason at the helm. Boston already swung a trade for Tyler O’Neill. They were linked to Teoscar Hernández before he signed a one-year, $23.5MM pillow contract with the Dodgers. Duvall would be significantly cheaper.

Even as the Sox pursued Hernández, they’d pointed to the rotation as their biggest priority. Boston took a rebound flier on Lucas Giolito. Not long thereafter, they subtracted Chris Sale in the trade to add Vaughn Grissom from the Braves. While Giolito seems a safer bet than Sale to log a full workload, the pair of moves leaves the Sox with the same number of starters they had at the beginning of the winter.

Breslow told Abraham the current rotation consists of four pitchers: Giolito, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta. That’d leave Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Josh Winckowski competing for the final spot. Offseason acquisitions Cooper Criswell and Max Castillo are among the depth options on the 40-man roster.

Of course, that’s not necessarily the mix they’ll take to Spring Training. Breslow conceded their efforts to add rotation help have thus far “been a challenge” but said they’re “still engaged in conversations with free agents and teams via trade.” The Sox have been loosely tied to top arms Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery (more so the latter) during the offseason, but more recent reports indicated they were looking at the next tiers down. With mid-level arms like Shota Imanaga and Marcus Stroman recently coming off the board, the free agent supply is dwindling beyond Snell and Montgomery.

That hints at payroll questions that have hung over the offseason. The Sox opened the 2023 season with a player payroll in the $181MM range, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That ranked 12th in the majors, their first time outside the top 10 this century. Roster Resource projects their 2024 payroll in a similar range, a little under $178MM. They’re almost $40MM away from next year’s base luxury tax threshold.

An offseason headlined by Giolito and trade pickups of Grissom and O’Neill presumably isn’t what many in the fanbase envisioned. That’s especially true after team chairman Tom Werner vowed in early November the organization would go “full throttle” to put their two straight last place finishes behind them.

Werner walked that phrasing back in a conversation with Sean McAdam of MassLive this afternoon. “Maybe that wasn’t the most artful way of saying what I wanted to say, which is that we’re going to be pressing all levers to improve the team,” he said. “In the end, nobody’s happy with our performance the last few years. Some years, we go after somebody who is about to be a free agent, or was a free agent, as it pertains to Trevor Story or Raffy Devers.”

After noting the organization made an unsuccessful run at Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Werner added the Sox “certainly aren’t happy with the current roster as it was at the end of last year, so if I was going to say it again, I would say that we’re going to be pressing all levers and weren’t going to be happy with just one (method) — that includes free agency, trades or talent from Triple and Double A. … In the end, we don’t have a line in terms of our payroll that we look at as much as trusting that Craig is going to deliver on his assurance that we’re going to be competitive.“

Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta Open To Extensions With Red Sox

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The Red Sox are facing an uncertain offseason, with the first order of business surely being replacing chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who the club fired earlier this month. Once a new head of baseball operations is in place, however, it seems extension negotiations could be on their offseason list of tasks.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe indicates that it is “likely” that the organization will open talks with young hurler Brayan Bello regarding a potential long-term deal this offseason. Speier also relays right-hander Nick Pivetta’s thoughts on a possible long-term deal with Boston, with the 30-year-old speaking positively of the organization and saying, “You don’t leave any doors closed. Leave them all open and see where it goes.”

That Pivetta, who posted a brutal 6.30 ERA across the first six weeks of the season before being demoted to the bullpen, has finished his 2023 campaign as a potential extension candidate speaks volumes regarding his performance in recent months. Since his initial demotion to the bullpen, Pivetta has posted strong numbers over the course of 102 2/3 innings in a swing role that’s seen him make eight starts and 22 relief appearances. In that time, Pivetta posted a 3.16 ERA and 3.27 FIP with a massive 34.9% strikeout rate against a solid 7.7% walk rate. That’s good for a 27.2 K-BB% that’s outclassed only by Braves fireballer Spencer Strider among pitchers with at least 100 innings of work since May 21, the date of Pivetta’s first relief appearance.

Pivetta’s also managed to keep the excellent results up during the season’s final month, which saw him return to the club’s rotation on a regular basis. During the month of September, Pivetta has posted a 2.43 ERA with a 2.86 FIP and a 34.1% strikeout rate and a microscopic 4.0% walk rate. Pivetta’s fantastic finish to the 2023 campaign leaves him with overall numbers that give him the look of a solid mid-rotation starter. Among the 73 pitchers who have posted at least 140 innings of work this season, Pivetta’s 3.96 FIP ranks 32nd, his 4.04 ERA ranks 38th, and his 31.2% strikeout rate is bested only by Strider and Blake Snell.

Of course, with Pivetta already slated to hit free agency following the 2024 season, a potential extension would likely come at some sort of discount relative to full market value, though perhaps not a particularly steep one given the limited team control remaining. Last offseason’s free agent market saw mid-rotation arms like Jameson Taillon (4 years, $68MM) and Taijuan Walker (4 years, $72MM) both receive in the range of $70MM while sporting similar numbers to those Pivetta has posted the last two seasons, though both Taillon and Walker were younger than Pivetta will, who is set to hit free agency prior to his age-32 campaign.

As for Bello, the young right-hander posted solid numbers in his sophomore campaign, with a 4.24 ERA and 4.53 FIP across 157 innings of work. Those numbers are inflated by a brutal September that’s seen Bello allow 22 runs over 26 innings of work, resulting in a 7.62 ERA. Even so, Bello’s looked more like a fourth or fifth starter to this point in his career than anything else, with roughly league average results and peripherals. His most eye-catching stat is an impressive 56.2% ground ball rate, a figure topped by only Alex Cobb and Logan Webb among pitchers with at least 150 innings this year.

Between the mixed results to this point in his big league career, his youth, and his pre-arbitration status, recent comparisons are few and far between when considering what a Bello extension might look like. Freddy Peralta’s five-year, $15.5MM extension is perhaps the nearest comparison, though Bello’s been better than Peralta was in the first two seasons of his career. Peralta had yet to reach 100 innings pitched in a season and had a career ERA+ nearly 15% lower than Bello’s at the time of his extension.

Red Sox Seeking Back-End Starter, Right-Handed Middle Relief

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The Red Sox blanked the A’s last night, pushing them to 51-44 and tying their season high at seven games over .500. Paired with a Yankees’ loss, Boston pulled out of the basement in the AL East and sits just a game and a half back of Houston for the American League’s final Wild Card spot.

Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has said a couple times recently the team’s play leading up to the August 1 deadline will impact how aggressively they pursue outside help versus entertaining offers on their veteran players. The team seems to be finding its stride with two weeks to go, putting the front office in a good position to add for a playoff push.

Rob Bradford of WEEI reported yesterday the Sox are seeking to add pitching depth. He suggests a back-of-the-rotation starter and a right-handed middle relief option are on the target list.

Each of those player types should be attainable. Veteran back-end starters change hands every deadline season. Michael Lorenzen, Carlos Carrasco, Lance Lynn and recurring Sox’s target Rich Hill are among the impending free agents who are unlikely to require a hefty acquisition cost. Oakland’s Paul Blackburn and Cleveland’s Aaron Civale are middle to back end starters with multiple seasons of remaining affordable control. They’d be costlier from a prospect perspective than the aforementioned rentals as a result.

Various injuries have left Boston with a top-heavy rotation. James Paxton has been stellar since returning from two and a half injury-wrecked seasons, working to a 3.51 ERA while striking out over 28% of opposing hitters. Brayan Bello has improved his control in his second MLB season, resulting in a 3.14 ERA over 15 starts. Kutter Crawford, a midseason entrant to the rotation who has a 4.73 ERA over 10 starts, is the only other consistent member of the current starting staff.

The Sox are without each of Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock. Sale recently began throwing again but is shelved into August by a shoulder blade injury. Houck suffered a facial fracture when he was hit by a comebacker in late June. He’s expected back this season but isn’t an imminent returnee. Whitlock hit the injured list two weeks ago with elbow inflammation.

With only a three-man rotation, the Sox used a bullpen game last night against Oakland. Nick Pivetta was brilliant in a bulk capacity, tossing six scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts. The 30-year-old righty is up to 35 innings of 2.31 ERA ball with an elite 38.2% strikeout rate since moving to relief in mid-May. Boston has been reluctant to move him out of a role in which he has been so exceptional. Cora said last night they’re planning to use Pivetta in a similar bulk capacity on Sunday evening against the Mets (relayed by Chris Cotillo of MassLive).

Adding a stable veteran arm to the back of the rotation would safeguard against any injury setbacks for Sale, Houck or Whitlock (or a potential issue for Paxton, whose own health history is obviously alarming). It’d reduce the chance of Boston needing to push Pivetta back into the starting staff at any point.

Boston’s bullpen, meanwhile, skews very left-handed in the middle innings. Kenley Jansen, Pivetta, Chris Martin and Josh Winckowski are the only righties in the current 10-man mix. Pivetta’s bulk role means he’s not going to be available for shorter matchup work on most nights. Jansen is locked into his customary closing role. That leaves Martin and Winckowski — both of whom have pitched well — as the only righty setup options available.

The Sox are soon to welcome back one key reinforcement. John Schreiber had a 2.12 ERA with a 30% strikeout rate in 18 outings before a lat strain sent him to the IL in mid-May. He’s made four appearances since beginning a rehab stint two weeks ago and should soon be back in the MLB mix. Schreiber would be a high-leverage arm if he quickly recaptures his pre-injury form, although there’d still be room for additional middle relief depth.

There are various righty bullpen arms who stand out as possible trade candidates. Michael Fulmer, Keynan Middleton, Reynaldo López, old friends Joe Kelly (who’s expected back from an IL stint shortly) and Adam Ottavino, José Cisnero, Chris Stratton and Shintaro Fujinami could all be on the move.

Red Sox Notes: Pivetta, Houck, Bello

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The Red Sox rotation is facing a great deal of uncertainty headed into the All Star break. Right-hander Garrett Whitlock was placed on the injured list earlier this week with elbow inflammation, joining Tanner Houck, Chris Sale, and Corey Kluber on the shelf among the club’s starting options.

It seems their lack of rotation options won’t be cleared up anytime soon, as Alex Cora told reporters, including The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams, that the club has no intention of moving right-hander Nick Pivetta out of his current bulk role out of the bullpen. What’s more, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe relays that Cora indicated to reporters that Houck, who is expected to begin throwing again next week, could be ramped up for “a role other than starter” as he looks to return from the injured list. With Pivetta sticking to relief work and Houck seemingly poised to join him upon his return, it seems that Boston will be relying on bullpen games and spot starters to cover innings alongside James Paxton, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford for the time being.

It’s easy to see why the club would prefer both Pivetta and Houck out of the bullpen. Pivetta posted a 6.30 ERA in eight starts this season prior to his mid-May move to the bullpen, but has become one of the most reliable relievers in the club’s bullpen since then. In 29 innings of relief across 14 appearances, Pivetta has dominated hitters to the tune of a 2.79 ERA and 3.29 FIP, with a strikeout rate of 33.7%. Houck, meanwhile, scuffled to a 5.05 ERA across 13 starts this season prior to his placement on the IL. While advanced metrics generally agree he’s pitched a bit better than the results would otherwise indicate, with a FIP of 4.24 and an xERA of 3.85, it’s easy to see why Boston would be enticed by Houck’s career 2.68 ERA in 53 2/3 innings out of the bullpen.

One pitcher who seems clearly ticketed for a long-term role in the rotation is Bello, who’s impressed with a 3.04 ERA and 3.78 FIP across 14 starts this season. According to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, the young right-hander was asked by reporters if the Red Sox had approached him regarding extension conversations, which Bello indicated they had not done. That being said, the 24 year old went on to express openness to the idea.

“I would love it. I love this organization.” Bello said. “I would love to stay here, but I haven’t really given it much thought.”

Of course, there’s no rush on any such discussions. Bello entered the 2023 campaign with just 82 days of service time, and as such is under team control through the end of the 2028 campaign. Still, early-career extensions have become more prevalent in recent years. Spencer Strider, a fellow young pitcher who inked a six-year $75MM extension with the Braves following his rookie season last year, is among the many recent examples of youngsters signing long term deals with their clubs at the beginning of their careers.

Red Sox Move Nick Pivetta To Bullpen

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The Red Sox are moving right-hander Nick Pivetta into a multi-inning relief role, manager Alex Cora informed reporters after tonight’s win over the Mariners (relayed by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). It’ll be his first bullpen work since Boston acquired him from the Phillies during the abbreviated 2020 campaign.

Pivetta has been a durable but somewhat frustrating starter over his two and a half seasons in Boston. He topped 30 starts and 150 innings in both 2021-22, leading the team with 179 2/3 frames last year. He’s flashed decent swing-and-miss stuff but been prone to a few too many walks and plenty of hard contact. His ERA sat just north of 4.50 in both seasons.

It has been more of the same for the 30-year-old to this point in 2023. Pivetta has taken all eight turns through the rotation and logged 40 innings of 6.30 ERA ball. While his 23% strikeout rate and 10.7% swinging strike percentage are respectable, he has issued free passes at an elevated 10.4% clip. Pivetta has surrendered nine home runs and given up hard contact on a massive 51.7% of batted balls. He’s perhaps fortunate to have surrendered “only” a .309 batting average on balls in play in light of that contact quality.

Pivetta hasn’t traditionally dealt with notable platoon splits throughout his career. Left-handed hitters have put together a .268/.361/.592 batting line in 84 trips to the plate this season though. The Red Sox aren’t planning to use him in a strict matchup capacity, although the relief role could afford Cora a little more flexibility in deploying him against more right-handed batters.

The organization obviously hopes Pivetta’s high-octane arsenal can translate more effectively in shorter bursts. He has averaged 93.8 MPH on his fastball out of the rotation. It wouldn’t be a surprise if that ticked up a bit in briefer stints that allow Pivetta to max out his effort, so it’s not hard to envision him finding success in a relief capacity.

Pivetta saw some relief work with the Phillies four years ago. He’s otherwise worked primarily as a starter, opening 144 of his 166 MLB outings. He’s spoken on a few occasions this season of his desire to stick in the rotation. Boston has a number of starting pitching options, though, and Pivetta’s struggles over the past month and a half apparently leave him the odd man out. Pivetta told reporters this evening he understands the club’s decision (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive).

Boston recently activated James Paxton from the injured list. The veteran southpaw joined Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck and Pivetta in the starting staff. Garrett Whitlock is on the 15-day IL and could return by the end of next week. Cora has already announced they’ll keep Whitlock in the rotation, while Sale is a lock for the starting staff. The Red Sox have been reluctant to put Paxton in an unfamiliar relief role in light of his injury history. Kluber hasn’t pitched well this year but he’s a career-long starter who signed a $10MM free agent contract over the offseason. It seemed unlikely Boston would kick him into the bullpen or move on entirely.

That appeared to leave Houck, Bello and Pivetta jockeying for rotation spots. All three carried an ERA north of 5.00. Bello and Houck have comparable strikeout rates to Pivetta with significantly higher ground-ball rates. They’ve been more consistent strike throwers. They’ll each keep their rotation spots for now, though Whitlock’s eventual reinstatement could lead to another change.

Pivetta has surpassed five years of major league service and was out of minor league options regardless. The Red Sox can’t send him to the minors without his approval, leaving a bullpen transfer or DFA as the only options to bump him from the rotation. It’s possible Pivetta gets another look as a starter down the line if future injuries necessitate. He’s making $5.35MM this season and will be eligible for arbitration once more next winter.

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