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Ryan Brasier

The Top Unsigned Right-Handed Relievers

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Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training in about two weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. Over the past week, MLBTR has already taken a look at the remaining catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, shortstops, center fielders, corner outfielders, designated hitters,  starting pitchers and left-handed relievers. We’ll now wrap things up with a look at the right-handed relievers.

  • Phil Maton: Acquired from Cleveland in the 2021 Myles Straw trade, Maton has quietly been very effective over the past two years. Since the start of 2022, he has made 135 appearances for the Astros with a 3.42 earned run average. His 26.5% strikeout rate in that time is a few ticks above league average while his 8.8% walk rate is right around par. He’s been excellent at limiting hard contact, as seen on his Statcast page. His 23.5% hard hit rate last year was actually the best in the majors among qualified pitchers, while his average exit velocity was in the top five. In 2022, he was in the top 10 in both those categories as well. He missed the 2022 postseason due to injury but made six scoreless appearances for the Astros in last year’s playoffs. He has received reported interest this offseason from teams like the Phillies, Yankees and Cardinals.
  • Ryne Stanek: Another former Astro, Stanek has made 186 appearances over the past three years with a 2.90 ERA. He has struck out 27% of batters faced but also given out walks at a 12.2% clip. That strikeout rate fell to 23.9% in 2023, but he also cut his walk rate to 9.9%, a career low for him. He has reportedly received interest from the Cubs, Red Sox and Mets this winter.
  • Ryan Brasier: The 2023 season was inconsistent for Brasier, a reflection of his career overall. After a stint in Japan, he returned to North America with the Red Sox in 2018, posting a 1.60 ERA. From there, his season-by-season ERA went to 4.85, 3.96, 1.50, 5.78 and then 3.02 in the most recent campaign. That 2023 ERA involved a 7.29 mark with the Red Sox and then a tiny 0.70 figure with the Dodgers. When combining his time with both of those clubs last year, his peripherals ended up pretty close to his career numbers. He struck out 23.5% of batters faced and gave out walks to 8% of them last year, near his career rates of 24.1% and 7.4%. Since he finished the year on such a strong note, he has received a fair amount of interest this winter, with clubs like the Cardinals, Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, Orioles, Rangers and Yankees connected to him at various points.
  • Jesse Chavez: Though he’s now 40 years old, Chavez doesn’t seem to be slowing down. He made 36 appearances for Atlanta last year with a 1.56 ERA. He surely had a bit of help from the baseball gods there, with a .273 batting average on balls in play and 81.2% strand rate, but the peripherals were still strong. He struck out 27.1% of batters faced, walked 8.3% and kept 51.7% of balls in play on the ground. His 3.05 FIP and 3.35 SIERA were much higher than his ERA but still represent solid work. He missed about three months of last season after being hit in the leg by a comebacker but was back on the mound before the end of the year.
  • Liam Hendriks: If Hendriks were healthy right now, he would be on the top of this list. He cemented himself as one of the best closers in baseball a few years ago and racked up 115 saves over the past five seasons. He has a 2.32 ERA since the start of 2019, having struck out 38.3% of batters faced while walking just 5.1% of them. Unfortunately, 2023 was an incredibly challenging year for the right-hander, as he first had to undergo treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After winning that battle and returning to the mound, he required Tommy John surgery in early August. Since the rehab for that procedure generally goes beyond one year, it’s questionable whether he will be able to pitch at all in the upcoming campaign, though he has said he’s targeting a return around the trade deadline. He can likely find a two-year deal somewhere, with the signing club understanding that they will have a better shot of getting return on their investment in 2025.

Honorable mentions: Jay Jackson, Brad Boxberger, Shintaro Fujinami, Derek Law, Mark Melancon, Matt Barnes

NL West Notes: Dodgers, Hernandez, Pederson, Ray

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While veteran utility player Enrique Hernandez is drawing interest from the Angels among several other clubs, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Halos fear that Hernandez prefers to return to the Dodgers, with whom he played from 2015 to 2020 before the club re-acquired him at the 2023 trade deadline in a deal with the Red Sox.

Hernandez, 32, sports the versatility to play anywhere on the diamond except catcher. While the veteran struggled at the plate during his time in Boston last year, he enjoyed a resurgence upon returning to L.A. with a respectable .262/.308/.423 slash line in 185 plate appearances. If Hernandez were able to replicate those offensive numbers over a full season in 2024, that roughly league average offense and his positional versatility would combine to make him among the more valuable bench options in the game. With that being said, Rosenthal adds that the Dodgers appear to have their priorities focused elsewhere as they search for a high-leverage bullpen arm to complement the likes of Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips.

Dodgers bullpen arms posted a strong 3.42 ERA last season, the third-best figure in the majors behind only the Yankees and Brewers. Nonetheless, it’s sensible for the club to look for relief upgrades. After all, the club’s production out of the bullpen dramatically improved upon their acquisition of veteran righty Ryan Brasier, who posted an eye-popping 0.70 ERA in 39 appearances with L.A. after being acquired from the Red Sox last June. Prior to Brasier’s arrival, the Dodgers’ bullpen was struggling to an ERA of 4.94, bottom-two in the majors alongside the lowly A’s. To that end, Rosenthal suggests the club could look to reunite with Brasier or perhaps even longtime closer Kenley Jansen, who the Red Sox are reportedly shopping this winter.

More from around the NL West…

  • Rosenthal also discusses the recent deal between the Diamondbacks and lefty slugger Joc Pederson. Rosenthal notes that prior to accepting a fourth consecutive one-year deal in free agency Pederson indicated to Arizona that he hopes to “restore his value” with the club in 2024 before returning to free agency in search of a multi-year pact. For Pederson, Rosenthal suggests that would involve showing he’s more than a platoon DH. The Diamondbacks’ outfield mix is a fairly crowded one with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Corbin Carroll entrenched as regulars alongside a litany of potential options like Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, and even Dominic Fletcher. Each of the aforementioned names is a stronger defender in the outfield than Pederson, so the 31-year-old could instead look to boost his stock by playing more regularly against southpaws, against whom he has taken just 606 plate appearances during his entire career.
  • Newly-acquired Giants southpaw Robbie Ray spoke to reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) as he rehabs from UCL and flexor tendon surgery. The 32-year-old southpaw said it feels as though he has a “brand new elbow,” and that he hopes to begin throwing off a mound early on during Spring Training. In terms of a timetable for his return to the big league pitching staff, Ray suggests that a return around the All-Star break would be a “best-case scenario.” The 2021 AL Cy Young award winner, Ray posted a 3.31 ERA and 3.94 FIP in 65 starts with the Blue Jays and Mariners the past three seasons, though only one of those starts came in 2023 before Ray went under the knife back in May of last year. His eventual return should bolster a San Francisco rotation that currently figures to feature Logan Webb, Ross Stripling, and newly-signed righty Jordan Hicks alongside youngsters Kyle Harrison and Keaton Winn.

Yankees Interested In Ryan Brasier, Phil Maton

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As the Yankees continue their search for another middle reliever, they’ve been in contact with Ryan Brasier and Phil Maton, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. They’ve also been tied to Héctor Neris and old friends Wandy Peralta and Keynan Middleton in recent reports.

Brasier, 36, had a surprisingly excellent second half to the 2023 campaign. The righty had struggled to a 5.78 ERA over 62 1/3 innings for the Red Sox in 2022. When he began last year with a 7.29 mark over 21 innings, Boston designated him for assignment. The Dodgers brought him in on a minor league deal, selecting him onto the MLB roster in late June.

From then on, Brasier was among the best relievers in the game. He pitched to a microscopic 0.70 ERA through 38 2/3 innings in Los Angeles. He punched out nearly 27% of batters faced, a marked jump over the 18.9% rate he carried in Boston. Brasier also kept the ball on the ground at a robust 51.1% rate and limited his walk percentage to a modest 7% clip as a Dodger.

There’s no question Brasier pitched himself to a major league contract now that he’s back on the open market. It’s possible he could drum up enough interest to land a two-year deal, unexpected as that seemed a few months ago. The Cardinals, Orioles, Cubs and incumbent Dodgers were linked to Brasier a few weeks back. The Rangers and Angels were also tied to him at that point, although they’ve since made notable additions to their bullpens — David Robertson to Texas, Robert Stephenson and Matt Moore to the Halos.

Maton, who turns 31 in March, has been a solid middle innings pitcher for the Astros. Acquired at the 2021 deadline for center fielder Myles Straw, Maton worked to a 3.67 ERA over two and a half seasons in Houston. He’s coming off arguably the best season of his career. The right-hander allowed an even three earned runs per nine through 66 frames. He fanned 27% of opponents behind an excellent 15.4% swinging strike percentage.

As with Brasier, Maton has a solid case for a two-year contract. He’s not a prototypical late-innings power arm. Maton’s fastball sat at just 89 MPH on average. Yet he hasn’t had any issues missing bats thanks to an excellent breaking ball. Maton uses a curveball as his primary offering. Opponents hit only .169 against the pitch last year. St. Louis has also shown interest in the Illinois native this offseason.

Six Teams Interested In Ryan Brasier

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Free agent reliever Ryan Brasier is drawing interest from at least six different teams, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Jon Heyman of the New York Post.  Goold writes that the Cardinals and Dodgers are involved in the market, while Heyman writes that the Angels, Cubs, Orioles, and Rangers also have interest.

Brasier has already pitched for both Los Angeles teams, as he made his MLB debut with nine innings for the Angels back in 2013 and then seemingly got his career back on track with the Dodgers last season.  The right-hander posted a 6.16 ERA over 83 1/3 innings with the Red Sox in 2021 and in the first two months of the 2022 campaign before he was released, and then signed to a minor league contract by the Dodgers in June.

Secondary metrics (especially in 2022) indicated that Brasier was pitching better than his ERA would indicate, and the turn-around came once he donned Dodger Blue.  L.A. selected Brasier’s contract in late June and he was almost untouchable the rest of the way, posting an 0.70 ERA over 38 2/3 innings out of the Dodgers’ bullpen.  Brasier had a 26.6% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate, and 51.1% grounder rate as a Dodger — all major improvements over his numbers in Boston last year, though Brasier also enjoyed a .183 BABIP in Los Angeles, as opposed to a .344 BABIP with the Red Sox.

As The Athletic’s Chad Jennings explored in August, Brasier started throwing a cutter for the first time in his career and the results were immediate.  Not only did batters hit only .152 against Brasier’s new offering, he noted that “having another pitch to get guys off certain other pitches.  But (while) working on the cutter, some other stuff started to come back.”

The cutter’s effectiveness adds yet another wrinkle to the up-and-down nature of Brasier’s career.  After his cup of coffee with the Angels in 2013, he didn’t return to the majors until 2018, as the righty spent the interim years pitching with the Athletics’ Triple-A team and with the Hiroshima Carp in Japan.  Brasier returned to North America by signing a minors deal with the Red Sox in 2018, and he unexpectedly emerged as a key bullpen weapon for the eventual World Series champions.  Brasier had a 1.60 ERA over 33 2/3 regular-season innings for the Sox that season, plus a 1.04 ERA in 8 2/3 postseason frames.

The remainder of Brasier’s time in Boston was much shakier, as he ended up with a 4.55 ERA over his 209 2/3 career innings in a Red Sox uniform.  As he now enters his age-36 season, however, Brasier again seems like an intriguing relief option given how well he pitched with the Dodgers.  His age and somewhat inconsistent track record could limit him to a one-year contract, yet with so much interest in his market, Brasier might be able to land some type of option for the 2025 season depending on how sold teams are with his late-season performance.

Dodgers Designate Andre Jackson For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced they’ve designated right-hander Andre Jackson for assignment. His 40-man roster spot will go to righty Ryan Brasier, whose promotion was reported earlier. Left-hander Bryan Hudson was optioned to open a spot for Brasier on the active roster.

Jackson has spent his entire career in the L.A. organization. Originally selected in the 12th round of the 2017 draft, he made it onto the 40-man roster after the 2020 campaign. Jackson debuted the following summer and has bounced on and off the active roster for the past three seasons.

He’s worked in multi-inning relief at the big league level, tossing 39 frames over 14 outings. A personal-high 17 2/3 of those innings have come this season. Jackson has allowed 13 runs in that limited look, thanks largely to five homers. The longball has largely overshadowed a quality 16:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

A starter for the bulk of his minor league tenure, Jackson has also worked in long relief in Triple-A this season. He’s logged 27 2/3 innings across 11 outings, pitching to a 5.86 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has a quality 25.8% strikeout rate at the top minor league level, but he’s walked over 14% of batters faced there. Strike-throwing has been the question throughout his career, as Jackson has handed out free passes at a 12.7% clip over five minor league seasons.

The 6’3″ righty clearly has intriguing raw stuff, though. He’s punched out over a quarter of opponents in the minors. His fastball sat north of 95 MPH on average during his MLB time this season, while prospect evaluators have long praised his changeup. He seems likely to draw some interest via minor trade or on the waiver wire within the next week. Jackson is in his final minor league option season, so an acquiring team could keep him in Triple-A for the remainder of the year.

Dodgers Select Ryan Brasier

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5:50pm: The Dodgers have now made it official, selecting Brasier with left-hander Bryan Hudson optioned and right-hander Andre Jackson designated for assignment in corresponding moves.

5:30pm: The Dodgers are going to select the contract of right-hander Ryan Brasier, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Corresponding moves will be required to get him onto the active and 40-man rosters.

Brasier, 35, was a late bloomer in major league terms. After a stint in Japan, he had his North American breakout in 2018 at the age of 30. He made 34 appearances for the Red Sox that year with a 1.60 ERA, striking out 23.4% of opponents against a 5.6% walk rate. He carried that over into the postseason with a 1.04 ERA in 8 2/3 frames, helping the Sox win the World Series.

However, his effectiveness slid in recent seasons and his career ERA now sits at 4.45. Things have looked especially bad recently, as he had a 5.78 ERA last year and an even worse mark of 7.29 this year. Those struggles led to him getting released by the Red Sox and signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He’s pitched three scoreless innings in Triple-A in the past week.

There are some reasons to suspect that those inflated earned run figures aren’t entirely his fault. His 56.2% strand rate and .335 batting average on balls in play last year were both on the unlucky side of league averages, leading to a 3.61 FIP and 3.12 SIERA that suggest he deserved better. It was a similar story here in 2023, with a .344 BABIP, 52.8% strand rate, 4.37 FIP and 4.58 SIERA. That being said, it’s probably oversimplifying things to simply say that he’s been unlucky. His hard hit rate, which hovered between 35 and 40% for his earlier seasons in Boston, jumped to 46.5% last year and 53% this year.

The Dodgers have faced uncharacteristic struggles on the pitching front this year as the pitching staff as a whole currently has a 4.66 ERA, a mark that places them 25th out of the 30 clubs in the league. The bullpen is an even bigger concern, with the relief corps posting a collective 5.04 ERA on the season, which puts them ahead of only the lowly Athletics in that department.

Those struggles have coincided with each of Daniel Hudson, Jimmy Nelson, Phil Bickford, Tyler Cyr, J.P. Feyereisen, Alex Reyes and Blake Treinen landing on the injured list. Some of that group could soon be available to the big league club again, as each of Hudson, Nelson and Bickford are each joining Triple-A Oklahoma City for rehab assignment, per OKC’s Broadcaster/Communications Director Alex Freeman.

But for now, the club will take a flier on a Brasier bounceback, which is essentially risk-free from a cost perspective. Since the Red Sox released him, they are still on the hook for the majority of what remains of his $2MM salary. The Dodgers will pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Sox pay.

Dodgers Sign Ryan Brasier To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have signed former Red Sox righty Ryan Brasier to a minor league contract, Brasier himself confirmed to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Boston designated the struggling right-hander for assignment in mid-May and released him a week later. He’ll give the Dodgers some experienced bullpen depth in the upper minors.

Brasier, 35, was a vital member of the Boston bullpen during the Sox’ 2018 World Series campaign, returning from a solid stint in Japan to pitch 33 2/3 innings of 1.60 ERA relief. He added another 8 2/3 frames of one-run ball in the postseason, effectively solidifying his place in the Boston bullpen for the foreseeable future.

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for Brasier in Beantown since, however, with more lowlights than highlights. In 176 innings dating back to the 2019 season, the right-hander has worked to an unsightly 5.11 ERA. That’s skewed by particularly rough showings in 2021-22 (6.16 ERA in 83 1/3 innings), which ultimately led to last month’s dismissal.

Recent struggles notwithstanding, Brasier averages nearly 96 mph on his fastball and showed a strong 24.3% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate as recently as last season. He continued to post above-average swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates through the 2022 season. Most of those numbers dipped below the league average in 2023, though Brasier at least kept the ball in the yard at a better-than-average rate during this year’s 21 frames (albeit with concerning exit velocity and hard-contact numbers).

There’s little harm in the Dodgers taking a low-cost flier on the veteran righty, even with this year’s alarming numbers. The Red Sox are paying the remainder of Brasier’s $2MM salary, so all the Dodgers would owe him is the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. Even that’s not a given, as he’s likely headed to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the time being.

The Dodgers are, as usual, a force to be reckoned with in the National League West, sitting on a 35-25 record that puts them in a first-place tie with the upstart D-backs.  If there’s one particularly notable flaw in L.A., it’s the bullpen. Dodgers relievers have combined for a 4.64 earned run average this season — the fifth-worst mark in Major League Baseball. They’ve gotten strong efforts from Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol and Caleb Ferguson thus far, and Shelby Miller has produced a resurgent 2.77 ERA as well (though with a 16.2% walk rate and .121 BABIP, making him a clear regression candidate). The rest of the relief corps has posted inconsistent or simply poor results, however, so it’s not a surprise to see the Dodgers taking a look at a veteran with some track record in a high-pressure, big-market situation.

Red Sox Release Ryan Brasier

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The Red Sox have released right-hander Ryan Brasier, per a team announcement. Brasier was designated for assignment by Boston last week after a brutal start to the 2023 season that saw him post a 7.29 ERA in 21 inning of work.

Aside from a nine inning cup of coffee with the Angels as a 25-year-old in 2013, Brasier has spent his entire big league career in the Red Sox bullpen. Prior to joining the Red Sox, Brasier pitched in Japan during the 2017 season, posting a strong 2.34 ERA in 50 innings of work for the Hiroshima Carp.

He was among the club’s best relievers in 2018, with a 1.60 ERA in 33 2/3 innings during the club’s World Series season, with a 1.35 ERA in an additional 6 2/3 frames during the postseason. Brasier struggled to a 4.85 ERA in a larger role during the 2019 campaign, but bounced back over the next two seasons with a solid 3.16 ERA in 37 innings of work.

Since the start of the 2022 season, however, Braier has seen his production take a noticeable downturn. He’s allowed a 6.16 ERA in 83 1/3 innings over that time, and while a 3.81 FIP indicates he may have pitched better than those top-line results, an 8.1% barrel rate and a 44.6% hard hit rate are both considerably above where they were when the 35-year-old Brasier was at his peak performance.

Despite his difficulties since the end of the 2021 campaign, Brasier seems likely to garner interests from clubs looking for bullpen depth. Brasier, who is still owed his $2MM salary for the 2023 season, can be signed in free agency by any club for only a pro-rated portion of the league minimum salary, and his previous dominance surely makes him of interest to clubs as a low-risk depth option.

Red Sox Designate Ryan Brasier For Assignment

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11:58PM: Rodriguez will be activated from the 15-day IL to take Brasier’s roster spot on Monday, The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey reports.

10:12PM: The Red Sox have designated Ryan Brasier for assignment, as the right-hander himself told reporters (including Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe) tonight in the aftermath of a tough outing against the Cardinals.  Brasier allowed three runs over 2 1/3 innings of relief in a 9-1 Red Sox loss.

No corresponding move is yet known, though manager Alex Cora told reporters over the weekend that Joely Rodriguez was going to be activated from the 15-day injured list on Monday, so the Sox could be clearing room for Rodriguez’s return.  Rodriguez suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain in mid-March during Spring Training, and has yet to pitch this season.

Tonight’s performance inflated Brasier’s season ERA to 7.29 over 21 innings of work out of the Boston bullpen.  There is some level of misfortune in that ERA since Brasier’s strand rate (52.8%) and BABIP (.344) are both skewed, and his FIP is a more moderate 4.38.  That said, he has also posted below-average strikeout and walk rates, and Brasier is near the bottom of the league in hard contact.

The advanced metrics were much more favorable to Brasier last year, but the bottom-line results still weren’t there, as the righty had a 5.78 ERA over 62 1/3 innings in 2022.  With the lack of results stretching into a second season, the Sox have opted to part ways with a reliever who has had his share of ups and downs over six years in Boston, but for the most part was a solid hurler prior to the start of the 2022 season.

After pitching with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 2017, Brasier returned from Japan to sign a minor league deal with the Red Sox, and ended up unexpectedly emerging as an ace reliever for the eventual World Series champions.  Brasier posted a 1.60 ERA over 33 2/3 regular-season innings and then a 1.04 ERA in 8 1/3 postseason innings to help the Sox win the title.

Brasier’s 2019 season was a lot shakier, but he posted better results in 2020-21, with a 3.16 ERA albeit over only 37 innings.  Brasier’s workload was limited by the shortened 2020 regular season, and then a 2021 campaign that saw him miss most of the year due to a calf strain and then a concussion after he was struck in the head by a line drive during a simulated game.

The 35-year-old is in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and is still owed roughly $1.5MM of his $2MM salary for the 2023 season.  It doesn’t seem all that likely that another team will claim Brasier off DFA waivers, so the Red Sox will likely end up eating the salary if they end up releasing the righty, or they could simply outright him down to Triple-A.  If Brasier is signed by a new team after being released, the new club will only owe the prorated portion of the Major League minimum salary, with Boston covering the remainder of the $1.5MM.

Red Sox Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Red Sox announced a set of roster moves prior to their doubleheader with the Orioles today, and as expected, right-hander Josh Winckowski was added to the roster as the 27th man.  Winckowski is slated to make his Major League debut when he starts the second game of the doubleheader.  In other moves, Hansel Robles was placed on the 15-day injured list, and Hirokazu Sawamura was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, while right-handers Ryan Brasier and Phillips Valdez were called up from Triple-A.

Robles is battling back spasms and hasn’t pitched since May 22 (his IL placement is retroactive to the 25th).  In an inconsistent season for the Red Sox bullpen, Robles has emerged as a closer candidate, recording two saves and recording a 2.65 ERA over 17 innings of work.  However, the secondary metrics aren’t impressed with Robles’ work — his strikeout rate is only 16.2%, and Robles has benefited from a .188 BABIP.

Sawamura has a solid 3.60 ERA over 15 innings this year, and his demotion is likely less a reflection of his performance than it is about restocking the bullpen with some fresher arms.  After pitching in three of the last four days, Sawamura will likely get a short breather in Triple-A before being called back up to Boston in a few days’ time.  Brasier (6.28 ERA) and Valdez (6.10) have each struggled at the big league level this year, and will get another chance to turn things around as the Sox continue to look for reliability late in games.

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