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Red Sox Claim Joel Payamps, Designate Robert Stock

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The Red Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Joel Payamps off waivers from the D-backs and designated fellow righty Robert Stock for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Boston also announced that right-hander Ryan Weber and southpaw Matt Hall, both of whom were designated for assignment last Friday, were assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket after clearing outright waivers.

Payamps, 26, has just seven Major League innings under his belt. He’s struggled in a hitter-friendly setting with Triple-A Reno in the Pacific Coast League but was solid in Double-A Jackson in both 2018 and 2019, working to a combined 2.95 ERA with a 135-to-19 K/BB ratio in 128 innings. Payamps has worked as both a starter and a reliever in the minors, and he has a minor league option remaining for the upcoming 2021 season, which surely appeals to the Sox.

Stock, 31, has a big fastball and punched out 14 hitters in 13 1/3 innings with the Red Sox this past season, but he’s battled control issues throughout his MLB career (31 walks, three hit batters, 10 wild pitches in 63 2/3 frames).

The Red Sox gave the journeyman Weber a rotation opportunity in 2020 and held out hopes that he could elevate his game to a new level with some tweaks to his repertoire. However, while Weber managed a respectable 4.40 ERA in 43 innings of work, he also posted a lackluster 27-to-14 K/BB ratio and a 5.54 FIP. Hall was acquired out of the Tigers organization and drew some intrigue for the huge spin on his breaking ball, but he also struggled in a more limited sample with the Red Sox. Both were designated for assignment last Friday as the Sox set their roster in advance of next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Red Sox Add 7 Players To 40-Man Roster; Weber, Hall Designated For Assignment

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The Red Sox designated lefty Matt Hall and righty Ryan Weber for assignment Friday afternoon, per a club announcement. Additionally, southpaw Kyle Hart cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Those three moves helped clear space for the team to select seven players to the MLB roster: catcher/infielder Connor Wong, right-hander Eduard Bazardo, third baseman Hudson Potts, righty Bryan Mata, righty Connor Seabold, outfielder Jeisson Rosario and lefty Jay Groome. All seven are now shielded from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

It’s something of an indictment on Boston’s 2020 pitching staff that Weber, who ranked third on the team in innings pitched, was immediately cut loose. Both Hart and Hall started games for the Sox in 2020 as well. The team’s leader in innings pitched, Martin Perez, had his option bought out at season’s end.

Ownership might not have wanted to publicly acknowledge that the team punted the 2020 season, but the nature of the moves involving the team’s 2020 pitching staff speak for themselves. This club was always a long shot to contend in a deep AL East, although certainly the injury to Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez’s unsettling bout with myocarditis after a Covid-19 battle didn’t help their cause. A lack of depth was always plain to see, however, and this club long looked ill-prepared to deal with inevitable injury troubles that virtually all teams encounter.

Mata, 21, has climbed as high as Double-A and has long been considered one of the organization’s better young arms. Groome probably needs some development time after injuries have slowed the former first-rounder’s career.

Several of today’s names have been added to the system via high-profile trades across the past 12 months. The 24-year-old Wong has also played in Double-A, and as one of the pieces received in the Mookie Betts/David Price blockbuster, is someone the team has high hopes for in the future. Potts is a 2016 first-rounder of the Padres who came over in the Mitch Moreland swap and has also reached the Double-A level. Rosario also landed in Boston via that swap, though he’s further from the Majors having not yet played beyond Class-A Advanced. Seabold could get a look in the rotation as soon as 2021 after coming over from the Phillies in the Brandon Workman/Heath Hembree trade.

Red Sox Place Andrew Benintendi On Injured List

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9:45pm: Benintendi will probably miss more than 10 days, manager Ron Roenicke told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and other reporters.

6:56pm: The Red Sox have placed left fielder Andrew Benintendi on the 10-day injured list with a right rib cage strain, per a team announcement. The club recalled right-hander Ryan Weber from its alternate training site in a corresponding move.

Benintendi’s IL placement continues what has been an abysmal start to 2020 for the typically sturdy producer. A former star prospect, the 25-year-old Benintendi combined for a line of .277/.354/.442 (109 wRC+) with 51 home runs, 52 steals and 9.0 fWAR in 2,052 plate appearances. So far this season, though, Benintendi has failed to hit a homer and batted an unsightly .103/.314/.128 (47 wRC+) across 52 PA, owing in part to a 32.4 percent strikeout rate that sits 13-plus percent above his lifetime figure. Benintendi has also seen his hard-contact rate plummet, and while he has never been a major power threat, his paltry .026 ISO represents a sharp decline and ranks third to last among 169 hitters who have racked up at least 50 trips to the plate.

Thanks in part to Benintendi’s drop-off, the Red Sox have opened 2020 at 6-11 – good for last in the AL East. They figure to go with a regular outfield alignment of Kevin Pillar, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Alex Verdugo while Benintendi’s unavailable. Pillar and Verdugo have been fairly productive so far, though Bradley has joined Benintendi in coming out of the gates slowly.

Red Sox Option Ryan Weber, Call Up Dylan Covey

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The Red Sox have optioned right-hander Ryan Weber to their alternate training site, as per a team announcement.  Recently-acquired righty Dylan Covey has been called up to take Weber’s spot on the MLB roster.

The 2020 season has been a struggle for Weber, who has a 9.90 ERA over three starts and only 10 innings pitched.  Weber has allowed five home runs over that brief sample size, as well as nine walks and only three strikeouts.  Clearly the Sox had been enough to continue with Weber as a starting pitcher, as strapped as Boston is for arms.

It was due to this pitching shortage that Weber found himself in the rotation in the first place, after working as a reliever for 31 of his 42 Major League appearances prior to this season.  Weber had only a 5.04 ERA and 5.7 K/9 through 114 1/3 innings from 2015-19, though his strong ability to generate grounders and limit hard contact gave the Red Sox some hope that he could at least tread water as a regular starter.  Weber’s grounder rate is down to only 40% this season, however, and opposing batters are teeing off to the tune of a 54.8% hard-hit ball rate.

Covey might step right into Weber’s rotation spot, though while the 28-year-old righty brings more experience as a starting pitcher, he also has a rather shaky track record.  Covey posted a 6.54 ERA, 6.2 K/9, and 1.52 K/BB rate over 250 1/3 innings with the White Sox from 2017-2019, also posting some solid ground-ball rates and exhibiting some problems with the long ball (1.6 HR/9).  Over 63 appearances for Chicago, Covey started 45 of those games.

The Red Sox acquired Covey from the Rays just a few days prior to their July opener, and he made one relief appearance for Boston before being sent to the alternate training site.  That one outing didn’t go particularly well, as Covey gave up two earned runs over two innings in Boston’s 7-2 loss to the Orioles on July 25.

Ryan Weber Likely To Be In Red Sox’ Rotation

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Red Sox right-hander Ryan Weber entered camp hoping to win a battle for the fifth and final spot in the rotation, but manager Ron Roenicke has suggested that the 29-year-old now looks like the team’s fourth starter, per the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato.

Weber inked a minor league deal with the Red Sox in December 2018 and found himself in the big leagues as early as May, when now-former Sox lefty David Price hit the injured list. He spent the rest of the season bouncing between Pawtucket and Boston, ultimately appearing in 18 games and pitching to a 5.08 ERA in 40 2/3 innings. That’s not a particularly appealing number, of course, but Weber’s 4.20 FIP was much more palatable, and there’s reason to think he could be more effective yet.

Among the 436 pitchers who had 100 balls put into play against them in 2019, Weber posted the 17th-lowest hard-hit rate, per Statcast. Weber exhibited good control both in Triple-A and the Majors, and over the course of his pro career, his sinker has generated above-average ground-ball rates each year. The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham wrote earlier in the month that the Sox were intrigued by the small handful of cutters that Weber threw last season and believe the pitch could develop into a quality offering with more use. To his credit, Weber also has an excellent Triple-A track record, having pitched to a 2.85 ERA in 360 1/3 innings there.

Even if Weber does surface as a serviceable rotation piece, Boston’s collection of starters is shaky following yesterday’s announcement that Chris Sale will miss the 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery. Eduardo Rodriguez turned in the finest season of his career in 2019 and should be a solid leader of the group. But right-hander Nathan Eovaldi hasn’t made more than 21 starts in a season since 2015, and lefty Martin Perez is fresh off a second consecutive sub-par season. The fifth spot in the rotation could go to an opener, although Mastrodonato and other reporters that spoke with Roenicke yesterday noted that he also mentioned lefty Brian Johnson as a possibility.

Sox fans may hope that righty Collin McHugh, signed as a free agent earlier this month, could eventually emerge as an option. However, The Athletic’s Chad Jennings wrote yesterday (subscription required) that McHugh still hasn’t begun a throwing program as he works back from elbow troubles of his own. He’s reportedly been cleared to do so, although workouts for all players are in limbo to some extent, given the suspended state of play. Perhaps by the time the season eventually gets underway, he’ll be built up, but it’s difficult to pencil him in even as a tentative rotation piece for the time being.

The Red Sox’ lineup should still be solid even without Mookie Betts, anchored by a formidable trio of Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez. But between Sale’s surgery, the trade of Price and the lack of a steady addition in the offseason, Boston’s starting staff looks like it’ll be a patchwork unit.

Latest On Boston’s Rotation

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Ever since last week’s news that Chris Sale will begin the 2020 season on the injured list, there has been much speculation about how the Red Sox would fill his absence. Even though it currently seems that he won’t need to go under the knife for Tommy John surgery, the team will still need to replace him in some fashion.

It was recently revealed that the Boston brass are open-minded as to how they go about filling Sale’s innings, having put the opener strategy on the table.

Jason Mastrodonato of The Boston Herald spoke with Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke, who gave some details about a presentation from chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. (Bloom, of course, was with the Rays when they pioneered the use of the opener.)

Roenicke outlined that they are still considering using two openers, as well as using some pitchers to “pitch three innings every three days.”

It seems the approach is still in a very speculative stage. One element being considered is the stretching out of Darwinzon Hernández. Before last year, Hernández had primarily been a starter in the minors. But 2019 saw him oscillate between starting and the bullpen, making 12 starts and and five appearances at two minor levels to go along with one start and 28 relief appearances in the big leagues. What form his contribution will take in 2020 seems to still be up in the air.

“We talked about it again a couple days ago,” Roenicke said, “and I think that talk is probably going to continue on with him. Especially the better he does at more innings, we’ll probably keep talking about it. Maybe he’s at two innings and then goes to three. Then we’re like, ‘OK, do we try this guy and see how he does starting?’ Those conversations I imagine will probably happen through the years.”

Another name to watch out for is Ryan Weber, according to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. Abraham notes that the Red Sox are trying to maximize Weber’s five-pitch mix by increasing the use of his cutter.

Much like Hernández, Weber’s position within the staff doesn’t seem to be locked down. But that doesn’t seem to be bothering him. “If I get the ball in the first inning or the third inning, I’m going to pitch the way I pitch,” Weber said. “I’m comfortable starting or relieving.” Weber made 16 starts for the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox in 2019. But at the big league level, only three of his 18 appearances were starts.

The bottom line seems to be that all options are being kept open for now.  As Roenicke says, “I think we’re still hoping that one of these guys that we’re looking at in camp is going to ‘wow’ us basically and we know we can go with him as a starter every fifth day,” he said. “So I think that’s what we’re waiting for.”

If Hernández and Weber don’t provide that ’wow’ factor, Boston does have other options, as recently outlined by MLBTR’s Connor Byrne. Though the Fenway faithful will surely be hoping for Sale’s speedy recovery and that whatever emergency measures are required are only temporary fixes.

Red Sox Notes: Weber, Verdugo, Moreland, JBJ

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Just what are the Red Sox thinking by tying up a 40-man roster spot on righty Ryan Weber? Chad Jennings of The Athletic explores (subscription link). The club sees Weber as a clear candidate to take the fifth starter’s role or at least to serve as valuable depth. (He can still be optioned.) While his stuff isn’t eye-popping, it seems the org’s talent evaluators were wowed by Weber’s “command and execution.” And new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom evidently hasn’t seen cause yet to disagree. Weber doesn’t throw hard and owns only a 5.04 ERA in 114 1/3 MLB innings over the past five seasons. It’ll be interesting to see whether the Sox can help him find a path to contributing value in 2020.

In other news out of Boston, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com rounds up a series of interesting stories on the Sox. We’ll take a brief look at those of particular hot stove relevance …

  • There’s some good news on the progress of recently acquired outfielder Alex Verdugo, but also some added questions. Bradford writes that the 23-year-old has made major strides just since camp opened — but also that he may miss a month or more of the regular season. “The fact it is taking this long is frustrating,” says Verdugo. “What keeps me positive is that all the players, the staff, the trainers, they all support me. They all want me to wait until I’m fully healthy and get back.” Verdugo spoke about the lingering back and related issues that have plagued him for some time now, saying that he had been on a “regular workout plan” from the Dodgers that (it now seems) may not have been the best approach.
  • Regardless whether this lengthy recovery process could’ve been shortened, it’s certainly disappointing that the Boston organization is dealing with this sort of uncertainty surrounding the key player acquired in exchange for Mookie Betts. And Verdugo’s potential also makes for a key component of the team’s 2020 outlook. Even without Betts, the club is certainly at least a plausible Wild Card contender. Fans feeling down about the situation may at least be buoyed somewhat to learn of Verdugo’s unabashed affinity for legend David Ortiz (Twitter link).
  • Returning veteran first baseman Mitch Moreland spoke of his most recent stint on the open market. While he again ended up inking with the Sox, it wasn’t an obvious outcome for much of the winter. Moreland, a Mississippi native, says he fielded interest from a number of other clubs, including some “really close to home that were enticing.” Ultimately, the Red Sox re-engaged — and Moreland says he was happy to work it out to remain in Boston. The Sox will be pleased if they get a repeat of Moreland’s 2019 output; he slashed .252/.328/.507 (112 wRC+) after putting up only league-average offensive output in his first two years with the club.
  • The free agent process can certainly have its twists and turns, but center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. sees it in a positive light. Bradley, who’ll hit the open market next winter, tells Bradford that he’s looking forward to having the ability “to finally make a choice for yourself.” There are ways in which nearing free agency can be stressful, he acknowledged, but that’s all a matter of perspective. For Bradley, there’s nothing but upside: “Why not be excited about it?” he queried.

Red Sox Activate Nate Eovaldi, Option Ryan Weber

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The Red Sox activated Nathan Eovaldi from the 60-day injured list today, per The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham (via Twitter). Optioning Ryan Weber to Triple-A will be the corresponding roster move. The team announced the moves as well.

Eovaldi will step into the closer’s role, as has been the plan coming out of Boston since the beginning of this month. Eovaldi certainly has the chops to cover the back-end innings for the BoSox, but the decision was surprising because of Eovaldi’s stated preference for the rotation. The injury history, his success out of the pen in last year’s World Series, and the middling production from the Red Sox pen (4.56 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 4.35 xFIP) add up to a fairly compelling case to support Boston’s decision, however.

Ryan Brasier leads the team in saves with seven, but his recent struggles landed him back in Pawtucket earlier this week. Freeing Brandon Workman and Matt Barnes from regular closing responsibilities will lengthen the bullpen and give manager Alex Cora weapons to deploy earlier in ballgames. Given the scarcity of natural sellers in this year’s trade market, the Red Sox already sidestepped the long line of teams angling for bullpen additions by finding an easier get for their rotation in the form of ex-Oriole Andrew Cashner. Rather than mortgaging the farm to outspend the many of pen-hungry buyers, the Red Sox are hoping Eovaldi can settle a relief core than has been the worst in the majors by ERA (6.88) over the last month.

As for Weber, he made two appearances in this most recent go-round with the major league club, struggling through 4 2/3 innings of work. For the season, he’s made three starts and five relief appearances for the Red Sox, amassing 24 innings and a 5.25 ERA (4.31 FIP). The 28-year-old righty returns to Pawtucket for the time being, where he owns a 5.16 ERA this season across 11 starts.

Red Sox Place David Price On Injured List, Select Ryan Weber

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7:38pm: It seems there’s not much concern that Price is dealing with a significant injury, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com was among those to report. Price calls it “nothing,” though he declined to say how long he had been dealing with the issue and there’s no clear timeline for his return.

10:52am: The Red Sox announced Monday that they’ve placed lefty David Price on the 10-day injured list due to tendinitis in his left elbow. Right-hander Ryan Weber’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Pawtucket, and he’ll replace Price on the active roster for the time being. Boston had an opening on its 40-man roster, so there are no additional corresponding moves needed.

Price, 33, has gotten out to a solid start in 2019, logging a 3.75 ERA with a 10.5 K/9 mark that would be a career-best in a full season and a 2.5 BB/9 mark that would be his lowest since signing in Boston. He’s been one of the steadiest arms in a surprisingly vulnerable Red Sox rotation, but he’ll now join fellow starter Nathan Eovaldi on the shelf. Price’s placement on the IL is retroactive to May 3, so he could be eligible to return in as little as a week, though Boston’s press release made no mention of how long Price is expected to sit out with the elbow ailment.

In his place, Boston will turn to longtime Braves farmhand Weber — a 28-year-old who spent the 2017-18 seasons with the Mariners and Rays, respectively. Weber has a 5.01 ERA in 73 2/3 frames at the big league level, but he owns a lifetime 2.61 ERA in 307 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball. Weber won’t overpower any opponents — he’s averaged just 90 mph on his fastball in the Majors — but he boasts strong control and ground-ball tendencies in both Triple-A and in the bigs.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/21/18

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Phillies have a host of new additions to the team’s list of MLB Spring Training participants. In addition to a few we’ve already featured here at MLBTR, the Philadelphia club has announced the signings of southpaw Jeremy Bleich, backstop Rob Brantly, righty Josh Martin, utilityman Matt McBride, and infielder Gregorio Petit. Every one of these players has seen MLB time except for Martin, who’ll be looking for his first crack at the bigs after compiling a seven-season minor-league stat line with the Indians organization that features a 3.33 ERA and 9.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
  • Likewise, the Padres have announced a haul of camp competitors. Allen Craig will come back for another go, as will Alex Dickerson. Otherwise, southpaws Ryan Bollinger and Dietrich Enns have inked with the San Diego org, along with righty Tyler Higgins. On the position-player side, infielders Seth Mejias-Brean and Aderlin Rodriguez are joined by outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo. It’s the opposite situation from the one just discussed above, as all of the new additions excepting Enns — who’s compiled two MLB appearances — have yet to crack the majors.
  • A handful of new free agents are heading to the Rangers, too, per a club announcement. Lefty Jack Leathersich has seen action in a pair of MLB campaigns, but won’t get a camp invite. Fellow southpaw Miguel Del Pozo, righties, Ariel Hernandez and Phillips Valdez, and infielder Nolan Fontana will open their tenure in Texas on the MLB side of Spring Training. Hernandez and Fontana each have minimal experience in the bigs. Valdez worked to a 2.73 ERA in 135 upper-minors innings with the Nationals organization last year, with 6.9 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9; Del Pozo has averaged ten strikeouts per nine in his minor-league career.
  • The Red Sox have added another hurler on a minor-league pact, this time picking up righty Ryan Weber, per Michael Mayer of Metsmerizedonline.com (via Twitter). Now 28 years of age, Weber has thrown 73 2/3 innings of 5.01 ERA ball over the past four years, though the vast majority of those came in 2015 and 2016. He was rather effective last year at Triple-A in a swingman capacity, spinning 115 1/3 innings of 2.73 ERA ball with 6.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9.
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