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Red Sox Activate Martin Perez

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SEPTEMBER 14: As expected, Boston reinstated Pérez from the injured list before Tuesday’s game against the Mariners. To create roster space, righty Kaleb Ort has been removed from the active and 40-man rosters and returned to Worcester.

SEPTEMBER 13: The Red Sox have activated reliever Hirokazu Sawamura from the COVID-19 injured list. Fellow reliever Austin Davis is also back from paternity leave. In corresponding moves, Brad Peacock and Stephen Gonsalves were returned to Triple-A Worcester. Peacock and Gonsalves had each been selected to the roster as COVID replacements, so they can be removed from the active and 40-man rosters without being exposed to waivers. Additionally, right-hander Eduard Bazardo has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Worcester.

Sawamura has been out since August 31 after testing positive for the virus as part of the spread throughout the Sox’s clubhouse. Signed to a two-year deal over the offseason after a nine-year career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Sawamura has a 3.09 ERA over 46 2/3 innings during his first MLB season. The 33-year-old has shown some worrying control issues, walking 14.2% of opposing hitters, but he’s also punched out an above-average 26.5% of batters faced.

Peacock has made two appearances (including one start) since being acquired from the Indians and called up in the early stages of the outbreak. He has allowed nine runs in 5 1/3 innings. Gonsalves, meanwhile, has worked 4 1/3 innings of two-run ball in relief, his first big league action since he tossed 24 2/3 frames as a rookie with the 2018 Twins.

Manager Alex Cora provided updates on a few more players on the COVID IL (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). Lefty Martín Pérez is expected to make it back tomorrow, while closer Matt Barnes will make a couple minor league rehab appearances and is expected to return to the big league club this weekend. The team hopes that ace Chris Sale, who tested positive on September 9, will make it back to start a game against the Orioles this weekend.

Red Sox Select Brad Peacock, Stephen Gonsalves

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5:40 pm: The Red Sox announced they’ve selected Peacock and left-hander Stephen Gonsalves. Righty Raynel Espinal has been removed from the 40-man roster and returned to Worcester. Gonsalves, a one time well-regarded prospect during his days in the Twins’ system, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox over the winter. Over 67 innings with Worcester, he’s worked to a 4.97 ERA with a huge 30.2% strikeout rate but a very high 16.4% walk percentage. Josh Taylor has also landed on the COVID IL as part of contact tracing efforts.

3:30 pm: Boston will lose a fifth player to the COVID IL, as reliever Hirokazu Sawamura has tested positive, Chris Cotillo of MassLive was among those to pass along. Sawamura has a 3.06 ERA over 46 2/3 innings this season, his first in MLB after nine seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

3:03 pm: The Red Sox are planning to select righty Brad Peacock to the big league roster, the team informed reporters (including Sean McAdam of Boston Sports Journal). He’ll get the start for this evening’s game against the Rays. The Red Sox have a couple vacancies on the 40-man roster because of their recent placement of four players on the COVID-19 injured list, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding active roster move.

Boston just added Peacock from the Indians in exchange for cash considerations yesterday. He’ll almost immediately get brought up to the majors for the first time this season, the ninth consecutive (and tenth overall) in which he’s made it to the big league level. Peacock had spent the past eight years with the Astros, bouncing between the rotation and long relief throughout his time in Houston.

Peacock had a few rocky seasons to begin his career but he found quite a bit of success beginning in 2017, when he reeled off 132 innings with an even 3.00 ERA. He hasn’t repeated quite that level of production, but he remained a valuable member of the pitching staff over the next couple seasons. Between 2017-19, Peacock worked to a 3.46 ERA across 288 2/3 frames, striking out a fantastic 29.4% of batters faced against an average 9% walk rate.

The 2019 campaign was the last in which Peacock has picked up extended big league innings. He was limited to three relief appearances by a shoulder injury last year and ultimately underwent arthroscopic surgery last October. That kept him out of action until late June, when he hooked on with Cleveland on a minor league deal.

He has since made eleven appearances (ten starts) with their top affiliate in Columbus, where he’s worked to a 7.68 ERA over 34 innings. That’s obviously an unsightly run prevention number, but Peacock’s peripherals are quite a bit better. The 33-year-old has essentially league average marks in strikeout rate (23.8%) and walk percentage (8.8%). His 34.3% ground-ball rate is rather low — contributing to some home run troubles — but he’s also been plagued by an abnormally high .340 opponents’ batting average on balls in play and should strand runners at a better clip than his current 56.5% mark moving forward.

Red Sox Sign Stephen Gonsalves To Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox have re-signed left-hander Stephen Gonsalves to a minor league pact, per Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. The team previously outrighted Gonsalves in late August. His new deal includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Gonsalves, now 26 years old, became a pro when the Twins used a fourth-round pick on him in 2013. He eventually became a top 100 prospect, though he didn’t see much major league time with the team or make a notable impact in Minnesota. Gonsalves concluded his Twins tenure with 24 2/3 innings of 6.57 ERA/5.72 FIP ball with ghastly strikeout and walk numbers (5.84 K/9, 8.03 BB/9). The 2018 season has been his lone big league experience to this point.

The Twins moved on from Gonsalves going into 2020, when the Mets added him via waivers. Gonsalves didn’t last long with the Mets, though, as the Red Sox picked him up as a waiver claim in July. He’ll continue trying to work his way back to the majors as a member of the Red Sox.

Red Sox Outright Stephen Gonsalves, Mike Shawaryn; R.J. Alvarez Released

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The Red Sox announced Wednesday that recently designated-for-assignment hurlers Stephen Gonsalves and Mike Shawaryn were outrighted after clearing waivers. Gonsalves was assigned to the team’s alternate training site, meaning he’s still in the 60-man player pool and eligible to pitch for the Sox in 2020 if they select his contract to the 40-man roster. That’s not true of Shawaryn, who has been removed from the team’s player pool entirely. Boston has also released right-hander R.J. Alvarez, who had been pitching at the alternate training site.

Gonsalves, once a top prospect within the Twins organization, has bounced from the Twins to the Mets to the Sox since last season drew to a close. He sports a career 3.46 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and a less-palatable 4.9 BB/9 in 125 Triple-A frames, as well as a 2.35 ERA in 184 Double-A innings. Gonsalves has struggled greatly in limited MLB action, although he never got much of a look in Minnesota and didn’t pitch with the Mets’ big league club at all. Arm injuries have hampered him in recent years, and it’s perhaps somewhat telling that he went unclaimed on waivers. Still, the Sox see enough in him to keep him on hand as a depth option in the player pool.

That much can’t be said of the 26-year-old Shawaryn, who was one of the organization’s best-ranked pitching prospects for several years (albeit in a poorly regarded farm system). Last season saw Shawaryn pitch to a 4.52 ERA with a lackluster 76-to-49 K/BB ratio in 89 2/3 frames with Triple-A Pawtucket. He was crushed for 22 runs on 26 hits (five homers) and 13 walks with 29 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings in his first taste of the Majors. Prior to that, he’d put together a solid track record, averaging about eight strikeouts and two walks per nine innings pitched with a mid-3.00s ERA in his time in the upper minors.

Alvarez, 29, was hoping for his first trip to the big leagues since a 2015 run with the A’s, but it seems that won’t come with the Red Sox. He’s spent time with the Cubs, Rangers and Marlins organizations since his last Major League action, including some time as a closer with the Triple-A affiliates for Texas and Miami. Alvarez has a 4.22 ERA in 179 Triple-A frames and has averaged nearly 11 strikeouts per nine at that level.

Red Sox Claim Andrew Triggs, Designate Stephen Gonsalves

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The Red Sox have claimed righty Andrew Triggs off waivers from the Giants and designated southpaw Stephen Gonsalves for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, per a team announcement. Triggs has been optioned to their alternate training site.

Back in 2016-17, the Athletics looked as though they might’ve unearthed a useful starter in Triggs after claiming him from the Orioles. He gave the A’s 121 1/3 frames of 4.29 ERA ball but with more encouraging secondary numbers: 3.88 FIP, 3.96 xFIP and SIERA, 7.8 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 50.3 percent grounder rate. It wasn’t a world-beating performance, but Triggs looked like a capable fourth starter — a mighty fine outcome for a simple waiver claim.

Injuries, however, have spoiled those hopes. Triggs had surgery to repair the labrum in his left hip in 2017, cutting his season short, and 14 months later he underwent thoracic outlet surgery. He was bothered by nerve irritation for months leading up to that second procedure, and Triggs has totaled just 41 2/3 innings in the Majors since the end of that ’17 season (including one-third of an inning with the Giants in 2020).

The Red Sox are in dire need of serviceable options on the pitching staff, though, and Triggs’ background is clearly of some interest to chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and his staff. The right-hander won’t join the big league staff just yet, but he could be an option at virtually any time given the ragged state of the Red Sox’ Major League staff.

Gonsalves, 26, could have a brief stay in the Red Sox organization. Boston claimed him earlier this month after the Mets designated him for assignment. The former fourth-round pick at one point a top-100 prospect as he rose through the ranks with the Twins, but Gonsalves has battled some arm troubles in recent years and struggled at the MLB level in very limited opportunities. The Sox likely hope to be able to sneak him through waivers and keep him in the player pool as a depth piece, but another club could show some interest in a waiver claim of its own.

Red Sox Claim Stephen Gonsalves

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The Red Sox claimed left-hander Stephen Gonsalves off waivers from the Mets, as per a team press release.  Gonsalves has been optioned to Boston’s minor league training site.

The Mets designated Gonsalves for assignment earlier this week, ending the 26-year-old’s tenure in New York without so much as a big league pitch after Gonsalves was claimed off waivers from the Twins last November.  Gonsalves’ lone taste of MLB action came with Minnesota in 2018, as he posted a 6.57 ERA over 24 2/3 innings (starting four of seven games).

Originally drafted by the Twins as a fourth-round pick in 2013, Gonsalves has a impressive 2.50 ERA, 2.67 K/BB rate, and 9.6 K/9 over 612 career minor league IP, though much of that success came at the lower levels.  Walks were a bit more of an issue for Gonsalves at the Triple-A level, with a 4.9 BB/9 over his 125 frames at the highest rung on the minor league ladder, though he still managed a 3.46 ERA at Triple-A Rochester.

Gonsalves will now join a Red Sox club that is in need of any sort of pitching help, so another call to the majors might not be too far away.  Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor are both recovering from positive COVID-19 tests, however, so the Sox will be getting southpaw bullpen reinforcements back in hopefully short order.  With Gonsalves’ addition, Boston has now maxed out its player pool at 60 men, and has 38 spots filled on its 40-man roster.

Mets Promote Andres Gimenez, Designate Stephen Gonsalves

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In a surprise move, the Mets have decided to promote top infield prospect Andres Gimenez to open the season. It’s not clear just yet how robust a role he’ll occupy, but Amed Rosario projects as the everyday option at shortstop — he position Gimenez plays.

Also making the MLB roster are lefty Chasen Shreve and righty Hunter Strickland. Both have had their contracts selected to the 40-man roster. It’s the same situation for infielder Eduardo Nunez, as reported previously. To clear a 40-man roster spot, the Mets designated lefty Stephen Gonsalves for assignment.

The 21-year-old Gimenez has ranked as one of the organization’s best prospects for the past three years. His 2019 numbers weren’t exactly eye-catching — .250/.307/.387 in Double-A — but Gimenez was among the youngest players in the pitcher-friendly Eastern League. Gimenez went on to play in the Arizona Fall League and raked at a .371/.413/.586 clip in 18 games and 75 plate appearances. Entering the 2020 season, he was ranked as the game’s No. 84 prospect at MLB.com and No. 90 at Baseball Prospectus.

Strickland, 31, was limited by a Grade 2 lat strain last year and struggled enormously when on the mound, pitching to a combined 5.55 ERA in 24 1/3 frames between the Mariners and Nationals. His track record prior to that unsightly campaign, however, was strong. From 2014-18, Strickland worked to a combined 2.91 ERA (3.40 FIP) with averages of 8.4 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9.

Of course, Strickland has drawn as much if not more attention for other reasons. He incited a benches-clearing brawl in 2017 after throwing at Bryce Harper — an incident most believe to be the result of a years-old grudge against Harper for homering twice off Strickland in the 2014 NLDS. The next year, upon being pulled from a game after blowing a saved, Strickland punched a door out of frustration and sustained a broken right hand. He required surgery and missed the next six weeks.

The left-handed Shreve was a solid middle relief option for the Yankees for a few seasons but flopped when he was traded to the Cardinals in the 2018 Luke Voit swap that also sent Giovanny Gallegos to St. Louis. In 203 2/3 innings, Shreve has a career 3.71 ERA.

Gonsalves, 26, was a fourth-round pick by Minnesota and was long a top prospect in the Twins organization. He cracked multiple Top 100 lists as he rose through the minors, regularly drawing praise as a high-probability back-end starter. He never got much of a look in Minnesota, though (24 2/3 innings), and he’s been limited by arm troubles in recent years.

Mets Add Seven To 60-Man Player Pool

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The Mets announced Monday that they’ve added seven players to their 60-man player pool: right-handers Matt Blackham, Jordan Humphreys and Franklyn Kilome; left-handers Stephen Gonsalves and Thomas Szapucki; infielder Jake Hager; and catcher David Rodriguez. They’ve filled 58 of the 60 spots in their pool. MetsMerized’s Michael Mayer first reported that Blackham, Humphreys and Gonsalves would be added (Twitter links).

Of the new adds today, Szapucki is the most highly regarded of the team’s prospects, ranking seventh at both FanGraphs and MLB.com. A fifth-round pick in 2015, Szapucki returned from Tommy John surgery to log 61 2/3 innings of 2.63 ERA ball with 10.5 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 across three minor league levels in 2019. The 24-year-old topped out with four innings in Double-A, and while he wasn’t viewed as a candidate to log much time in the Majors this season, he’ll at the very least get in some developmental reps in the absence of a conventional minor league season.

Kilome, also 24, came over from the Phillies in the trade that sent Asdrubal Cabrera to Philadelphia back in 2017. He lands ninth on FanGraphs’ list and 12th at MLB.com on the heels of a 2019 season that he lost to his own Tommy John surgery. That procedure came back in October 2018, so Kilome should be largely back up to speed and ready to pick up after tossing 140 innings at Double-A that year. Kilome logged a 4.18 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. Kilome improved considerably upon being flipped to the Mets; in 38 innings with his new club his K/9 jumped from 7.3 to 10.0, and his BB/9 dropped from 4.5 to 2.4.

Among the other additions, the 26-year-old Gonsalves might be the most recognizable name. The former fourth-round pick was long a top prospect in the Twins organization and cracked multiple Top 100 lists as he rose through the minors, regularly drawing praise as a high-probability back-end starter. He never got much of a look in Minnesota, though (24 2/3 innings), and he’s been limited by arm troubles in recent years.

Humphreys, 24, is another arm on the mend from Tommy John surgery. He had a big 2017 season before surgery and will aim to work his way back into the team’s bullpen mix after pitching just 13 2/3 frames last year. Blackham posted sharp numbers last year, but he turned 27 in January and has only has 15 2/3 frames above Double-A to his credit. Hager and Rodriguez were minor league pickups this winter with limited offensive track records in the minors. Hager is a former first-round pick (Rays, 2011) who can play all over the infield, while Rodriguez brings some additional catching depth and a lifetime 39 percent caught-stealing rate to the table.

Mets Select Blake Taylor, Claim Stephen Gonsalves

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The Mets have announced the addition of two left-handed hurlers to their 40-man roster. Blake Taylor’s contract was selected from Triple-A while the club claimed Stephen Gonsalves off waivers from the Twins.

Taylor, 24, has been a member of the Mets organization for more than a decade. The 2013 second-round pick of the Pirates joined New York in the teams’ 2014 swap centering on Ike Davis. Taylor was a somewhat highly touted prospect during his draft class, of course, though he hasn’t climbed above the Triple-A level yet. He did dominate in Double-A ball this year, though, as the left-hander posted a 1.85 ERA/2.61 FIP with 10.38 K/9, 2.77 BB/9 and a 50.5 percent groundball rate in 39 innings.

It hasn’t been long since Gonsalves, 25, was a top 100 prospect, and now the southpaw’s days with the Twins are over after a lengthy run as a member of the organization. Gonsalves had been with Minnesota since it grabbed him in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. However, control problems have haunted Gonsalves in recent years, especially during his only taste of the majors in 2018, and he barely pitched at all this season. Elbow and forearm problems limited Gonsalves to a total of 13 innings among three different minor league levels in 2019, but the Mets will nonetheless take a chance on the once-promising hurler.

AL Central Notes: Royals, Bailey, Twins, ChiSox

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The Royals are still listing Wednesday’s starter as TBA, but the nod will likely go to former Reds right-hander Homer Bailey, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports. Bailey threw in a minor league game late last week and built up to 6 1/3 innings, and he was already in the team’s clubhouse over the weekend. Flanagan further tweets that the Royals have at least discussed the possibility of pursuing recently released Marlins right-hander Dan Straily or recently designated Reds lefty Brandon Finnegan (a former Royals first-round pick), but neither move is likely to come to fruition. The organization, it would seem, is committed to giving Bailey a look with its lone open 40-man roster spot. It’s hard to imagine that a team in the Royals’ position couldn’t clear some additional 40-man room should they see fit, so perhaps the organization simply isn’t that interested in either Straily or Finnegan.

More from the division…

  • The Twins organization announced the Opening Day rosters for its Triple-A club Monday, revealing that left-hander Stephen Gonsalves is opening the season on the injured list due to a left flexor/pronator strain. Infielder Nick Gordon is also opening the season on the IL due to acute gastritis (inflammation of his stomach lining). Both Gonsalves and Gordon entered the 2018 season ranked among baseball’s 100 best prospects, though neither elevated his status last season. Gonsalves did make his MLB debut, though he was tagged for a 6.57 ERA in a small sample of four starts. The 24-year-old Gonsalves impressed with a 2.96 ERA and nearly a strikeout per frame in 100 1/3 Triple-A innings, but his 4.9 BB/9 mark there was the worst of his career. Still, he’s an important depth piece should the Twins lose a starter to injury, making his recovery timeline (which has yet to be announced) worth monitoring for Twins fans. As for Gordon, he obliterated Double-A pitching for 42 games before posting a disastrous .212/.262/.283 slash in 99 Triple-A games (his first exposure to that level of pitching).
  • Jon Jay began the season on the injured list due to a hip strain and discomfort in his back, and Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the veteran outfielder “doesn’t appear close to a return” to the White Sox. Manager Rick Renteria indicated over the weekend that Jay will be reevaluated when the team is back in Chicago. There’s also at least some degree of concern surrounding a velocity drop for righty Nate Jones. While Jones maintains that he doesn’t feel any discomfort in his right arm — he missed much of 2018 due to a pronator strain — his early results have been troubling (both in Spring Training and the regular season). Jones averaged 97.2 mph on his heater in each of the past two seasons but has sat at 94.9 mph so far in his first two outings of the 2019 campaign.
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