Joely Rodríguez will pitch for Double-A Portland on Saturday, and might be activated earlier than Monday’s sequence opener in opposition to the Seattle Mariners.
The left-handed reliever was Boston’s first free agent signing final November, however hasn’t pitched for the big-league crew but. He started the season on the injured record, after struggling a proper indirect pressure throughout a spring coaching sport.
Rodríguez final pitched for the New York Mets. In 2022, he posted a 4.47 ERA throughout a career-high 55 video games, together with 9 video games completed. He ranked within the 84th MLB percentile or higher in anticipated slugging (84), laborious hit fee (91), chase fee (94), barrel fee (95) and common exit velocity (96). He struck out 57 batters and solely gave up three dwelling runs, but in addition issued a career-worst 26 walks, placing him within the sixth percentile in stroll fee.
Upgrading the bullpen was considered one of Boston’s high priorities over the offseason, and regardless of some dicey moments, the acute makeover is paying off. Red Sox relievers collectively personal a 3.42 ERA and are holding opposing batters to a .236 batting common, over 144.2 innings, which is tied for third-most within the American League. The Red Sox are 14-3 after they rating first, and are 16-0 when main after six innings, and undefeated after they lead after the sixth (16-0), seventh (17-0) and eighth innings (19-0).
Garrett Whitlock will pitch for Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. A bullpen standout in his 2021 debut season, the Red Sox now view him as a beginning pitcher. He was positioned on the injured record in late April with ulnar neuritis, however checks revealed no ulnar nerve injury.
Waive goodbye
The Rays claimed Zack Littell off waivers on Friday, per week after the Red Sox acquired him from the Texas Rangers for money issues.
In between, the 27-year-old right-hander made a pair of reduction appearances for the Red Sox. He allowed three earned runs on three hits, three walks plus one intentional, and struck out two throughout three innings.
Littell turns into the second former Red Sox reliever to affix the Rays this week for pennies on the greenback. They additionally signed Jake Diekman to a serious league deal on May 9, after the left-hander was launched by the Chicago White Sox.
Diekman signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Red Sox forward of the 2022 season, however struggled throughout his time in Boston, posting a 4.23 ERA throughout 44 video games. While he struck out 51 batters throughout 38 1/3 innings, he additionally allowed 22 runs, 18 of them earned, on 27 hits, issued 30 walks.
The Red Sox traded Diekman to the White Sox on the deadline, at which era Chicago took on the rest of his contract, which features a $4 million membership choice or $1 million buyout for subsequent yr. As such, the Rays will solely pay the lefty the prorated main league minimal.
Tampa Bay’s bullpen has the third-best ERA within the majors, and an inclination to show different groups’ discards into dominant arms. Will they strike gold once more with Littell and Diekman?
Making strikes
The Red Sox acquired Pablo Reyes from the Oakland A’s on Friday, in alternate for money issues. The 29-year-old infielder is now assigned to Triple-A Worcester.
Reyes debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018, and performed components of two seasons with the crew, in addition to 58 video games for the Milwaukee Brewers between 2021 and 2022. Over 147 profession regular-season video games, he’s hit .238 with a .667 OPS, 14 doubles, two triples, six dwelling runs, 40 runs, and 29 RBI.
History lesson
In the historical past of regular-season inter-league play, nobody has been higher than the Red Sox. Their 293-201 (.593) document is one of the best within the Majors, they usually have an opportunity to enhance upon it additional this weekend.
The St. Louis Cardinals are on the town for 3 video games, including on to the lengthy shared historical past between the 2 storied franchise, which incorporates 4 World Series conferences, break up evenly. The Cardinals took dwelling the prize in 1946 and 1967, and the Red Sox exacted revenge in 2004 and 2013.
The Cardinals are additionally finishing a stretch of highway sequence in Major League Baseball’s three oldest ballparks. They completed their final highway journey with a set at Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962, and performed the Chicago Cubs this week earlier than flying to Boston. Wrigley Field is the National League’s oldest ballpark. It opened in 1914, two years after Fenway, and the Cubs started taking part in there two years later.
Source: www.bostonherald.com