Only two players were involved this time around, but the Red Sox still made their third round of spring training roster cuts following Sunday’s split-squad doubleheader against the Yankees and Orioles.
Boston optioned right-hander Bryan Mata to Triple-A Worcester and reassigned left-hander Ryan Sherriff to minor-league camp, the club announced.
Mata made his fourth appearance of the spring in Sunday’s 3-3 draw against the Yankees at JetBlue Park. The 23-year-old scattered three hits and two walks to go along with two strikeouts over three scoreless innings of work. He retired eight of the 13 batters he faced on 46 pitches and has yet to surrender a run in Grapefruit League play.
After returning from Tommy John surgery last season, Mata was promoted to Worcester in late August. The native Venezuelan made five starts for the WooSox and posted a 3.47 ERA (3.12 FIP) with 30 strikeouts to 15 walks over 23 1/3 innings pitched. He is currently regarded by Baseball America as Boston’s top pitching prospect and could have a chance to make an impact at the major-league level later this year.
Sherriff, on the other hand, signed a minors pact with the Red Sox in January that came with an invite to big-league camp. In four relief appearances this spring, the 32-year-old southpaw has allowed one unearned run on three hits, one hit batsman, and four strikeouts. He has held opposing hitters to a .188 batting average against thus far.
With Sunday’s subtractions, the size of Boston’s spring training roster has shrunk from 56 to 54 players. Fifteen of the 54 players who remain are not on the 40-man roster and are therefore at camp as non-roster invitees.
BOSTON RED SOX NON-ROSTER INVITEES (15)
Pitchers (4): Matt Dermody, Oddanier Mosqueda, Chase Shugart
Catchers (4): Jorge Alfaro, Caleb Hamilton, Ronaldo Hernández, Stephen Scott
Infielders (1): Christian Koss
Outfielders (3): Greg Allen, Narciso Crook, Raimel Tapia
Infielder/Outfielders (4): Ryan Fitzgerald, Niko Goodrum, Daniel Palka, Nick Sogard
(Picture of Bryan Mata: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
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