Travis Shaw elects free agency after Red Sox outright him off 40-man roster

Three days after designating him for assignment, the Red Sox outrighted veteran infielder Travis Shaw for assignment on Sunday. Shaw, however, rejected the assignment and elected free agency instead.

After being claimed off waivers by the Red Sox from the Brewers last August, Shaw enjoyed a resurgence in his second stint with Boston in 2021. The left-handed hitter batted .238/.319/.524 with three doubles, three home runs, 11 RBIs, and six runs scored over 28 games while also making the team’s Wild Card Game, Division Series, and Championship Series rosters in October.

On the other side of the lockout, Shaw inked a minor-league deal to remain with the Red Sox in March. While the 32-year-old did not perform particularly well in spring training, he still made Boston’s Opening Day roster as a left-handed bench bat who could platoon with Bobby Dalbec at first base.

That said, Shaw’s spring struggled carried over into the early stages of the regular season as he started out 0-for-19 at the plate with seven strikeouts. With Dalbec experiencing his fair share of offensive struggles as well, the Sox opted to remove Shaw from the 40-man roster so that they could call up Franchy Cordero in his place.

Now that he has cleared waivers and has become a free agent, Shaw is free to sign wherever he may choose. The Ohio native was originally selected by Boston in the ninth round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Kent State University and has 114 career home runs across 733 games between the Red Sox (2015-2016, 2021-2022), Brewers (2017-2019, 2021) and Blue Jays (2020). It will certainly be interesting to see if he can land with another team.

(Picture of Travis Shaw: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Derek Holland opts out of minor-league deal with Red Sox to become free agent

Derek Holland has opted out of his minor-league contract with the Red Sox and is now a free agent, as was first reported by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo earlier Sunday morning.

Holland, 35, originally signed a minor-league deal with Boston back in March with the hopes of earning a bullpen spot with the team out of spring training. When he was informed that he would not be making the Sox’ Opening Day roster, the veteran left-hander elected to remain in the organization and begin the season with Triple-A Worcester.

In 10 relief appearances for the WooSox, Holland posted a 6.35 ERA to go along with 13 strikeouts to seven walks over 11 1/3 innings of work. Given that the Red Sox already have lefties like Austin Davis, Jake Diekman, and Matt Strahm in their bullpen with another southpaw rehabbing from injury in Josh Taylor, adding Holland to the major-league mix was clearly not a priority for the club.

Instead, Holland — who had multiple opt-out clauses in his contract since he was an article XX(B) free agent — will once again hit the open market and look to latch on elsewhere.

A former 25th-round draft pick with 13 seasons of big-league experience under his belt, Holland his pitched for the Rangers (2009-2016), White Sox (2017), Giants (2018-2019), Cubs (2019), Pirates (2020), and Tigers (2021). With Detroit last year, he produced a 5.07 ERA and 3.96 FIP across 39 appearances (one start) spanning 49 2/3 innings.

(Picture of Derek Holland: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox option Jaylin Davis and Phillips Valdez to Triple-A Worcester

Following Sunday afternoon’s loss to the Orioles, the Red Sox optioned outfielder Jaylin Davis and right-hander Phillips Valdez to Triple-A Worcester, the team announced.

The decision to option both Davis and Valdez comes one day before all Major League Baseball teams are required to trim their active rosters from 28 to 26 players.

As a result of the lockout and the compressed spring training that followed, MLB allowed its clubs to carry 28 players on their rosters from the start of the season up until May 2. Teams must remove two players from their active roster in order to get down to 26 by Monday. They are now permitted to carry up to 14 pitchers through May 30.

By sending Davis and Valdez to Worcester, Boston now has 14 pitchers and 12 position players on its major-league roster. According to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, the Sox are expected to keep it that way for the time being.

Davis, 27, was claimed off waivers from the Giants on Thursday and joined the team in Baltimore the following day. He was used as a pinch-runner in his Red Sox debut and went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in his first start for the club on Sunday.

Since he has one minor-league option remaining, Davis can provide the Red Sox with experienced outfield depth from Worcester throughout the season. Before being claimed, the right-handed hitter appeared in 10 games for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento and batted .295/.340/.500 with two home runs and seven RBIs over 47 plate appearances. He turns 28 in July.

Valdez, on the other hand, entered Sunday with a 3.24 ERA through his first seven relief appearances (8 1/3 innings pitched) of the season. On Sunday, however, the 30-year-old righty got rocked for four earned runs on four hits, two walks, and one hit batsman in two innings of work against the Orioles. That performance raised his ERA on the season up to 6.10.

As was the case last season, Valdez will join the WooSox’ bullpen for now but should contribute at the big-league level for Boston once more later in the year.

(Picture of Jaylin Davis: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Red Sox end road trip with 9-5 loss to Orioles on rain-filled Sunday in Baltimore

On a rain-soaked Sunday in Baltimore, the Red Sox dropped the finale of their weekend series against the Orioles by a final score of 9-5 at Camden Yards. With the loss, Boston finishes its 10-game road trip having gone 3-7 to fall to 9-14 on the season overall.

Matched up against O’s starter Jordan Lyles to begin things on Sunday, the Sox certainly had their chances early on, though they could not capitalize on them. Trevor Story drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and advanced to third base on a two-out single from J.D. Martinez. He was stranded at third after Franchy Cordero grounded out.

An inning later, Christian Vazquez roped a two-out double off Lyles and could have scored from second when Jaylin Davis followed with a line-drive single to center field. Vazquez, however, turned back towards second even though there were two outs before moving up to third. Story then struck out on three pitches to extinguish the threat.

In the third, a two-out single courtesy of Martinez followed by Cordero drawing a walk and Enrique Hernandez getting plunked loaded the bases for Jackie Bradley Jr., who proceeded to ground out to first for the final out. And in the fourth, a Davis single and Story walk put runners at first and second with one out for Rafael Devers, who grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Sox finally broke through against Lyles in the fifth as Xander Bogaerts laced a hard-hit double to lead off the inning, advanced to third on a Martinez groundout, and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cordero that gave Boston a 1-0 lead.

To that point in the contest, Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta had been cruising along through his first four innings of work. With some help from Vazquez, who gunned down Cedric Mullins in the second and Anthony Santander on a strike ’em out, throw-em out double play in the fourth, the right-hander retired 10 of the first 13 batters he faced on Sunday.

Pivetta ran into some trouble in the fifth, though, and it began when he issued a leadoff single to Rougned Odor. A line-drive double from Ramon Urias then put runners at second and third for Tyler Nevin, who gave the Orioles their first lead of the afternoon on a two-run single to left field.

Nevin advanced to second on a one-out single from Jorge Mateo, who would turn out to be the last hitter Pivetta would face. Austin Davis came on in relief of Pivetta and allowed one of the runners he inherited to score on a Santander sacrifice fly. Hirokazu Sawamura finished the fifth by getting Austin Hays to fly out to right field.

All told, Pivetta was charged with three earned runs on six hits and no walks to go along with five strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings of work. The 29-year-old hurler finished with a final pitch count of 67 (49 strikes) while lowering his ERA on the season to 7.84.

After Vazquez, Davis, and Story went down quietly in the top half of the sixth, Kutter Crawford emerged out of the Boston bullpen for the bottom half and immediately served up a leadoff home run to Odor that put Baltimore up 4-0. Rain then began to fall harder than it had been, resulting in a delay that was over two hours in length.

Once play resumed, Phillips Valdez took over for Crawford and proceeded to hit the first batter he faced in Nevin. Valdez then issued a four-pitch walk to Anthony Bemboon before yielding a two-run double to Mateo, who scored himself on a Santander RBI single. Santander also scored on another RBI base hit courtesy of Ryan Mountcastle to make it a 9-1 game in favor of the Orioles.

Valdez came back out for the seventh and put up a zero before making way for Kevin Plawecki in the eighth. Plawecki, the first Red Sox position player to pitch this season, worked his way around a Ryan McKenna leadoff single by retiring the next three O’s he faced in order.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Martinez crushed a 364-foot grand slam off old friend Travis Lakins Sr. Martinez’s second homer of the season cut the Sox’ deficit down to four runs at 9-5, which would go on to be Sunday’s final score.

While Martinez’s slam certainly helps, the Red Sox finished the day having gone 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position while leaving 10 runners on base as a team.

Next up: Bring on the Angels

The Red Sox will travel back to Boston and have the day off on Monday before welcoming the 15-8 Angels into town for a three-game series that begins on Tuesday night.

For Tuesday’s opener, it will be right-hander Michael Wacha getting the ball for Boston. Los Angeles has yet to name a starter.

Regardless, first pitch from Fenway Park on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Red Sox spoil Nathan Eovaldi’s superb start in 2-1 walk-off loss to Orioles

The Red Sox fell to the Orioles by a final score of 2-1 in 10 innings at Camden Yards 0n Saturday night. With the walk-off loss, Boston drops to 9-13 on the season and 3-6 on their current road trip.

Matched up against O’s starter Spenser Watkins to begin things on Saturday, a J.D. Martinez-less Sox lineup got off to a quick start. Trevor Story led off the first inning with a ground-rule double on the very first pitch he saw and later scored on an RBI single off the bat of Xander Bogaerts.

That sequence gave Boston an early 1-0 lead before Nathan Eovaldi could even take the mound. Eovaldi, making his fifth start of the year, allowed just three hits and no walks to go along with a season-high eight strikeouts over seven scoreless innings of work.

The right-hander took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before yielding a two-out double to Cedric Mullins. He then stranded Mullins in scoring position before putting and leaving two runners on base to get out of a jam in his seventh and final frame.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 95 (67 strikes), Eovaldi threw 38 four-seam fastballs, 21 splitters, 17 curveballs, 15 sliders, and four cutters. The 32-year-old hurler topped out at 98.6 mph with his heater and lowered his ERA on the season to 2.51 but did not factor into Saturday’s decision.

In relief of Eovaldi, Matt Barnes received the first call from manager Alex Cora out of the Boston bullpen in the bottom of the eighth. Given a one-run lead to protect, Barnes surrendered another two-out double to Mullins that was just out of Alex Verdugo’s reach in left field. The speedy Baltimore outfielder then scored from second on an Anthony Santander RBI single that knotted things up at 1-1 as Barnes was charged with the blown save.

In the ninth, the bottom third of the Red Sox lineup went down quietly against Jorge Lopez before Ryan Brasier did the same to the Orioles in the bottom half of the inning to send things to the 10th.

Even with an automatic runner in scoring position in, an anemic Boston offense failed to push across the potential go-ahead run in Jaylin Davis in their half of the 10th, setting up Baltimore to walk it off in their half of the inning.

With Hirokazu Sawamura on the mound for the Sox and Jorge Mateo at second base for the Orioles, Ryan McKenna was intentionally walked to set up the double play possibility. The next batter, Robinson Chirinos, proceeded to drop down a bunt that Sawamura fielded cleanly. Sawamura opted to get the force out at third base, but he instead threw the ball way over Rafael Devers’ head, which allowed Mateo to easily score the game-winning run.

All told, the Red Sox went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Saturday and left 10 runners on base as a team.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Lyles in rubber match

Having finished the month of April four games under .500, the Red Sox will look to flip the calendar and start anew in Sunday’s series finale against the Orioles. To kick off the month of May, right-hander Nick Pivetta will get the ball for Boston and fellow righty Jordan Lyles will do the same for Baltimore.

First pitch from Camden Yards on Sunday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Nathan Eovaldi: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock to make third start of season for Red Sox against Angels on Wednesday

Garrett Whitlock will make his third start of the season for the Red Sox in Wednesday night’s game against the Angels at Fenway Park, manager Alex Cora said Saturday.

After opening the year in Boston’s bullpen as a multi-inning reliever, Whitlock moved into the starting rotation on April 23 and has made two starts against the Rays and Blue Jays on the road. Over 16 2/3 total innings of work, the right-hander has posted a miniscule 0.54 ERA and 2.20 FIP to go along with four walks and 20 strikeouts.

While Whitlock will remain in the Sox’ rotation for the time being, Cora would not commit to the 25-year-old as a starter beyond Wednesday since the club has three off days within the next two weeks.

“Let’s see how it goes,” Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo). “We’ve got the off day on Monday. Obviously, we’ve got another off day a week from Monday. He’ll start on Wednesday and then we’ll keep making decisions.”

Cora also indicated that Whitlock’s pitch count on Wednesday will surpass the career-high of 61 he threw in Toronto this past Thursday. In his first time out as a starter in St. Petersburg last Saturday, the righty needed just 48 pitches (33 strikes) to toss four scoreless, one-hit innings.

With Whitlock sticking as a starter for now, Tanner Houck is expected to remain in the bullpen. Houck began the season as a member of Boston’s starting rotation but his last two appearances have come in relief after missing the team’s four-game series in Toronto on account of not being vaccinated against COVID-19.

Between the two, the Sox can mix and match with Houck and Whitlock if they so choose when it comes to their respective roles. Also, as noted by Cotillo, the impending returns of left-handers James Paxton and Chris Sale at some point this summer will further shake up the club’s rotation mix in the coming months.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Joshua Bessex/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox top prospect Marcelo Mayer dealing with minor right wrist soreness; shortstop has not played since April 23

Top Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer has not appeared in a game for Low-A Salem since April 23 and is currently dealing with minor right wrist soreness, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Per Speier, Mayer’s absence initially came as a result of team-implemented workload management, but has since developed soreness in his right wrist that will keep him sidelined through the end of the weekend.

Boston’s director of player development, Brian Abraham, told Speier that the club is hopeful Mayer will not land on the injured list and will instead be able to return to action for Salem’s next series against Myrtle Beach that begins on Tuesday. He also said that Mayer has still been able to participate in baseball activities, including swinging the bat, despite his wrist ailment.

Mayer, 19, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the top prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 15 prospect in all of baseball. The Red Sox originally selected the California-born shortstop with the fourth overall pick in last summer’s amateur draft.

After signing with the Sox for $6.664 million, Mayer made his professional debut in the rookie-level Florida Complex League and stood out there. To begin his first full season as a pro, the left-handed hitter has batted .333/.397/.491 (148 wRC+) with six doubles, one home run, 10 RBIs, nine runs scored, three stolen bases, six walks, and 17 strikeouts over 13 games (63 plate appearances) with Salem.

(Picture of Marcelo Mayer: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

J.D. Martinez scratched from Red Sox lineup as veteran slugger continues to deal with adductor tightness

J.D. Martinez was originally slated to return to the Red Sox lineup for Saturday’s contest against the Orioles at Camden Yards. The veteran slugger was in line to start at designated hitter and bat cleanup for Boston.

A little more than three hours before first pitch, however, it was revealed that Martinez was scratched from the Sox’ lineup as left fielder Alex Verdugo moved up to the four-hole and Christian Arroyo was inserted as the team’s new designated hitter.

Coming into Saturday night, Martinez had missed six of Boston’s last nine games while dealing with left adductor tightness that first became an issue around April 20. The Red Sox are just 3-6 during that stretch.

While he will not be starting on Saturday, Martinez will be available to pinch-hit off the bench and will likely start on Sunday, per manager Alex Cora.

Martinez, 34, is in the midst of the final year of the five-year, $110 million contract he originally signed with the Sox in February 2018. Through 15 games this season, the right-handed hitter is batting .278 (15-for-54)/.344/.481 with eight doubles, one home run, eight RBIs, five walks, and 16 strikeouts over 61 plate appearances.

Arroyo, on the other hand, hit his first home run of the season on Friday and is currently batting .205 (8-for-39)/.220/.282 to go along with RBIs, three runs scored, one stolen base, one walk, and nine strikeouts over his first 14 games (42 plate appearances) of 2022. Saturday will mark the second consecutive day and third time overall in which the 26-year-old has been used as a designated hitter so far this season.

(Picture of J.D. Martinez: Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

Christian Arroyo homers, Rich Hill takes perfect game into fifth inning as Red Sox hold on for 3-1 win over Orioles

The Red Sox kicked off the final leg of their road trip with a 3-1 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards on Friday night. With the win, Boston improved to 9-12 on the season.

Matched up against Kyle Bradish, who was making the first start of his big-league career for the O’s, to begin things on Friday, the Sox got on the board first in their half of the second inning.

Enrique Hernandez led off the top of the second with a single to shallow center field. After Franchy Cordero flew out, Christian Arroyo followed by clubbing a 408-foot two-run homer into Baltimore’s bullpen.

Arroyo’s first home run of the season gave Boston an early 2-0 lead. It was also the first home run hit by a Red Sox batter since Rafael Devers went deep off Corey Kluber in St. Petersburg last Friday.

Jackie Bradley Jr. kept the rally going by reaching base on an infield single. He then scored all the way from first when Christian Vazquez ripped a single to right field that got past Trey Mancini and rolled all the way to the wall. Vazquez was easily thrown out at third, but the damage had already been done.

Rich Hill, making his fourth start of the year for the Sox, took full advantage of the three-run cushion he was given. The veteran left-hander allowed just one hit and no walks to go along with four strikeouts over four-plus innings of work.

After retiring each of the first 12 batters he faced, Hill took a perfect game bid into the fifth inning but yielded a leadoff single to Austin Hays, which is how his night would come to an end. Finishing with a final pitch count of 50 (35 strikes), the 42-year-old southpaw threw 24 curveballs, 20 four-seamers, four sliders, and two changeups while lowering his ERA on the season to 3.71.

In relief of Hill, Tanner Houck got the first call from manager Alex Cora out of the bullpen. Houck, fresh off being activated from the injured list, stranded the lone base runner he inherited in the fifth despite allowing one hit and one walk in the inning. The right-hander sat down the side in order in the sixth but ran into additional trouble in the seventh when he loaded the bases with two outs.

Houck did not falter, though, as he punched out the pinch-hitting Rougned on three straight strikes to escape the jam and hand things over to Jake Diekman in the eighth. Diekman, in turn, needed 17 pitches to toss a scoreless frame.

Hansel Robles was dispatched for the ninth and immediately served up a solo home run to Ryan Mountcastle that was followed by a line-drive single off the bat of Hays.

With the tying run at the plate, Robles issued a balk that allowed Hays to advance to second. He then got Ramon Urias to fly out and Tyler Nevin to line out to right for the first two outs.

Cora went back into the bullpen and gave Robles the hook in favor of Matt Strahm, who walked Anthony Santander on five pitches to put the tying run on base with runners at first and second. The lefty, however, did not give in as he fanned the pinch-hitting Chris Owings to slam the door on Baltimore and earn the first save of his major-league career.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Watkins

The Red Sox will go for the series win over the Orioles by sending right-hander Nathan Eovaldi to the mound on Saturday night. Fellow righty Spenser Watkins will get the ball for Baltimore.

First pitch from Camden Yards is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Rich Hill: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Red Sox activate Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck from restricted list, add Franchy Cordero and Jaylin Davis from Triple-A Worcester in slew of roster moves

Before opening up a three-game weekend series against the Orioles at Camden Yards on Friday night, the Red Sox made a series of roster moves.

First off, right-handers Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck were both activated from the restricted list. Secondly, outfielder Jaylin Davis was recalled from Triple-A Worcester and fellow outfielder Franchy Cordero had his contract selected from Worcester.

In order to make room for these four on the major-league roster, right-handers Tyler Danish and John Schreiber were sent down to Triple-A Worcester while infielder Travis Shaw was designated for assignment, the club announced.

Crawford and Houck return from the restricted list after both were placed on it this past Monday. Neither pitcher was eligible to pitch in the Sox’ last series against the Blue Jays in Toronto due to their unvaccinated status. Houck will piggyback Rich Hill, who will be making his fourth start of the season for Boston on Friday.

Davis, who was claimed off waivers from the Giants and immediately optioned to Worcester on Thursday, will join the Red Sox for his first big-league stint of 2022. The right-handed hitting 27-year-old began the season with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento and batted .295/.340/.500 with two home runs and seven RBIs over 10 games spanning 47 plate appearances. He will wear the No. 43 with his new team.

Joining Davis from Worcester is Cordero, who appeared in 48 games with the Sox last season but was designated for assignment in October. After remaining in the organization through the winter, the 27-year-old opened the 2022 season with the WooSox and has since slashed .296/.378/.535 with eight doubles, three home runs, 24 RBIs, 13 runs scored, one stolen base, 10 walks, and 23 strikeouts over 19 games (82 plate appearances) at the Triple-A level. He will start at first base and bat sixth for Boston in Friday’s series opener against Baltimore.

Danish and Schreiber were both added from Worcester when Crawford and Houck were placed on the restricted list earlier this week. Danish has made four appearances with the Red Sox so far this season and has posted a 3.86 ERA with six strikeouts to two walks over 4 2/3 total innings of work. Schreiber, on the other hand, pitched on both Wednesday and Thursday. The 28-year-old righty retired seven of the eight batters he faced across 2 1/3 scoreless frames.

Refsnyder, meanwhile, was first called up from Worcester after catcher Christian Vazquez and infielder Jonathan Arauz were placed on the COVID-19 related injured list on April 19. The 31-year-old made his Red Sox debut four days later and went 2-for-5 (.400) with two doubles, one RBI, and one walk in the three games he appeared in.

Since they were COVID substitutes, both Refsnyder and Schreiber were taken off the Sox’ 40-man roster and returned to the WooSox without having to be exposed to waivers.

As for Shaw, the veteran infielder effectively lost his spot on the major-league roster to Cordero after an 0-for-19 start to the plate this season. The Red Sox now have the next seven days to either trade, release, or waive Shaw.

(Picture of Franchy Cordero: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)