Tag: alex cora

Rick Porcello Dazzles with Seven Scoreless Innings as Red Sox Take Opener from Twins for Sixth Straight Win

After sweeping the lowly Baltimore Orioles over the weekend, the Red Sox kicked off the second leg of their two-city, six-game road trip on Monday by taking the first of three against the American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins in a tightly-contested 2-0 win, marking their sixth consecutive victory to improve to a season-best six games over .500 at 40-34.

Making his 15th start of the season for Boston was Rick Porcello, who entered Monday fresh off a quality outing in his last time out against the Texas Rangers as well as an impressive track record when working at Target Field.

Tossing seven full innings this time around, the right-hander held one of the top offensive clubs in the American League scoreless, scattering just four hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts on the night to tie a season-high.

It wasn’t quite clear that Porcello would wind up putting together the dominant performance he did in this one, with Nelson Cruz ripping a two-out double off of him in the first inning and all, but the New Jersey native did not waver, as he received some help from his defense and never faced more than four hitters in a single frame up until the bottom half of the seventh.

There, following a string of retiring 17 of the last 19 Twins he had faced, a one-out, line-drive double off the bat of CJ Cron that nearly snuck over the wall in right-center field put the tying run in scoring position for Minnesota.

A two-out walk of Miguel Sano two batters later also put the go-ahead run on base, but, fortunately for Boston, Porcello managed to escape the jam and thus preserve the shutout by getting Jason Castro to fly out to left, and that would be how his outing came to a close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 94 (68 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball nearly 45% of the time he was on the mound Monday, inducing six swings and misses and topping out at 92.7 MPH with the pitch while Sandy Leon behind the plate.

Eventually earning his fifth winning decision while lowering his ERA on the season down to 4.31, Porcello will look to continue this recent run he has been on in his next time out, which should come against the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend.

In relief of Porcello, Colten Brewer came on in the eighth with a one-run lead to protect, allowed the first two men he faced to reach to put the go-ahead run on for Minnesota yet again.

With no outs and the AL’s top hitter Jorge Polanco (.332 BA) at the plate, the Twins decided to take the bat out of their shortstop’s hands, and instead opted for a sacrifice bunt to advance both Jonathan Schoop and Max Kepler into scoring position for Neslon Cruz.

Having only faced Cruz one time prior to Monday, Brewer got ahead in the count with two straight strikes before getting the Twins slugger to ground into a fielder’s choice that just so happened to catch Schoop in a rundown between third and home.

Devers, on the toss from Sandy Leon, was able to tag Schoop out to eliminate the threat, all while Kepler failed to advance to third himself.

Three pitches later, Brewer miraculously got out of the tight spot he put himself in by getting Eddie Roasario to ground into an inning-ending out at first.

And in the ninth, after his team had provided a little insurance in their half of the frame, Ryan Brasier, just activated from the bereavement list earlier Monday, shut the door on the Twins and notched his seventh save of the year by locking down the 2-0 win for Boston.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Twins ace right-hander Jose Berrios, and he proved to be just as, if not more dominant than Porcello in this one.

It was a good thing the Boston bats got to him right away with one out in the first on an RBI single off the bat of JD Martinez to plate Mookie Betts from third, because the Puerto Rico native was essentially unhittable the rest of the night.

Sitting down 19 in a row at one point and capping off his performance by fanning the final two hitters he faced, it wasn’t until Berrios departed and right-handed reliever Blake Parker entered to begin the ninth.

Down to their last out of the inning with JD Martinez at second following a one-out double off Parker, Xander Bogaerts came through in the clutch and gave his side some much-needed insurance, as he took an 0-2 fastball on the outer half of the plate and slapped an RBI two-bagger to the opposite field, allowing for Martinez to come in and score and put the Red Sox up 2-0.

That extra-base hit, the 300th of Bogaerts’ career, would be all the Sox would need to take the series opener from the Twins and win their sixth straight overall in the process of doing so.

Some notes from this win:

From MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith:

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

Xander Bogaerts, since this road trip began on June 14th: 5-for-11 with three doubles, six walks, and four RBI in four games.

—

I don’t want to say that the Red Sox passed their first test since there are still two games remaining in this series, but after all the negativity about being unable to beat quality teams, coming out and blanking arguably the best team in the American League at the moment at home is impressive nonetheless.

For the middle contest of this three-game set, it will be a starting pitching matchup featuring a pair of veteran arms, with left-hander David Price getting the ball for Boston and Michael Pineada doing the same for Minnesota.

Coming off his second-shortest start of the season in a six-run beatdown at the hands of the Rangers on June 13th, Price (4-2, 3.52 ERA), brings with him a lifetime 3.08 ERA over nine career starts and 61.1 total innings pitched at Target Field.

Pineda, meanwhile, missed all of the 2018 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and has posted a 5.04 ERA through 13 starts in his second year with the Twins.

In 12 prior starts against Boston, the 30-year-old is 5-5 to go along with an ERA of 4.23 over 66 innings of work.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 8:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to extend their winning streak to seven.

 

Red Sox Activate Hector Velazquez from Injured List, Reinstate Ryan Brasier from Bereavement List

Before taking the Minnesota Twins in the first of a three-game series Monday, the Red Sox activated right-hander Hector Velazquez from the 10-day injured list and reinstated right-hander Ryan Brasier from the bereavement/family medical emergency list.

In a corresponding move, both right-handers Travis Lakins and Josh Smith were optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room on the 25-man roster. The club made the transaction official earlier Monday.

Placed on the injured list back on May 30th due to a lower back strain, Velazquez has not appeared in a big league game for Boston since the 29th of last month, where he allowed four runs in two innings of relief against the Cleveland Indians.

In a brief one start rehab stint with Short-Season A Lowell this past Saturday, the 30-year-old fanned two and gave up one hit in a scoreless first inning for the Spinners.

On the 2019 season as a whole, Velazquez currently sports a 1-3 record to go along with an ERA of 5.97 and .260 batting average against over 16 appearances, seven of which have been starts. He should resume his role as a potential spot starter or long man out of Boston’s bullpen.

Brasier, meanwhile, has not appeared in a game for the Sox since June 10th after being placed on the bereavement list the following day.

Through 31 relief outings this season, the 31-year-old has surrendered 14 runs (12 earned) on 23 hits and eight walks over 28 2/3 total innings of work. That’s good for a 3.77 ERA and .217 batting average against. But, despite what those numbers say, it’s clear to see that Brasier has been far less effective than he was towards the later parts of the 2018 season.

With two spots needed to be made on Boston’s active roster for Brasier and Velazquez, Travis Lakins and Josh Smith were optioned back down to the PawSox five days after they were both recalled on June 12th.

In what was their third and fourth stints with the Red Sox this season respectively, Lakins, 24, appeared in three games and allowed one run on two hits in 2 1/3 frames of relief, while Smith, 31, picked up his first career major league save and finished two other games despite posting an ERA of exactly 6.00 over three total innings pitched.

This is the first time the Sox have had Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez available at the same time since the beginning of April. Manager Alex Cora has gone as far to say those two were the team’s MVPs last year for the versatility they provided out of the bullpen and rotation when needed.

So, with those two back in the mix, things may be looking up for a Red Sox bullpen that has felt depleted at times in the past few weeks.

First pitch against the Twins is scheduled for 8:10 PM EDT on NESN.

Red Sox Activate Brian Johnson from Injured List, Option Sam Travis to Triple-A Pawtucket

Before kicking off a three-game weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, the Red Sox returned left-hander Brian Johnson from his rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket and activated him from the 10-day injured list. In a corresponding move, first baseman/outfielder Sam Travis was optioned to Triple-A. The club made the transaction official earlier Friday.

Last appearing in a game with the Red Sox way back on April 5th, Johnson has been sidelined the past two-plus months due inflammation in his left elbow.

Now in his second full big league season, the 28-year-old owns a 12.71 ERA and .370 batting average against through four relief appearances in 2019.

While rehabbing with both Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket, Johnson allowed a total of 14 runs (11 earned) on 20 hits and eight walks over six outings (four starts) and 14.2 innings of work.

Those numbers may not look all that promising, but the Florida native did hold the Rochester Red Wings to one run on four hits and two walk to go along with six strikeouts in a four-inning start on June 9th.

With Johnson back in the mix, expect him to get the start against Baltimore on Sunday, as the Sox have yet to announce a starter for that contest.

Sam Travis, meanwhile, was up with Boston for nearly two weeks in his second stint with the big league club so far this season.

The 25-year-old utility man went 2-for-17 with one RBI and a few nice defensive plays this time around, and is currently slashing .167/.167/.167 through eight games played in 2019.

The Red Sox are currently rostering 13 pitchers and 12 position players.

First pitch against the O’s on Friday is scheduled for 7:05 PM EDT on NESN. Here’s how the Sox will be lining up.

Xander Bogaerts Leads Power Surge for Red Sox in 7-6 Comeback Win over Rangers for Series Split

In a game that took well over four hours to complete, the Red Sox stormed all the way back to a four-game split against the Texas Rangers with a 7-6 win on Thursday night to close out a 3-5 homestand.

Making his 12th start of the season for Boston in the series finale was David Price, fresh off six quality one-run innings in his last time out against the Tampa Bay Rays.

This time around though, the left-hander struggled mightily against a team he has a rough history with, as he yielded six runs, all of which were earned, on five hits, two HBPs, and one walk to go along with a pair of strikeouts on the short-lived night.

The issues for Price were present right from the get-go, that much was clear by how he hit the first man he faced in Shin-Soo Choo, and proceeded to walk the next in Delino Deshields, which in turn led to Texas plating their first two runs on an Elvis Andrus RBI single and Hunter Pence RBI double that nearly left the yard, but bounced off the top of the short wall in right field and landed back in play.

Price escaped the first after surrendering another pair of runs on two-out, two RBI double from Logan Forsythe, but more trouble arose an inning later, and it was once again started by beaning Choo with one out on a 1-2 changeup.

A double from Deshields put both runners on base in scoring position for Andrus, who capitalized on a 1-0 changeup from the Tennessee native and grounded another two-run hit through the left side of the infield to make it a 6-0 game. That was how Price’s evening came to a disappointing close, less than an hour after it had began.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 49 (27 strikes), the 33-year-old hurler relied on his four-seam fastball nearly 37% of the time he was on the mound Thursday, inducing five swings and misses and topping out at 92.3 MPH with the pitch while Christian Vazquez behind the plate.

When asked about his performance, Price simply said, “I sucked. That’s it.” With his ERA jumping up by 8/10 of a run up to 3.52 on the season, he’ll look for better results in his next time out against the Minnesota Twins next Tuesday.

In relief of Price, Sox manager Alex Cora turned to every reliever in his bullpen sans Heath Hembree, who later said he wasn’t available to pitch due to right forearm tightness.

Mike Shawaryn, Colten Brewer, and Travis Lakins, all of whom have been recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket in the last few weeks, set the groundwork by working a combined four scoreless, no-hit frames of relief, scattering five walks along the way to set up the more high-leverage arms.

Entering the sixth with the score at 6-6, Marcus Walden bounced back from a two-run outing this past Saturday by working his way around two two-out singles in an otherwise clean frame with some help from Andrew Benintendi.

Another tightrope was walked in the seventh, when, still in a tie game, Brandon Workman walked the bases loaded with two outs, took Deshields to a full count after falling behind 3-0, and came through with a huge punchout on an 82 MPH slider to strand the go-ahead run at third.

In the eighth, after his side had plated what would turn out to be the winning run in their half of the inning, Matt Barnes also bounced back from what has been a subpar month of June so far by fanning the final two Rangers he faced to leave Hunter Pence at second following a one-out double.

And in the ninth, with Heath Hembree unavailable, Josh Smith, yes, Josh Smith came on for his first ever big league save opportunity.

It didn’t look great when he hit the first batter he faced, but the 31-year-old got Rougned Odor to ground into a force out at second to keep the tying run out of scoring position before the Rangers second baseman stole the base anyway, and he also struck out pinch-hitter Nomar Mazara seven pitches later.

With one out still to get, this contest nearly ended on a pick-off move made by Smith on a retreating Odor as he was sliding back to second.

Xander Bogaerts was confident he had the runner on the tag, but second base umpire Angel Hernandez ruled him safe, and that ruling was upheld despite a Red Sox challenge.

The man who was at the plate while that transpired, Choo, was intentionally walked, and Smith succeeded against his next opponent in Deshields, as he got the speedy outfielder to fly out to center, thus securing his first career save and completing the comeback.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Rangers right-hander Adrian Sampson, who hadn’t pitched against the Sox nor at Fenway Park since his rookie year in 2016, when he was with the Seattle Mariners.

Starting the scoring for Boston in this one was JD Martinez in the first inning, mashing his 13th home run of the year on a 418 foot solo shot to center to cut the early deficit to three runs.

An inning later, that deficit would be trimmed down even further to two thanks to back-to-back leadoff singles from Bogaerts and Vazquez and a 403 foor three-run dinger off the bat of Jackie Bradley Jr., his sixth of the year.

Fast forward to the fourth, and Michael Chavis came alive and made it a one-run game by depositing his first homer since the 22nd of May into the third row of Monster Seats down the left field line. 6-5.

Rafael Devers joined the home run party in the fifth, tying this wild one up by absolutely crushing an 0-2 hanging slider from Sampson and sending it 443 feet over everything in center field. Per Statcast, the 22-year-old’s 10th big fly of 2019 had an exit velocity of 110 MPH.

Finally, in the seventh, down to their final out of the inning with right-hander Peter Fairbanks in for Texas, Xander Bogaerts gave the Sox their first lead of the night, collecting his 14th home run of the season on an 0-1 slider, one that the budding shortstop mashed 386 feet over the Monster.

That put the Red Sox ahead 7-6 after trailing by as many as five runs, and that would go on to be Thursday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

The Red Sox had nine hits Thursday. Five were home runs.

Jackie Bradley Jr. in June: .257/.366/.514 with two home runs, three doubles, and seven RBI.

Xander Bogaerts in June: .304/.382/.630 with three doubles, four home runs, and seven RBI.

The Red Sox bullpen Thursday: 7 1/3 innings pitched, four hits, one HBP, eight walks, nine strikeouts, ZERO earned runs.

—

So, after going down two games in a four-game series, the Red Sox respond by taking the next two for the split. That’s encouraging to see, especially with a three-game weekend series against the lowly Baltimore Orioles set to begin on Friday.

The starters for that series go as follows: Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Sale, TBD (Could be Brian Johnson).

Meanwhile, for Baltimore, they have yet to announce a starter for either Friday or Sunday. Right-hander Dylan Bundy will be matched up against Sale on Saturday.

The Sox took two out of three from the O’s in their first trip to Baltimore back in May. A sweep this time around seems more ideal.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their third straight win.

 

 

 

Darwinzon Hernandez Struggles in First Start, Alex Cora and Andrew Benintendi Get Tossed as Red Sox Fall Back to .500 in 9-5 Loss to Rangers

After blowing a late lead to open up a four-game series against the Texas Rangers on Monday, the Red Sox fell behind early Tuesday and could never really recover, as they dropped their third straight contest to fall back to .500 on the season in a 9-5 loss.

Making his first career start and second appearance for Boston was top pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez, who was recalled from Double-A Pawtucket earlier Tuesday.

Last working as a reliever in his first stint with the club back in April, the left-hander surrendered four runs, three of which were earned, on three hits and five walks to go along with seven strikeouts on the night.

Despite fanning 77% of the nine hitters he faced, control remained Hernandez’s biggest issue in this one, as it has been in his time with the Sea Dogs.

From the jump, the Venezuela native dazzled, punching out the side in the first while also leading off the second with his fourth K.

The trouble began with a one-out, seven-pitch walk of Hunter Pence, which was followed with a four-pitch walk of Asdrubal Cabrera to give the Rangers their first two baserunners.

Two pitches later, Rougned Odor drove in his team’s first run by ripping an RBI ground-rule double over Mookie Betts’ head in right field, which came at the benefit of the Red Sox with Cabrera being held up at third.

In the third, the free pass bit Hernandez yet again, this time with three of the first five Rangers hitters to come to the plate in the inning reaching base by way of the BB, loading the bases for Cabrera.

After falling behind 3-0 and battling back to fill the count, Cabrera ultimately won his second battle against the young southpaw, as he made it a 3-1 contest with a two-run single to center.

Hernandez would fan Odor for his seventh and final strikeout, and proceeded to allow the first two Rangers he faced to reach in the fourth with the help of a Rafael Devers fielding error before getting the hook from Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 86 (42 strikes), the 22-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball nearly 76% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing seven swings and misses while also topping out at 97.7 MPH with the pitch while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

It’s never been a question about Hernandez’s stuff, that is certainly there. It’s the control that’s the issue, and for whatever reason, he just folded after recording the first out of the second inning.

Can’t say for sure that Hernandez will make another start, but if he does, it will most likely come against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

In relief of Hernandez, Colten Brewer came on in that fourth inning, yielded a six-pitch walk to the first man he saw to fill the bases, and officially closed the book on Hernandez’s first big league start by giving up a sacrifice fly to Danny Santana to make it a 4-3 game.

From there, after Brewer escaped the fourth with back-to-back punchouts, Bobby Poyner came on for his first appearance since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday, and he, at the very least, ate some innings.

To put it bluntly, the left-hander entered with his team trailing by one run, and left with them down by six, with those last two runs coming on a two-run inside-the-park home run off the bat of Hunter Pence that was just out of Brock Holt’s reach in the top half of the sixth.

And finally, Mike Shawaryn continued to impress out of the bullpen by fanning four Rangers in two perfect frames of relief to wrap up what was another underwhelming night from Red Sox pitching.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Rangers right-hander Ariel Jurado, who had never pitched against Boston nor at Fenway Park before Tuesday.

Already down a run by the middle of the second, Xander Bogaerts answered back and got his side on the board by blasting his 13th home run of the season, this one a 422 foot shot over the Green Monster.

An inning later and trailing by a pair this time, Rafael Devers erased that deficit quickly, following by back-to-back two-out walks with a two-run triple off Jurado to break out of an 0-for-20 slump. He was stranded at third.

Fast forward to the bottom of the fifth, and some drama arose when Andrew Benintendi had a few choice words for home plate umpire Angel Hernandez following a groundout to short.

The thing was, Hernandez couldn’t hear Benintendi’s words, but first base umpire Vic Carapazza could, and without giving a warning, ejected the Red Sox outfielder as he was heading back towards his dugout.

That led to even more pandemonium, and ultimately resulted in Cora’s ejection and more colorful language from Benintendi.

Once all was settled, the Sox still trailed by three runs going into the sixth, and that deficit did not shrink.

A Michael Chavis leadoff double in the seventh off new Rangers reliever Jose LeClerc, followed by an RBI two-bagger from JD Martinez two outs later gave Boston their fourth run of the night.

And in the ninth, Mookie Betts swung at the very first pitch he saw from right-hander Chris Martin, and came away with his 11th dinger of the year, although it didn’t make much of a difference in what would go down as a 9-5 loss for the Red Sox.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox are 34-34 on the season and 5-6 in June.

Mike Shawaryn is averaging 16.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

JD Martinez’s last two games since returning from back spasms: 4-for-7, two doubles, one run scored, one RBI.

Andrew Benintendi on his ejection:

Alex Cora on his:

Brock Holt, who was in right field because of the Benintendi ejection, on what happened on the inside-the-park homer:

—

It was a bizarre night, really. Both managers got ejected, the Red Sox didn’t use one pitcher who appeared in a big league game before the start of the 2018 season, and Mookie Betts had himself a rough time of things in center field.

Next up for the Sox, it’s the third game of this four-game set, which was moved up three hours from its original start time because of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Right-hander Rick Porcello, will be getting the ball for Boston, while fellow righty Lance Lynn will be doing the same for Texas.

In his career against the Rangers, Porcello (4-6, 4.86 ERA) owns a lifetime 5.16 ERA over 12 prior starts and 68 total innings pitched.

Lynn (7-4, 4.39 ERA), meanwhile, has posted a career 2.40 ERA in three previous appearances (two starts) and 15 innings of work at Fenway Park.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 4:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox need to wake up.

 

 

 

Red Sox Recall Top Pitching Prospect Darwinzon Hernandez from Double-A Portland, Place Ryan Brasier on Bereavement List

Prior to their second of four games against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, the Red Sox placed right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier on the bereavement/family medical emergency list and recalled left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez from Double-A Portland in a corresponding move. The club made the transaction official earlier Tuesday.

Now up with Boston for the third time this season, Hernandez will make his first career big league start Tuesday after only being used out of the bullpen in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers back in April, where he tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Ranked as the organization’s top pitching prospect, the 22-year-old has not had an easy time of things with the Sea Dogs this year, as he has posted a 5.13 ERA in 10 outings (nine starts) and 40 1/3 total innings pitched to go along with 59 strikeouts and 32 walks. That’s good for a K/9 of 13.2 and a BB/9 of 7.2. He is also holding opposing hitters to a .217 batting average against.

As the above tweet indicates, control has been Hernandez’s biggest issue. How he fares against major league hitters multiple times through the order should be interesting to see.

Here’s how the rest of the Red Sox line up on Tuesday against Texas. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT.

Red Sox Recall Bobby Poyner from Triple-A Pawtucket, Option Josh Taylor

Before kicking off their four-game series against the Texas Rangers on Monday, the Red Sox swapped a pair of left-handed bullpen arms, with southpaw Bobby Poyner being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket and fellow lefty Josh Taylor being optioned to the PawSox in a corresponding move. The club made the transaction official earlier Monday.

Poyner rejoins Boston after spending less than a week with the big league club back in April, where he allowed a total of two runs on three hits and two walks over two relief appearances and one inning pitched.

With Triple-A Pawtucket this season, the 26-year-old has appeared in 20 games, posting an ERA of 3.91 and a batting average against of .247 while striking out 32 hitters over 25.1 total innings of work.

Eight of Poyner’s last 10 relief outings have been scoreless, and he last pitched on June 8th.

Taylor, meanwhile, will rejoin the PawSox after spending nearly two full weeks with Boston.

In five appearances with the big league club going back to the 29th of May, the undrafted 26-year-old surrendered six earned runs, four of which came in Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, on 12 hits, no walks, and six strikeouts over a total of five innings of relief. That’s good for a 10.80 ERA, although his FIP was only 3.35.

While with Pawtucket this season, Taylor’s numbers look much better, as he has limited the opposition to a .234 batting average to go along with an ERA of 2.91 through 19 games and 21.2 innings.

With Brian Johnson still on the injured list but working his way back, Poyner is the only left-handed option the Red Sox have out of their bullpen for the time being.

The Red Sox also announced that the start time for Wednesday’s game against the Rangers has been moved from 7:10 PM to 4:05 PM EDT to accommodate Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins, which is set to begin at TD Garden shortly after 8 PM EDT that night.

Let’s also remember to keep David Ortiz in our thoughts and prayers.

Red Sox Select Shortstop Matthew Lugo with 69th Overall Pick in 2019 MLB Draft

After selecting Cameron Cannon with their first and 43rd overall pick in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft, the Red Sox have added on another nice shortstop with their second pick of the night, this time drafting Matthew Lugo out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico with the 69th overall pick in the second round.

The nephew of Carlos Beltran himself, Lugo, 18, ranked 38th among MLB.com’s top 200 draft prospects and the highest out of any Puerto Rican born players.

Originally committed to the University of Miami, as MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo noted, it seems as though Red Sox manager Alex Cora has his name written all over this pick.

A high school class of 2019 graduate, here’s how the 6’1″, 185 lb. infielder stacked up against MLB.com’s scouting grades:

Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50

Per SoxProspects.com, the assigned slot value for the 69th pick in this year’s draft is approximately $929,800.

If Boston’s newest draftee is going to sign, expect it to happen relatively soon.

 

Red Sox Place Steve Pearce on 10-Day Injured List, Recall Sam Travis from Triple-A Pawtucket

After departing from Friday night’s loss against the New York Yankees in the middle of the second inning, the Red Sox on Saturday placed first baseman/outfielder Steve Pearce on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain.

In Pearce’s place, first baseman/outfielder Sam Travis has been recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket. The club made the roster move offical earlier Saturday.

According to Sox manager Alex Cora, Pearce left Friday’s game early because of back spasms, and less than a full day later, the 36-year-old veteran was shelved for the second time this year.

Initially opening his first full season with Boston on the injured list due to a left calf injury suffered back in March, Pearce is currently slashing .180/.245/.258 with just one home run and nine RBI through 29 games played and 99 plate appearances in 2019.

The reigning World Series MVP may not have missed much time with that injured calf earlier in the season, but this time around, perhaps it would be wise of the Red Sox to send Pearce out on a rehab assignment so that he could maintain his form that was so valuable to the club last year.

On the other side of this transaction, just like it was in March, Sam Travis has been recalled from the PawSox.

The 25-year-old broke camp this year by making his first big league Opening Day roster and went 2-for-7 with a pair of singles before being optioned down on April 4th.

Through 49 games with Pawtucket this season, Travis is slashing .251/.359/.371 with three home runs and 20 runs driven in.

Without both Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce on the 25-man roster for the time being, expect Michael Chavis, Brock Holt, and of course Travis to see the majority of playing time at first base for the Red Sox.

#RedSox Place Mitch Moreland on 10-Day Injured List, Option Travis Lakins to Triple-A Pawtucket in Slew of Roster Moves

Prior to their series finale against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday, the Red Sox placed first baseman Mitch Moreland on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain and optioned right-handed reliever Travis Lakins to Triple-A Pawtucket.

In Lakins’ and Moreland’s place, right-hander Colten Brewer and left-hander Josh Taylor were recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket.

The club made the transactions official earlier Wednesday.

Moreland, 33, had been out of Boston’s lineup since May 25th after taking a line drive off his knee against the Astros and being “banged up” as of late per Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Since the move to the IL is retroactive to May 26th, Moreland will be eligible to be activated starting June 5th.

Along with shelving their first baseman, the Red Sox also optioned Travis Lakins, who allowed the go-ahead run to score in Tuesday’s loss to Cleveland, to the PawSox.

Ranked as the organization’s No. 17 prospect per MLB.com, the 24-year-old Lakins has posted a 6.43 ERA over four relief appearances and seven total innings pitched in two separate stints with the big league club.

On the other side of these moves, righty Colten Brewer returns to the Red Sox three days after being optioned. He did not appear in a game for the PawSox.

Josh Taylor, meanwhile, was the player to be named later in the trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Deven Marrero last May.

The undrafted 26-year-old owns a 2.91 ERA through 19 appearances out of Pawtucket’s bullpen so far this season.

So, after a few days of having 13 position players and 12 pitchers, the Red Sox are back to where they started the season with 12 position players and 13 pitchers, which was pretty much expected following Tuesday’s late-inning debacle from the bullpen.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 6:10 PM EDT on NESN. Here’s how the Red Sox will be lining up in their finale against the Tribe.