Tag: brandon brennan

Red Sox outright Brandon Brennan to Triple-A Worcester after reliever clears waivers

Just three days after designating him for assignment, the Red Sox have outrighted right-handed reliever Brandon Brennan to Triple-A Worcester, the team announced prior to Wednesday’s game against the Braves.

Brennan, who turns 30 next month, was initially called up from Worcester last Thursday so that Boston could add a fresh arm to its heavily-used bullpen.

In his lone appearance with the big-league club, Brennan tossed three scoreless innings of relief while allowing three hits and two walks to go along with one strikeout when working in relief of Nick Pivetta in Saturday’s 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

Because he worked three innings on Saturday, the 6-foot-4 hurler essentially became unavailable for the remaining two games of that series with Toronto, which led the Sox to designate him for assignment in order to add fellow righty Ryan Weber to their 40-man roster on Sunday.

Weber, as you may recall, got lit up for 11 runs over 5 2/3 innings in his season debut, and he, too, was designated for assignment earlier this week so that Boston could add recently-acquired reliever Yacksel Rios to the 40-man.

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While he does have minor-league options remaining, Brennan winds up clearing waivers and remaining within the Red Sox organization.

Boston originally claimed the California native off waivers from the Mariners in early May and subsequently optioned him to Triple-A Worcester.

In eight appearances out of the WooSox bullpen thus far, Brennan has posted a 2.16 ERA and 1.32 WHIP over 8 1/3 total innings pitched.

(Picture of Brandon Brennan: Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

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Red Sox select Ryan Weber, designate Brandon Brennan for assignment

Before taking on the Blue Jays in the third game of a four-game series at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon, the Red Sox selected the contract of right-hander Ryan Weber from Triple-A Worcester and added him to the major-league roster.

In a corresponding move, fellow right-hander Brandon Brennan was designated for assignment, the club announced earlier Sunday morning.

Weber, 30, re-joins the Sox’ 40-man roster after being designated and outrighted to Triple-A Worcester last November.

In seven appearances (six starts) with the WooSox this season, the veteran hurler posted a 4.63 ERA and 3.98 xFIP to go along with 10 walks and 33 strikeouts over 35 innings of work.

Weber’s last start for Worcester came on June 8, an outing in which he pitched well against the Syracuse Mets by only allowing two runs in seven innings, so he would be in line to start once again on Sunday.

“It was his spot in the rotation (for Worcester) and he can give us multiple innings,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “If something happens with (Sunday’s starter) Martín (Pérez), we were running short on innings. So he’ll be a guy who can give us multiple innings.”

Originally signing a minor-league pact with Boston in December 2018, Weber has put up a 4.73 ERA over 35 appearances (eight starts) and 83 2/3 innings pitched in parts of two seasons with the Red Sox.

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Brandon Brennan, meanwhile, was designated for assignment despite the fact that he does have minor-league options remaining.

The 29-year-old was called up from Triple-A Worcester this past Thursday. He tossed three scoreless innings while scattering three hits, two walks, and one strikeout in his lone appearance out of the Boston bullpen against Toronto on Saturday.

The Red Sox will have seven days to either trade, release, or waive Brennan, who was claimed off waivers from the Mariners last month.

(Picture of Ryan Weber: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox recall Brandon Brennan from Triple-A Worcester, option Phillips Valdez

Before wrapping up a three-game series against the Astros at Fenway Park on Thursday, the Red Sox recalled right-hander Brandon Brennan from Triple-A Worcester.

In a corresponding move, fellow righty Phillips Valdez was optioned down to the WooSox, the team announced Thursday evening.

The move to swap relievers comes at a time when the Red Sox bullpen has been heavily used as of late, and with Hirokazu Sawamuara dealing with right hip soreness, Boston opted to bring up a fresh arm in the form of Brennan.

Brennan, who turns 30 next month, was originally claimed off waivers by the Sox from the Mariners in early May, shortly after he was designated for assignment by Seattle.

While he was optioned to Worcester as soon as he was claimed by Boston, Brennan has gotten his 2021 season off to a solid start with the WooSox.

In eight appearances out of Worcester’s bullpen to this point, the 6-foot-4 righty has posted a 2.16 ERA and 3.65 xFIP to go along with 11 strikeouts and five walks over 8 1/3 innings of relief thus far.

Prior to joining the Red Sox organization this spring, Brennan spent parts of two big-league seasons with the Mariners in 2019 and 2020. He put up a 4.45 ERA, a 4.73 FIP, and a 54:29 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 49 total outings spanning 54 2/3 innings of work.

The California native operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a changeup, a sinker, a four-seam fastball, and a slider, per Baseball Savant. He is known for his ability to induce swinging strikes.

A former fourth-round draft pick of the White Sox in 2012, Brennan was selected by the Mariners in the major-league phase of the 2018 Rule 5 Draft, so he will join fellow Rule 5 draftee Garrett Whitlock in the Red Sox bullpen for the time being.

Valdez, meanwhile, was optioned to Triple-A Worcester after being used three times in the last four days.

On the 2021 season as a whole, the 29-year-old owns an ERA of 4.24 and FIP of 3.96 over 20 relief appearances (23 1/3 innings), though he has seen his numbers inflate as of late on account of the fact he has allowed at least one earned run in four of his last six outings.

(Picture of Phillips Valdez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox demote struggling outfielder Franchy Cordero to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox optioned outfielder Franchy Cordero to Triple-A Worcester following Wednesday’s 9-5 win over the Braves, the team announced earlier Thursday afternoon.

Cordero, one of five players the Red Sox acquired as part of the trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to the Royals back in February, has gotten his Red Sox career off to a slow start.

Through 34 games played with Boston this season, the 26-year-old is slashing a measly .179/.228/.274 with just one home run, nine RBI, six walks, and 37 strikeouts over 102 plate appearances thus far.

With the emergence of the versatile, switch-hitting Danny Santana, Cordero began to see his playing time decrease prior to his demotion. As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, the left-handed hitter has only started four of his club’s last 11 games.

With that in mind, it would appear that the Red Sox would like Cordero to get more regular at-bats with the WooSox, who are currently taking on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Allentown, Pa.

For his minor-league career, the Dominican native owns a lifetime .305/.357/.567 slash line to go along with 21 homers and 73 RBI in 115 games at the Triple-A level, so perhaps some time in Worcester will do him good.

In Cordero’s place, the Red Sox will need to make a corresponding roster move and call someone up from the minors to get back to a 26-man major-league roster.

It’s unlikely that top outfield prospect Jarren Duran — who is currently playing for Team USA in an Olympic qualifying event in Florida — will take Cordero’s place on the active roster, per Cotillo.

Instead, Cotillo suggests that the Sox will likely call up a reliever ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Marlins at Fenway Park.

More specifically, one of Brandon Brennan or Colten Brewer — both of whom are on Boston’s 40-man roster — appear to be the most likely to get promoted since that would allow the Red Sox to go back to carrying 14 pitchers and 12 position players. We will have to wait and see on that.

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

Red Sox claim reliever Brandon Brennan off waivers from Mariners, place Ryan Brasier on 60-day injured list

The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Brandon Brennan off waivers from the Seattle Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Worcester, the team announced Monday afternoon.

In order to make room for Brennan on the 40-man roster, fellow right-hander Ryan Brasier was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Brennan, 29, was designated for assignment by the Mariners last Wednesday after starting the season at the team’s alternate training site in Tacoma.

In two big-league seasons with Seattle (2019-2020), the California native posted a 4.45 ERA, a 4.73 FIP, and a 54:29 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 49 total relief appearances spanning 54 2/3 innings of work.

He was however limited to just five outings last year on account of suffering a left oblique strain in late July.

A former fourth-round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox out of Orange Coast College, Brennan originally joined the Mariners via the 2018 Rule 5 Draft.

Per Baseball Savant, the 6-foot-4, 207 pound hurler works with a changeup, a sinker, a four-seam fastball, and a slider.

Among the 198 major-league relievers who compiled at least 50 innings pitched over the last two seasons, Brennan ranked 26th in terms of swinging strike percentage (15.3%), per FanGraphs.

Now that he has been added to Boston’s 40-man roster, Brennan — who has three minor-league options remaining — will look to provide right-handed bullpen depth for the Sox in Worcester. He will join the likes of Eduard Bazardo and Colten Brewer as WooSox relievers currently on the Sox’ 40-man.

Brasier, meanwhile, opened the 2021 season on the 10-day injured list for the Red Sox, so transferring him to the 60-day IL is more of a formality than anything.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, the 33-year-old “has dealt with two significant injured since the end of last season, as he fractured his pinky finger during an off-season workout and then strained his calf during a ‘B’ game during the last week of spring training.”

The earliest Brasier can be activated from the injured list now is May 28 after the start of his initial IL stint was backdated to March 29.

(Picture of Brandon Brennan: Abbie Parr/Getty Images)