Tag: joely rodriguez

Red Sox bring back Joely Rodriguez on minor-league deal

The Red Sox have brought back veteran reliever Joely Rodriguez on a minor-league contract, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The deal comes with an invite to major-league spring training.

Rodriguez, who was present at the Fenway South complex in Fort Myers on Thursday morning, will not count against Boston’s 40-man roster but will have the opportunity to make the club’s Opening Day roster out of camp next month.

“Excited for him. We know health is a priority for him,” said Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who confirmed the pending signing of Rodriguez to MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam. “He’s got electric stuff. He’s around here getting his physical done. Excited to meet him. I know he’s a loud, boisterous personality and a good guy to have around so we’re excited to have him back here.”

Rodriguez, 32, returns to the Red Sox after originally signing a one-year, $2 million contract with an option for 2024 in November 2022. The left-hander was Boston’s first free agent addition that winter, though the contract he ultimately signed was “a re-worked version of a previously agreed-upon deal that was revised once balky medicals came back,” according to Cotillo.

Like trade addition Richard Bleier, who came over from the Marlins in January, Rodrigue was supposed to provide manager Alex Cora with an experienced left-handed option out of the bullpen. He was instead plagued by injury issues throughout the year and posted a career-worst 6.55 ERA (4.71 FIP) with 14 strikeouts to six walks over 11 appearances spanning just 11 innings of relief.

Rodriguez began the 2023 campaign on the injured list after suffering a right oblique strain in a Grapefruit League outing. As a result, he did not make his Red Sox debut until May 17 and struggled immensely out of the gate, surrendering nine runs (eight earned) in his first five appearances (four innings) of the season. He then hit the injured list again because of left shoulder inflammation in early June and did not return to the big-league mound until July 9.

Upon returning to action with Boston, Rodriguez strung together six straight scoreless outings in which he recorded nine strikeouts and zero walks over seven effective innings. Unfortunately, he sustained a hip injury in late July that wound up ending his season prematurely. The Red Sox then declined the club option they held over Rodriguez in November.

As noted by Cotillo, the Red Sox are thin when it comes to left-handed relief options. Brennan Bernardino, who stood out last season after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners in April, Joe Jacques, Chris Murphy, and Brandon Walter are the only lefties currently on Boston’s 40-man roster.

Externally, Rodriguez is slated to join fellow non-roster invitees Jorge Benitez, Cam Booser, Lucas Luetge, and Helcris Olivarez as lefty relievers competing for a spot in the Sox’ bullpen to begin the 2024 season.

“We’ve got to get lefties out. You can’t ever have enough lefties,” Bailey told McAdam, noting that the Rodriguez signing was about adding depth. “There was an opportunity from the front office to sign him and we jumped at it.”

(Picture of Joely Rodriguez: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox rally late, but fall short of comeback in 9-8 loss to Reds

They certainly made things interesting in the end, but the Red Sox could not overcome an eight-run deficit and pull off a come-from-behind win over the Reds on Tuesday night. Boston instead got to within one run in the ninth inning before falling to Cincinnati by a final score of 9-8 at Fenway Park to drop to 28-26 on the season.

With Brayan Bello making his eighth start of the year for the Sox, the Reds opened the scoring in the top half of the second. After giving up back-to-back one-out singles to Will Benson and Stuart Fairchild, Bello yielded an RBI groundout to T.J. Friedl, who beat out a would-be inning-ending double play.

The Red Sox had a golden opportunity to respond against Reds starter Ben Lively in the bottom of the second. Masataka Yoshida drew a leadoff walk and immediately went from first to third base on a line-drive double from Jarren Duran. Enrique Hernandez then drew another walk to fill the bases with one out. But Lively escaped the jam by fanning Enmanuel Valdez and getting Reese McGuire to line out to reigning National League Player of the Week Matt McClain.

Bello proceeded to grind through a scoreless third inning before surrendering a leadoff triple to Will Benson to begin things in the fourth. The right-hander was able to strand Benson at third base by retiring Fairchild and striking out the final two batters he faced.

Because he needed 97 pitches (61 strikes) to get through four innings, Bello’s night came to a close sooner than expected. The 24-year-old hurler wound up allowing just the one earned run on five hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. He induced six swings-and-misses and was ultimately charged with his third losing decision of the year.

In relief of Bello, Justin Garza received the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora. The righty ran into immediate trouble in the fifth by giving up a leadoff single to Jonathan India, which was immediately followed by a run-scoring double off the bat of Jake Fraley to put Cincinnati up, 2-0, at the midway point.

Again, the Red Sox had a chance to get to Lively in their half of the fifth. With two outs and one runner on first following a leadoff single from Hernandez, Raimel Tapia laced a 103.5 mph double off the Green Monster. Hernandez, who was waved in by third base coach Carlos Febles, attempted to score all the way from first on the play, but he was instead gunned down at home plate on a perfectly-executed relay started by Reds center fielder Jose Barrero.

Hernandez was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in the sixth inning as well. After issuing a leadoff single to Benson and one-out walk to Barrero, Garza got McClain to hit a grounder to Hernandez at shortstop. Hernandez fielded the ball cleanly, but — in an attempt to start an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play — he then made a poor throw to the awaiting Valdez at second base.

As a result of Hernandez’s second error of the night and his 11th of the season, Benson scored his side’s third run while Barrero and McClain each advanced an additional 90 feet. Joely Rodriguez then came on to record the final out of the sixth on a five-pitch punchout, but the lefty was not nearly as sharp in the seventh.

Rodriguez walked two of the first four batters he faced in the inning in the process of filling the bases with one out. He followed that by sequence by issuing a bases-loaded free pass to Fairchild, which brought in Kevin Newman from third to give the Reds a 4-0 advantage. Barrero then doubled that lead on one swing of the bat, as he clobbered a 421-foot grand slam off the leftmost light standard above the Green Monster.

Trailing by eight runs going into the latter half of the seventh, the Red Sox finally got on the board. After Lively went 5 2/3 scoreless frames and Alex Young got the final out of the sixth, Fernando Cruz put up a three-spot on the other side of the stretch. With two outs, Valdez singles off Cruz and then scored all the way from first on an RBI double from McGuire. Back-to-back run-scoring triples from Tapia and Rafael Devers cut the deficit to five at 8-3.

Cincinnati got one of those runs back in the eighth, as Tyler Stephenson belted a one-out triple to deep center field before scoring on a Spencer Steer sacrifice fly that came off Ryan Sherriff. After poor base running from Yoshida led to Triston Casas lining lining out to an inning-ending double play a half-inning later, it appeared as if Boston was headed towards a rather ugly loss to kick off the homestand.

That changed in the ninth, though. With Eduardo Salazar on the mound for the Reds, Valdez drew a one-out walk and McGuire followed with another double to put runners at second and third. Tapia, Devers, and Justin Turner then strung together three straight run-scoring hits to trim Cincinnati’s lead to three runs and force manager David Bell to turn to his closer in Alexis Diaz.

Diaz, in turn, served up an RBI double to Yoshida, who was pinch ran for by Pablo Reyes. With runners at second and third, Duran pushed across Turner and allowed Reyes to move up to third with an RBI groundout. Just like that, the tying run was only 90 feet from home plate.

Down to their final out, Casas fell behind in a 1-2 count before whiffing at an 89.7 mph sinker at the knees to end it. Casas finished the night having gone 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. The Red Sox, as a team, left seven runners on base altogether.

At three hours and 12 minutes, Tuesday’s loss marked Boston’s second-longest nine-inning game of the season. Only an 8-3 win over the Blue Jays back on May 3 (three hours and 10 minutes) took longer.

Devers reaches milestone

With his run-scoring single in the seventh inning, Devers notched the 500th RBI of his big-league career. The 26-year-old is the 35th player to record 500 RBIs for the Red Sox and is the fourth-youngest player to do so behind only Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Jim Rice.

Tapia finishes homer shy of cycle

By putting together his first three-hit game as a member of the Red Sox on Tuesday, Tapia finished a home run shy of the cycle. The 29-year-old outfielder doubled in the fifth inning, tripled in the seventh inning, and singled in the ninth inning. He is now batting .364/.417/.500 over his last seven games.

Next up: Weaver vs. Paxton

The Red Sox will look to snap this two-game skid in the second game of this three-game set against the Reds on Wednesday night. Left-hander James Paxton will get the start for Boston while Cincinnati will counter with right-hander Luke Weaver.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Raimel Tapia: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox held to 2 hits in 4-0 loss to Angels; Brayan Bello impresses again

After being held to one run on Monday, the Red Sox were shut out in yet another loss to the Angels on Tuesday night. Boston fell to Los Angeles by a final score of 4-0 at Angel Stadium to extend its losing streak to three and drop to 26-23 on the season.

In similar fashion to Monday’s series-opening defeat, a young right-hander shined on the mound for the Sox. Brayan Bello, making his seventh start of the year, allowed just two earned runs on six hits and zero walks to go along with six strikeouts over a career-high seven innings of work.

Both runs Bello surrendered came by way of the long ball. To lead off the bottom of the first, a red-hot Mickey Moniak crushed a 418-foot solo shot to deep center field to open the scoring for the Angels.

Though Bello gave up two more hits in the inning, he was able to settle down by retiring nine straight batters from the middle of the second through the end of the fourth. Matt Thaiss then led off the bottom half of the fifth with a 409-foot solo homer of his own to double Los Angeles’ lead to 2-0.

Bello once again rebounded by keeping the Angels off the scoreboard over the next two innings. He retired the side in order in the sixth and then stranded Gio Urshela at second base after yielding a two-out double in an otherwise clean bottom of the seventh.

Finishing with 98 pitches (67 strikes), Bello induced 12 swings-and-misses while averaging 96.1 mph with his four-seam fastball. The 24-year-old hurler was ultimately charged with the tough-luck loss, but he did lower his ERA on the season down to 4.08. That includes a 2.57 ERA in five starts since being recalled from Triple-A Worcester on April 28.

In relief of Bello, Joely Rodriguez received the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora in the eighth. The left-hander immediately gave up a leadoff double to the pinch-hitting Taylor Ward and then served up a 393-foot two-run home run to Mike Trout that effectively put this one out of reach.

Heading into the ninth inning trailing by four, the Red Sox had gotten very little from their lineup to that point in the contest. Angels starter Griffin Canning, who came into play Tuesday sporting a 6.14 ERA in six outings, outdueled Bello by putting up zeroes over seven effective frames.

Canning scattered two hits and three walks. He only allowed one runner to advance into scoring position. That happened in the top of the second, when Triston Casas drew a two-out walk and Enmanuel Valdez followed with a single. Reese McGuire then struck out on a foul tip to extinguish the threat.

After veteran lefty Matt Moore replaced Canning in the top of the eighth, the pinch-hitting Rob Refsnyder drew a leadoff walk to bring the tying run to the plate with no outs. Refsnyder essentially switched places with Alex Verdugo, who grounded into a force out, before Masataka Yoshida grounded into an inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play. Jacob Webb then made quick work of Justin Turner, Rafael Devers, and Valdez in the ninth to end it.

Tuesday marks the third shutout loss of the season for the Red Sox and the second in their last three games. They have scored just one run in their last 32 innings dating back to the fourth inning of Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Padres in San Diego.

Next up: Paxton looks to help Sox avoid sweep

The Red Sox will look to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Angels in Wednesday night’s series finale. James Paxton is slated to make his third start of the season for Boston while Los Angeles will counter with fellow southpaw Tyler Anderson.

First pitch from Angel Stadium is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Brayan Bello: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Red Sox place Richard Bleier on 15-day injured list, recall Brennan Bernardino from Triple-A Worcester

Before opening a three-game series against the Angels in Anaheim on Monday night, the Red Sox placed veteran reliever Richard Bleier on the 15-day injured list due to left shoulder inflammation. In a corresponding move, fellow left-hander Brennan Bernardino was recalled from Triple-A Worcester, the club announced.

Bleier made his 19th appearance of the season for Boston in Sunday’s 7-0 loss to the Padres in San Diego. Over 1 1/3 innings, the 36-year-old gave up one run on one hit, which came on a solo homer off the bat of the left-handed hitting Matt Carpenter in the bottom of the third.

Following Sunday’s performance, Bleier now owns a 5.85 ERA and 5.44 FIP with 12 strikeouts to three walks across 20 innings of relief in his first season with the Red Sox. While the southpaw has excelled when it comes to getting batters to chase (36.6 percent chase rate) and not giving up free passes (3.4 percent walk rate), he has struggled in other areas.

According to Baseball Savant, Bleier currently ranks in the 10th percentile of all big-league pitchers in expected batting average (.291). He also ranks in the 13th percentile in expected slugging percentage (.498), the seventh percentile in strikeout rate (13.8 percent), the fourth percentile in whiff rate (16.3 percent), the first percentile in fastball velocity (86.9 mph), and the third percentile in fastball spin.

Acquired from the Marlins for Matt Barnes and cash considerations in late January, Bleier was brought in to tame opposing left-handed hitters out of the bullpen. As was the case on Sunday, though, Bleier has not had the best of time against lefties and is actually faring better against righties.

So far, lefties are hitting a stout .429/.467/.786 with one double and three home runs in 31 trips to the plate against Bleier this season. Righties, on the other hand, are batting just .231/.268/.346 with three doubles and one home run over 56 plate appearances.

At this point in time, it remains to be seen if Bleier will require more than 15 days on the injured list. If that is not the case, Bleier will first be eligible to be activated on Tuesday, June 6, when the Red Sox open a three-game set against the Guardians in Cleveland.

Bernardino, meanwhile, is up with Boston for the second time this season. The 31-year-old was optioned to Worcester last Tuesday, but he actually joined the big-league club in San Diego over the weekend as a member of the taxi squad. He was eligible to be called up on Monday since he is replacing an injured player.

Claimed off waivers from the Mariners in mid-April, Bernardino has appeared in 11 games for the Red Sox thus far. In that time frame, the native Californian has pitched to a 3.65 ERA (4.75 FIP) with 10 strikeouts to three walks over 12 1/3 innings of work.

With Bleier going on the injured list, Bernardino joins Joely Rodriguez as the only two lefties available to manager Alex Cora out of the Red Sox bullpen.

(Picture of Richard Bleier: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Red Sox activate Joely Rodríguez from injured list, officially designate Ryan Brasier for assignment

Before opening a three-game series against the Mariners at Fenway Park on Monday night, the Red Sox made a pair of roster moves relating to their bullpen.

Boston reinstated left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez from the 15-day injured list and officially designated veteran reliever Ryan Brasier for assignment, the club announced.

Rodriguez signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Red Sox in November after posting a 4.47 ERA (3.23 FIP) in 55 relief appearances (50 1/3 innings) for the Mets last season. The 31-year-old southpaw was slated to be one of two left-handers in Boston’s Opening Day bullpen alongside Richard Bleier, but he suffered a Grade 2 right oblique strain towards the end of spring training and began the 2023 campaign on the injured list as a result.

In five rehab outings between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester, Rodriguez allowed one earned run on four hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. The Dominican-born hurler last pitched on Saturday, so he should be available for Monday’s series opener against Seattle.

By activating Rodriguez, the Red Sox now have three lefties available out of the bullpen. While Rodriguez and Bleier have been with the club since spring training, Brennan Bernardino was added to the mix after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners last month.

Brasier, meanwhile, first informed reporters on Sunday night that he had been designated for assignment. The 35-year-old had just surrendered three runs on four hits (including a two-run home run to Nolan Arenado) over a career-high 2 1/3 innings in the Sox’ 9-1 loss to the Cardinals.

Coming off of that outing, Brasier saw his ERA on the season rise to 7.29 ERA in 20 appearances (21 innings) for Boston. Though a 4.39 FIP suggests that Brasier was the victim of some bad luck, the Red Sox clearly felt it was time to move on and go in a new direction.

“Obviously, no hard feelings,” Brasier said late Sunday night. “Like I said, I know it’s a business. And things happen. But hopefully get picked up in a day or two and try to go win somewhere else.”

Brasier had been the third-longest tenured member of the Red Sox behind only Chris Sale and Rafael Devers. Boston now has the next seven days to either trade, release, or waive Brasier, who is still owed roughly $1.5 million of his $2 million salary for the 2023 season.

Following this series of transactions, the Red Sox now have 39 players on their 40-man roster. More moves will be coming soon, as Kutter Crawford (left hamstring strain) is expected to be activated from the injured list as soon as he is eligible to on Friday.

(Picture of Joely Rodriguez: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox reliever Wyatt Mills shut down with flexor issue, likely to start season on injured list

Red Sox reliever Wyatt Mills has been shut down with a flexor issue and is likely to start the season on the injured list, manager Alex Cora said Thursday.

“He’s banged up,” Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) in Fort Myers. “There’s a good chance he’s going to start the season on the IL.”

According to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, Mills has been diagnosed with elbow inflammation in his right flexor muscle. It does not look like anything major but Mills has still been shut down from throwing in the meantime.

Mills has not seen any Grapefruit League action since March 13, when he surrendered four runs on four hits, one walk, and two hit batsman in the sixth inning of a 16-3 loss to the Blue Jays in Dunedin. Prior to that outing, though, the right-hander pitched relatively well, allowing just one run on three hits, four walks, and 10 strikeouts over four appearances spanning five innings of work.

The Red Sox acquired Mills from the Royals in exchange for relief prospect Jacob Wallace back in December. The 28-year-old sidearmer is coming off a 2022 season in which he posted a 4.60 ERA (3.62 FIP) with 26 strikeouts to 13 walks in 27 outings (29 1/3 innings) between Seattle and Kansas City.

As noted by Smith, Boston was optimistic that Mills could replicate the same sort of success fellow reliever John Schreiber enjoyed last year. That being the case because, like Schreiber, the 6-foot-4, 214-pound Mills throws from the same angle and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a four-seam fastball, a slider, and a sinker.

“The stuff, the uniqueness, the slot is different,” Cora said of Mills. ““And actually the four-seamer is good. When he used it a lot in games, he got some swings-and-misses on top of the zone. A little bit inconsistent control-wise, command-wise. But you can see it, like that uniqueness of throwing from there. And the action of his pitches is very good.”

Mills, who has one minor-league option remaining, becomes the latest Red Sox pitcher to be bitten by the injury bug this spring. The righty joins Brayan Bello, James Paxton, Joely Rodriguez, and Garrett Whitlock as Boston hurlers who are expected to be placed on the injured list before Opening Day.

Rodriguez, who was diagnosed with a Grade 2 right oblique strain on Monday after injuring his right side over the weekend, may be able to avoid the 60-day injured list, per Cora.

(Picture of Wyatt Mills: Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox reliever Joely Rodríguez has Grade 2 right oblique strain

Red Sox reliever Joely Rodriguez has a Grade 2 right oblique strain, manager Alex Cora announced Monday.

Rodriguez suffered a right side injury in the eighth inning of Saturday’s Grapefruit League contest against the Orioles at JetBlue Park. After throwing his 13th pitch, the left-hander grabbed at his side and was immediately taken out of the game.

While heading back to the clubhouse with a member of the the Red Sox’ training staff, Rodriguez could be heard groaning in discomfort. The club initially described the issue as right torso pain, but the southpaw underwent further imaging in the form of an MRI and received a more concrete diagnosis as a result.

When speaking with reporters (including The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier) following Monday’s 7-5 loss to the Pirates in Fort Myers, Cora could not provide a specific timetable for when Rodriguez could return to action.

“Timetable is whenever he’s ready,” Cora said. “We’ve just got to attack it and get him healthy.”

As noted by Speier, a Grade 2 — or moderate — oblique strain typically comes with a six-to-eight week shutdown period, meaning Rodriguez would not be ready to pitch in big-league games for another two-plus months. If that winds up being the case, that would be a tough blow for the 31-year-old after signing one-year deal with the Red Sox in November that guarantees $2 million and comes with a $4.25 million club option for 2024.

Rodriguez, who spent the 2022 season with the Mets, underwent minor shoulder surgery before signing with Boston in the fall. The Dominican-born hurler was expected to be ready for Opening Day and was being ramped up slowly this spring, but Monday’s news obviously changes that trajectory.

Now, the Red Sox will be tasked with identifying another lefty to pair with Richard Bleier out of the bullpen. Cora has already named Oddanier Mosqueda and Ryan Sherriff as two possible candidates, but he also ruled out using top pitching prospects such as Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter, who are slated to begin the year in Triple-A Worcester’s starting rotation.

Both Mosqueda and Sherriff were in camp as non-roster invitees earlier this spring. The former, who does not turn 24 until May, has allowed one earned run in 5 1/3 innings of Grapefruit League play but has yet to pitch above the Double-A level.

Sherriff, meanwhile, made his sixth appearance of the spring on Monday and struck out in a scoreless eighth inning. The 32-year-old has yet to a surrender an earned run across 5 2/3 frames and, unlike Mosqueda, has prior major-league experience.

The Red Sox, of course, could also look to the trade market or waiver wire if they want to add to their bullpen externally. Regardless of which route they take, placing Rodriguez on the 60-day injured list before Opening Day would clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

(Picture of Joely Rodriguez: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox reliever Joely Rodríguez likely to start season on injured list

Red Sox reliever Joely Rodriguez will likely start the season on the injured list, manager Alex Cora said Sunday.

Rodriguez suffered a right side injury in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 9-6 win over the Orioles at JetBlue Park. After throwing his 13th pitch, the left-hander grabbed at his side and left the game with a trainer. He was “groaning in pain as he went to the clubhouse,” according to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe.

When speaking with reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) ahead of Sunday’s Grapefruit League contest against the Phillies in Clearwater, Red Sox manager Alex Cora indicated that Rodriguez was dealing with some sort of oblique injury after initially being diagnosed with right torso pain.

“Sore this morning,” Cora said of Rodriguez. “We feel it’s the oblique area, but he’s going to get imaging tomorrow so we’ll know more. It looks like it’s going to be an IL kind of thing. How long? We’ll know more tomorrow.”

Rodriguez, 31, signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox in November that guarantees $2 million and comes with a $4.25 million club option for 2024. The Dominican-born southpaw was expected to be one of Boston’s top left-handed relief options alongside Richard Bleier.

Now that Rodriguez is slated to miss time, the Red Sox will have to look elsewhere if they intend on adding a second lefty to the bullpen mix. On Sunday, Cora identified 32-year-old Ryan Sherriff and 23-year-old Oddanier Mosqueda, who were both at camp as non-roster invitees, as potential internal candidates.

Sherriff, who has allowed one unearned run in 4 2/3 innings of work this spring, has made 44 career relief appearances at the big-league level between the Cardinals (2017-2018) and Rays (2020-2022). Mosqueda, who has allowed one earned run in 5 1/3 innings, has yet to make his major-league debut, though he is coming off a strong 2022 season with Double-A Portland.

“He throws strikes and has deception,” Cora said of Mosqueda. “Analytics-wise, his stuff is really good. He can go multiple innings, too.”

Additionally, Cora ruled out the possibility of using pitching prospects like Brandon Walter and Chris Murphy out of the bullpen, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. The two talented lefties are instead expected to begin the year in Triple-A Worcester’s starting rotation.

If the Red Sox were to look externally for left-handed relief options, then one would have to assume that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co. are closely monitoring the trade market and waiver wire as Opening Day approaches.

As noted by Browne, though, the club will have a better idea of where things stand with Rodriguez and his injury timeline in the coming days. That, too, will be worth monitoring.

(Picture of Joely Rodriguez: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox reliever Joely Rodríguez leaves game with right side injury

Red Sox reliever Joely Rodriguez suffered a right side injury in the eighth inning of Saturday’s Grapefruit League game against the Orioles at JetBlue Park.

Rodriguez had allowed one run on two hits before facing Colton Cowser with one out in the eighth inning. On his fourth pitch to the Orioles center fielder (and 13th of the appearance), the left-hander threw a ball and immediately grabbed at his right side.

After receiving a visit from Red Sox manager Alex Cora and a team trainer, Rodriguez was immediately taken out of the game. According to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe, the 31-year-old southpaw was “was groaning in pain as he went to the clubhouse and was holding onto his side.”

Following Boston’s 9-6 win over Baltimore, Cora indicated that Rodriguez — who was initially diagnosed with right torso pain — will undergo further testing to determine the severity of the injury.

“Sore,” Cora said, via MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “We’ll know more tomorrow how he comes back and probably do some imaging to see where we’re at. He’s in pain, in the right torso area.”

The Red Sox signed Rodriguez to a one-year, $2 million deal that comes with a $4.25 million club option for 2024 back in November. Coming into the year, the Dominican-born hurler was expected to be one of Boston’s primary left-handed relief options this season alongside Richard Bleier.

Saturday marked Rodriguez’s fourth appearance of the spring for the Red Sox. As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, the club has taken things slowly with Rodriguez after he underwent offseason shoulder surgery. Prior to Saturday’s incident, Rodriguez was expected to be ready for Opening Day. It now appears as though he could start the season on the injured list.

If Rodriguez is sidelined to begin the year, the Red Sox could very well look to add another lefty reliever to pair with Bleier before the regular season begins. Internally, non-roster invitees like Matt Dermody, Ryan Sherriff, and Oddanier Mosqueda — who have all been reassigned to minor-league camp — represent a few possibilities.

On the 40-man roster, the Red Sox have a pair of intriguing lefties in Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter, though neither prospect has yet to pitch at the major-league level. They are both slated to begin the year in Triple-A Worcester’s starting rotation.

(Picture of Joely Rodriguez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Joely Rodríguez strikes out side in spring debut as Red Sox best Team Puerto Rico, 9-3

The Red Sox changed things up at JetBlue Park on Wednesday night by hosting Team Puerto Rico in an exhibition game ahead of the World Baseball Classic. Playing under the lights and in front of a boisterous crowd of 8,715, Boston defeated Team Puerto Rico by a final score of 9-3.

Matched up against veteran starter Hector Santiago to begin things on Wednesday, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first inning. After leading off with a single, moving up to second base on a passed ball, and advancing to third on a groundout, Greg Allen easily scored from third on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Raimel Tapia.

On the other side of things, Brandon Walter made his first start and third overall appearance of the spring for Boston. Going up against an opposing lineup that featured big-leaguers such as Francisco Lindor, Enrique Hernandez, Eddie Rosario, Javier Baez, and Christian Vazquez, the left-hander wound up allowing one earned run on one hit and three walks to go along with two strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings of work.

Walter got through the first and second innings without any trouble by retiring the first six batters he faced. Things began to unravel in the third, when he issued a one-out walk to Nelson Velazquez. Martin Maldonado followed by driving in Velazquez all the way from first on a hard-hit double off the faux Green Monster in left field.

The 26-year-old southpaw gave up two more walks to Lindor and Hernandez before getting the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora in favor of Robert Kwiatkowski. Kwiatkowski, in turn, escaped the bases-loaded jam by getting Rosario to ground into an inning-ending 6-3 double play.

Christian Koss, who started that twin killing, led off the bottom of the third with a groundball single off new reliever Dominic Hamel. The 25-year-old shortstop promptly moved up to second on an inadvertent pickoff attempt before taking third on a wild pitch. He then gave Boston a 2-1 lead by scoring from third on a Triston Casas groundout.

After Chris Martin and Kaleb Ort combined for two scoreless frames out of the Red Sox bullpen, Casas collected his second RBI of the night in the bottom of the fifth. Jorge Alfaro had led the inning off by drawing a walk off Duane Underwood Jr. He then moved up to second on a Koss single and to third on an Allen force out before Casas drove him in on a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 game.

Joely Rodriguez was responsible for the sixth inning. In what was his spring debut, the 31-year-old lefty struck out Baez, Vazquez, and M.J. Melendez in short order. Fellow offseason Wyatt Mills followed suit in the seventh by working his way around a leadoff double and punching out the side as well.

In the latter half of the seventh, the Red Sox lineup erupted for six runs. Enmanuel Valdez drew a leadoff walk off Emilio Pagan and then scored all the way from first on an RBI triple off the bat of the speedy David Hamilton. Marcus Wilson drew a walk himself and stole second base, which put runners at second and third for Daniel Palka, who plated both runners on a two-run double down the left field line.

Palka then came in to score from second on a Ceddanne Rafaela single that was misplayed by third baseman Emmanuel Rivera. Because of Rivera’s throwing error, Rafaela was able to move into scoring position. At that point, Team Puerto Rico had already run through all the pitchers they wanted to use. To accommodate the opposition, Cora had loaned opposing manager Yadier Molina some of his own pitchers in case they were needed.

So, in came minor-leaguer Jake Thompson to replace Pagan. Thompson, a former fourth-round draft pick out of Oregon State in 2017, immediately surrendered a double to Narciso Crook. The pinch-hitting Matthew Lugo followed by drawing a walk, which filled the bases with only one out in the inning.

Nick Sogard drove in Rafaela with a groundout before Valdez drove in Crook with a single moments later. That sequence of events gave the Red Sox a commanding 9-1 lead heading into the eighth. Team Puerto Rico was able to get one of those runs back, though, as Ryan Sherriff yielded a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to Melendez in the top half of the frame.

Another interesting thing took place in the bottom of the eighth. Lugo, who had already registered a plate appearance with the Red Sox, came on as a defensive replacement at third base for Team Puerto Rico. Lugo, who was born in Manati and is the nephew of former All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran, did not see any balls hit his way while Jorge Lopez struck out the side.

Casey Cobb, meanwhile, took over for Sherriff in the ninth. He served up a leadoff homer to Velazquez before going up against Lugo, who he fanned on four pitches. He then retired Henry Ramos and Johneshwy Fargas to put the finishing touches on a 9-3 victory for Boston.

Jansen scratched:

Kenley Jansen was scheduled to pitch on Wednesday but was scratched from the Red Sox’ plans as a result of feeling under the weather. He will instead throw an inning on the back fields of the Fenway South Complex in Fort Myers on Thursday.

Other worthwhile observations:

To recap, Lugo played for both the Red Sox and Team Puerto Rico on Wednesday night. Between them, the 21-year-old went 0-for-1 with a walk and strikeout.

Koss, on the other hand, went 2-for-2 with a run scored. He also made a nice play in the hole at shortstop to throw out Rivera at first base for the final out of the fourth inning.

With no pitch clock or shift restrictions in place, Wednesday’s contest took two hours and 56 minutes to complete.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Schmidt

Though Wednesday’s win does not count towards their record, the Red Sox are still unbeaten this spring. They will resume Grapefruit League play by taking on the Yankees in Tampa on Thursday afternoon. Nick Pivetta is slated to take the mound for Boston opposite fellow right-hander Clarke Schmidt for New York.

First pitch from George M. Steinbrenner Field is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN360 and YES Network.

(Picture of Joely Rodriguez: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)