Tag: matt dermody

Red Sox designate Matt Dermody for assignment

The Red Sox have designated left-hander Matt Dermody for assignment, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) following Thursday night’s 10-3 loss to the Guardians at Progressive Field.

The move to designate Dermody for assignment presumably clears a spot on both the 26- and 40-man roster for outfielder Adam Duvall, who is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list on Friday after missing the last two months with a fractured left wrist.

Dermody had his contract selected from Triple-A Worcester and made the first start of his major-league career on Thursday. The 32-year-old southpaw became the ninth different pitcher to start a game for Boston this season and allowed three earned runs on four hits (two Jose Ramirez home runs), one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with one strikeout over four innings of work. He finished with 76 pitches (45 strikes) and was charged with the losing decision.

A veteran of four big-league seasons with the Blue Jays (2016-2017) and Cubs (2020, 2022), Dermody originally signed a minors pact with Boston back in January. The Iowa product posted a 4.50 ERA (4.05 FIP) with 47 strikeouts to nine walks across nine appearances (8 starts) and 44 innings for the WooSox to begin the 2023 campaign.

With Chris Sale sidelined by left shoulder inflammation, the Red Sox found themselves short a starter heading into this week’s series in Cleveland. They elected to go with Dermody, who had not pitched for Worcester since May 28, in Thursday’s finale, but that decision was met with plenty of criticism.

Well before joining the Red Sox organization, Dermody posted — and later deleted — a homophobic tweet in June 2021 that read: “PrideMonth. Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. They will go to hell. This is not my opinion, but the #Truth. Read 1 Corinthians 6:9. May we all examine our hearts, ask Jesus to forgive us and repent of all our sins. I love you all in Christ Jesus!”

According to MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam, the Red Sox confronted Dermody about the tweet after they learned of its existence during spring training. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told McAdam that the club gave some thought to releasing Dermody at that time, but chose not to do so after discussing the matter with the lefty.

Now, the Red Sox will have the next seven days to either trade, release, or waive Dermody, who has the ability to reject an outright assignment to the minor-leagues in favor of free agency since he has previously been outrighted in his career.

(Picture of Matt Dermody: Ron Schwane/Getty Images)

José Ramírez tees off on Matt Dermody, Corey Kluber as Red Sox drop below .500 in 10-3 loss to Guardians

The Red Sox gave up three home runs to Jose Ramirez and lost the rubber match of their series against the Guardians on Thursday night as a result. Boston fell to Cleveland by a final score of 10-3 at Progressive Field to drop below .500 for the first time since April 28 at 31-32 on the season.

Matt Dermody was called up from Triple-A Worcester to start Thursday’s finale. The left-hander’s promotion was met with plenty of criticism after it was revealed that he posted — and later deleted — a homophobic tweet in June 2021.

Despite the blowback, the Red Sox still went with Dermody, who allowed three earned runs on four hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with one strikeout over four innings of work in the first start and 31st overall appearance of his major-league career.

After hitting the first batter he faced and inducing a 4-6-3 double play, Dermody served up a 392-foot solo shot to Ramirez to put Boston an early 1-0 hole in the bottom of the first. He retired the side in order in the second, but fell victim to Ramirez again in the third inning.

With two outs and one runner on, Ramirez took Dermody 412 feet deep to left-center field for his 200th career homer. The 106.5 mph blast — Ramirez’s hardest-hit ball of the night — put Cleveland up, 3-0. Dermody then worked his way around a one-out single in an otherwise clean bottom of the fourth.

Finishing with 76 pitches (45 strikes), Dermody induced just six swings-and-misses as he was ultimately charged with the losing decision. The 32-year-old southpaw has since been designated for assignment to free up a 26-man and 40-man roster spot for outfielder Adam Duvall, who is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list on Friday.

With Dermody’s night done, the Red Sox began to chip away at Guardians starter Aaron Civale in the top of the fifth. Reese McGuire laced a one-out double down the left field line and then came into score his side’s first run on a two-out RBI single from Jarren Duran. Duran advanced to second on the play and took third base on a wild pitch, but he was left there as Masataka Yoshida grounded out to extinguish the threat.

An inning later, though, Triston Casas cut the deficit down to one by pulling a towering, 358-foot solo home run to right field for his seventh of the season. Casas’ big fly knocked Civale out of the game and brought in James Karinchak, who immediately issued a six-pitch walk to Rob Refsnyder. Refsnyder then stole second base but was stranded there as Christian Arroyo grounded out.

Trailing 3-2 going into the latter half of the sixth, Corey Kluber was tasked with keeping the Guardians bats at bay after recording three quick outs in the fifth. The veteran righty, who won two Cy Young Awards during his time in Cleveland, instead surrendered a leadoff home run to Ramirez that traveled 390 feet into the right field seats.

Ramirez’s third homer of the night was followed by seven more consecutive hits. Josh Naylor singled, Josh Bell doubled, Andres Gimenez doubled in two runs, Myles Straw ripped an RBI triple, Will Brennan singled in a run while running into an out at second, and Cam Gallagher and Steven Kwan each singled as well.

Kluber somehow got through the rest of the sixth unscathed and put up a zero in the seventh before running into more trouble in the eighth. More specifically, he yielded another leadoff home run to Brennan to give the Guardians a commanding 9-2 lead. Kluber put two more runners on base before making way for Brennan Bernardino, who subsequently allowed one of those inherited runners to score on an unconventional inning-ending double play.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, the Red Sox got one of those runs back off Xzavion Curry as Arroyo led off with a double and Enrique Hernandez plated him with a two-base hit of his own. Duran then struck out and Yoshida grounded out to end it.

All told, the Red Sox went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Thursday and left eight runners on base as a team. They have now dropped eight of their last 11 and head into the weekend trailing the first-place Rays by 14 games in the American League East standings.

Next up: Facing the Yankees for the first time this season

The Red Sox will head to the Bronx and open a three-game weekend series against the Yankees on Friday night. To kick off the first meeting of the season between the two division rivals, Garrett Whitlock will take the mound for Boston while New York will counter with fellow right-hander Gerrit Cole.

First pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Jose Ramirez: Ron Schwane/Getty Images)

Red Sox officially call up Matt Dermody, option Chris Murphy to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have officially selected the contract of left-hander Matt Dermody from Triple-A Worcester, the club announced prior to Thursday’s series finale against the Guardians. In a corresponding move, fellow lefty Chris Murphy was optioned to Worcester following Wednesday’s 5-2 loss at Progressive Field.

Dermody, who will wear the No. 67, will make the first start of his major-league career on Thursday night. The 32-year-old hurler originally signed a minor-league contract with Boston in January and has posted a 4.50 ERA (4.06 FIP) with 47 strikeouts to nine walks in nine appearances (eight starts) spanning 44 innings of work for the WooSox.

Prior to joining the Red Sox organization over the winter, Dermody had spent parts of four seasons in the big-leagues. The Iowa product forged a 5.33 ERA in 28 relief appearances for the Blue Jays from 2016-2017 and appeared in two games with the Cubs from 2020-2022.

Dermody’s promotion has been met with a heavy amount of criticism after it was revealed that the southpaw posted — and eventually deleted — a homophobic tweet in 2021.

On June 26, 2021, Dermody tweeted: “#PrideMonth. Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. They will go to hell. This is not my opinion, but the #Truth. Read 1 Corinthians 6:9. May we all examine our hearts, ask Jesus to forgive us and repent of all our sins. I love you all in Christ Jesus!”

As noted by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, manager Alex Cora was asked on Thursday if he is OK with the Red Sox giving Dermody a start given the circumstances and that it is Pride Month.

“He’s going to pitch and he’s here,” Cora said of Dermody. “Obviously as an organization, we made this decision as an organization. We’ve done a lot of stuff to educate our players on the subject. I don’t know how many organizations … do it with their employees and their players as far as like educating them about being inclusive and obviously accepting everybody in the clubhouse and your work environment.

“Obviously not too many people agree with the tweet of Matt. I’m not here to tell him what to say or what to do,” added Cora. “But one thing is for sure, when you put this uniform (on), what we want is for people to be inclusive. I think the clubhouse is a reflection of the world if you think about it. We’ve got people from different races, different beliefs, not only religious beliefs but politics. My job as a leader of the group in here is to maintain that clubhouse as close as possible respecting everybody’s thoughts. I think at the end of the day, what I want is for them to get along together and respect each other. And obviously compete for the same thing that I want to compete for, which is winning a World Series.”

Murphy, meanwhile, made his major-league debut out of the bullpen on Wednesday night. The 25-year-old pitched well, scattering two hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings of relief in which he induced seven swings-and-misses.

While the Red Sox needed to option Murphy to create a spot on the 26-man roster for Dermody, they already had an opening on the 40-man roster after designating outfielder Raimel Tapia for assignment on Monday.

(Picture of Matt Dermody: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox to promote Matt Dermody for Thursday start against Guardians

Left-hander Matt Dermody will get the start for the Red Sox in their series finale against the Guardians on Thursday night, according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne.

Dermody, who already has a locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Progressive Field, originally signed a minor-league contract with the Red Sox back in January and — up until this point — has spent the entirety of the season at Triple-A Worcester.

In nine appearances (eight starts) for the WooSox, Dermody has posted a 4.50 ERA and 4.05 FIP with 47 strikeouts to nine walks over 44 innings of work. The 32-year-old last pitched on May 28, as he was scratched from his latest start and was in Boston this past weekend as an emergency option.

It remains to be seen if Dermody will only be making a spot start on Thursday or will be staying in the starting rotation moving forward. The Red Sox, of course, have been down a starter after losing fellow southpaw Chris Sale to left shoulder inflammation last week.

Regardless, Thursday’s outing will mark the first start of Dermody’s major-league career. The Iowa product first broke in with the Blue Jays in 2016 and spent two years with Toronto, compiling a 5.33 ERA in 28 total relief appearances (25 1/3 innings).

After being released by the Jays in 2019, Dermody latched on with the Cubs. He appeared in one game for Chicago during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign and another last August. All told, he owns a lifetime 5.60 ERA with 22 strikeouts to seven walks across 27 1/3 innings of relief at the big-league level. Dermody has also pitched for the Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization.

Standing at 6-foot-5 and 211 pounds, Dermody operates with a five-pitch mix that consists of a mid-80s slider, a low-90s four-seam fastball, a low-80s changeup, a low-90s sinker, and a mid-70s curveball. He is in line to become the ninth different pitcher to start a game for the Red Sox this season.

Dermody will need to be added to the 40-man roster before officially being called up. To that end, Boston has a vacancy there after designating outfielder Raimel Tapia for assignment on Monday. In order to make room for Dermody on the 26-man roster, lefty Chris Murphy is expected to be optioned back to Worcester after impressing out of the bullpen while making his major-league debut on Wednesday.

(Picture of Matt Dermody: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox commit three errors, struggle at the plate in sloppy 5-2 loss to Guardians; Chris Murphy strikes out 5 in major-league debut

The Red Sox were held to just five hits in a series-evening loss to the Guardians on Wednesday night. In the process of committing three more errors, Boston fell to Cleveland by a final score of 5-2 at Progressive Field to drop back to .500 at 31-31 on the season.

With rookie right-hander Tanner Bibee starting for the Guardians, the Sox jumped out to an early lead in their half of the first inning. Alex Verdugo drew a leadoff walk and moved up to second base on a Masataka Yoshida single. After Justin Turner popped out, Rafael Devers opened the scoring by plating Verdugo from second on a softly-hit bloop single to left field.

Verdugo, to his credit, made an excellent read on the ball and was able to score with ease. Unfortunately, Boston’s 1-0 lead did not last too long as Cleveland responded in the latter half of the second.

Kutter Crawford, in the midst of his fourth start of the season for the Sox and working on short rest, ran into some trouble after giving up a leadoff double to Josh Naylor. Josh Bell followed by driving in Naylor on an RBI single down the right field line to knot things back up at one run apiece.

After trading zeroes in the third, the fourth inning proved to be sloppy for both sides defensively. In the top half, Hernandez led off with a single and moved up to second on a throwing error committed by Andres Gimenez. Hernandez advanced to third before Enmanuel Valdez grounded into what looked like an inning-ending putout at first base.

Rather than record the final out of the inning, though, Naylor fumbled the ball as he attempted to make an underhanded toss to Bibee, who was covering the first-base bag. As a result of Naylor’s blunder, Hernandez scored from third to put Boston back up, 2-1.

Again, that lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the fourth, Amed Rosario led off with a single. Jose Ramirez then hit a grounder in the direction of Triston Casas, but the rookie first baseman failed to corral it and the ball wound up deflecting over to Valdez. Valdez fielded the ball cleanly, but his underhanded toss went over the head of Casas, allowing both Rosario and Ramirez to advance into scoring position.

Both Casas and Valdez were charged with errors on the play, but the Red Sox were not done yet. After Naylor singled in Rosario to tie and knock Crawford out of the game, Brennan Bernardino got Bell to hit a grounder to Devers, but the ball deflected off his glove and Ramirez came into score the go-ahead run as a result.

Devers allowed the Guardians to take a 3-2 lead on his sixth error of the season. Of those three runs, only one was charged to Crawford. The 27-year-old righty gave up five hits, zero walks, and struck out three over three-plus innings of work. He finished with 58 pitches (41 strikes) and was ultimately hit with the losing decision.

Picking things up in the middle of the fifth, Justin Garza took over for Bernardino out of the bullpen. Garza retired two of the first three batters he faced before surrendering back-to-back run-scoring doubles to Rosario and Ramirez with two outs in the inning to give Cleveland a 5-2 advantage.

Chris Murphy came on with two outs in the fifth and proceeded to impress in what was his major-league debut. After getting called up for the first time on Tuesday, the 25-year-old lefty scattered two hits and one walk to go along with a game-high five punchouts across 3 1/3 scoreless frames of relief.

Murphy retired the side in order in the sixth, worked his way around a single and a walk in the seventh, and stranded a runner at second in the eighth. The California-born southpaw threw 54 pitches (32 strikes) and induced seven swings-and-misses. He also averaged 94.5 mph and topped out at 95.8 mph with his four-seam fastball.

While Murphy was busy putting up zeroes, though, the Red Sox lineup was unable to close the gap. From the top of the sixth through the end of the ninth, four different Guardians relievers (Eli Morgan, Sam Hentges, Trevor Stephan, and closer Emmanuel Clase) combined for four scoreless innings of one-hit ball.

By the time Boston was down to its final three outs in the ninth, Jarren Duran made things somewhat interesting by drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second base. But Connor Wong and the pinch-hitting Rob Refsnyder both fanned before Christian Arroyo lined out sharply to deep center field to end it.

All told, the Red Sox went a measly 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base as a team. They were limited to just one hit after the fourth inning and have now dropped seven of their last 10.

Next up: Dermody gets the ball for rubber match

The Red Sox will select the contract of left-hander Matt Dermody from Triple-A Worcester and have him start the rubber match of this three-game set on Thursday. The Guardians will counter with right-hander Aaron Civale.

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

(Picture of Chris Murphy: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox reassign left-hander Matt Dermody to minor-league camp

The Red Sox have reassigned left-hander Matt Dermody to minor-league camp, the club announced earlier Wednesday morning.

Dermody originally signed a minor-league contract with Boston in January. The deal came with an invite to major-league spring training in Fort Myers.

In four Grapefruit League appearances (one start) for the Red Sox this spring, Dermody allowed just three hits and zero walks to go along with 10 strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings of work. The 32-year-old southpaw held opposing hitters to a .103 batting average against.

Despite those relatively strong numbers, Dermody will not break camp with the Red Sox and will more than likely report to Triple-A Worcester for the start of the 2023 season.

Dermody, who has past big-league experience with the Blue Jays (2016-2017) and Cubs (2020, 2022), spent most of the 2022 season with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate in Iowa. There, he posted a 3.74 ERA with 70 strikeouts to 18 walks in 20 appearances (13 starts) spanning 79 1/3 innings before getting called up in August. He made one appearance for the North Siders and was then granted his release so that he could pitch for NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, Dermody operates with a five-pitch mix that consists of a four-seam fastball, a slider, a changeup, a sinker, and a curveball, per Baseball Savant. He should provide the WooSox with some left-handed bullpen depth alongside the likes of Oddanier Mosqueda, Ryan Sherriff, and Joe Jacques.

By reassigning Dermody, the Red Sox now have 46 players remaining at major-league camp. Of those 46 players, 12 are in camp as non-roster invitees. They will have to get down to 26 players before Opening Day on March 30.

(Picture of Matt Dermody: Elsa/Getty Images)

Red Sox sign left-hander Matt Dermody to minor-league deal

The Red Sox have signed free agent left-hander Matt Dermody to a minor-league contract for the 2023 season, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The deal includes an invite to major-league spring training.

Dermody, 32, was originally selected by the Blue Jays in the 28th round of the 2013 amateur draft out of the University of Iowa. The former Hawkeye first broke in with Toronto in September 2016 and allowed four earned runs in five appearances (three innings) out of the bullpen.

In 23 relief outings the following year, Dermody pitched to a 4.43 ERA and 6.25 FIP with 15 strikeouts to 15 walks over 22 1/3 innings of work. He was outrighted off the Jays’ 40-man roster ahead of the 2018 campaign and spent the next two seasons with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo before electing free agency in November 2019.

While there was no Minor League Baseball in 2020 on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dermody did pitch for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Constellation Energy League in Texas. He then had his contract purchased by the Cubs that August and made his return to the big-league return the following Month.

After just one outing with the Cubs, though, Dermody was designated for assignment and subsequently outrighted. He returned to Chicago on a minors pact that winter but was let go before the start of spring training. Dermody then took his talents to Japan and spent the 2021 season with the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Dermody leveraged his performance in Japan into another minor-league deal with the Cubs last February. The lefty posted a 3.74 ERA with 70 strikeouts to 18 walks in 20 appearances (13 starts) spanning 79 1/3 innings pitched for Triple-A Iowa before getting called up in early August. He appeared in one game for Chicago before being granted his release so that he could sign with the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization.

In eight starts for the Dinos, Dermody forged a 4.54 ERA and 3.92 FIP to go along with 37 strikeouts to 13 walks across 39 2/3 innings. Rather than pursuing other opportunities in South Korea, Dermody has apparently decided to return to affiliated ball in the United States.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, Dermody possesses a diverse pitch mix. In his lone outing for the Cubs against the Cardinals last summer, the southpaw threw seven four-seam fastballs, seven sliders, six changeups, four sinkers, and two curveballs. He averaged 92.4 mph with his four-seamer and induced three total swings-and-misses, per Baseball Savant.

Dermody, who turns 33 in July, has two minor-league options remaining and can provide the Red Sox with some flexibility in that respect if he makes the team out of spring training. That being said, it remains to be seen if Boston views Dermody as a starter or as a reliever moving forward.

After trading Josh Taylor to the Royals for infielder Adalberto Mondesi earlier Tuesday, the Red Sox currently only have one left-handed reliever with past major-league experience on their 40-man roster in Joely Rodriguez. Beyond that, Boston signed left-hander Ryan Sherriff to a minor-league deal over the weekend that comes with an invite to big-league spring training. Fellow southpaw and non-roster invitee Oddanier Mosqueda is also expected to be in the mix for a bullpen spot once camp begins next month.

(Picture of Matt Dermody: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)