Tag: red sox

Red Sox top prospect Nick Yorke extends hitting streak to 18 games with first career multi-homer performance for Low-A Salem

Yairo Munoz is not the only minor-leaguer in the Red Sox organization putting together an impressive hitting streak at the moment.

While Munoz has now recorded at least one hit in a record-setting 30 straight games with a 1-for-4 showing for Triple-A Worcester on Sunday, top Red Sox prospect Nick Yorke extended his hitting streak to 18 consecutive games for Low-A Salem.

Starting at second base and batting leadoff for the Salem Red Sox as he typically does in Sunday’s series finale against the Lynchburg Hillcats at Haley Toyota Field, Yorke took the pressure off himself right away by ripping a leadoff single off right-hander Josh Wolf to begin things in the first inning.

After being stranded at first in the first, Yorke came up to the plate again with one out in the bottom of the third inning and things knotted at one run apiece.

Matched up against newly-inserted reliever Randy Labaut, Yorke — moments after his manager Luke Montz had been ejected from the game — drilled a solo home run to left-center field on the fourth pitch he saw to put his side up 2-1.

Fast forward all the way to the eighth, after the Hillcats and Red Sox had exchanged blows and were deadlocked in a 4-4 stalemate, Yorke delivered in the clutch big time, and he did so while leading off the inning.

On the seventh and final pitch he saw from righty Jacob Forrester, the right-handed hitter tattooed a towering, go-ahead homer over everything in left field to give Salem the lead again at 5-4.

Yorke’s sixth big fly of the season proved to be the game-winner for Salem, as they held on to take Sunday’s series finale over Lynchburg by that narrow one-run margin.

In completing the first multi-homer game of his young career, Yorke finished the day having gone 3-for-3 at the plate with those two home runs, two RBI, two runs scored, one walk, and one stolen base while lengthening his eye-catching hitting streak to a modest 18 games.

Dating back to July 15, when his streak began, the 19-year-old has posted a gaudy .366/.459/.592 (180 wRC+) slash line to go along with three doubles, two triples, three home runs, 13 RBI, 15 runs scored, nine walks, six strikeouts, and two stolen bases over his last 18 games and 85 trips to the plate.

On the 2021 campaign — his first full professional season — as a whole, the 2020 first-round pick has batted .312/.405/.456 (138 wRC+) in addition to hitting 12 doubles, three triples, and six home runs while collecting 34 RBI, scoring 44 runs, walking 34 times, striking out 43 times, and swiping 11 bags over 65 total games (294 plate appearances) with Salem.

Among the top hitters in the Low-A East to date, Yorke ranks seventh in hits (78), 22nd in runs scored, 28th in RBI, second in batting average, fifth in on-base percentage, 14th in slugging percentage, ninth in OPS (.861), seventh in weighted on-base average (.398), and seventh in wRC+, per FanGraphs.

For Yorke, the recent run of success he has enjoyed over the last three weeks or so comes after his inaugural season as a pro got off to a rough start.

After receiving in invite to major-league spring training and breaking minor-league camp with the Salem Sox, the California native hit a measly .195/.264/.220 in the month of May.

Since the calendar flipped to June, however, Yorke flipped the switch offensively and has batted a whopping .369/.471/.571 dating back to June 1.

Yorke, who does not turn 20 until next April, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 8 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking fifth among position players in the organization.

Given how well the 6-foot, 200 pound infielder has performed with Salem as of late, one has to wonder how much longer it will be until the Red Sox feel as though Yorke is ready for a promotion to High-A Greenville.

That being said, Cameron Cannon, who has been regularly patrolling second base for the Drive this season, was promoted to Double-A Portland on Monday morning, so that seemingly opens up a spot for Yorke to take over at second base with Greenville. We will have to wait and see on that.

(Picture of Nick Yorke: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Delino DeShields Jr. had eventful first weekend with Triple-A Worcester

Delino DeShields Jr.’s first weekend as a member of the Red Sox organization was certainly an eventful one.

After being included in a rare post-July trade that saw him go from the Rangers to the Sox this past Thursday, DeShields quickly reported to Triple-A Worcester and made his WooSox debut against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in Moosic, Pa. the following day.

Starting in center field and batting out of the two-hole, the speedy outfielder reached base three times, going 2-for-5 at the plate with a walk, strikeout, and stolen base — though he was picked off as well — as part of Worcester’s 4-3 victory over Scranton in 11 innings at PNC Field.

On Saturday, DeShields once again started in center field and batted second for the WooSox, though this time he was playing behind a rehabbing Chris Sale in what would turn out to be the ace left-hander’s final rehab start.

While the 28-year-old was unable to contribute offensively in the WooSox’ 2-1 win, he did have a front-row seat to Sale tossing 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball while scattering just two hits and three walks to go along with eight strikeouts on the night.

Finally, we arrive at Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the RailRiders. While the WooSox may have ultimately dropped the finale by a final score of 4-3, DeShields took responsibility for all three of the runs his side scored.

Once more starting in center field and batting behind leadoff man Yairo Munoz, the right-handed hitter enjoyed yet another multi-hit day at the plate, as he went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, a season-high three RBI, one run scored, and one strikeout.

After the RailRiders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against WooSox starter Kutter Crawford, DeShields came through with a game-tying, two-run home run off Scranton starter Matt Krook with two outs in the top of the sixth inning — marking his first home run in a WooSox uniform as well as Worcester’s very first hit of the day.

Fast forward to the eighth, with Chad De La Guerra drawing a leadoff walk against RailRiders reliever Nick Green and Munoz advancing him to third (and extending his hitting streak to a historic 30 straight games), DeShields delivered in the clutch a second time.

On the fifth pitch he saw from Green, DeShields nearly left the yard again, but instead settled for a ground-rule double that hopped over the fence in left-center field and brought in De La Guerra from third while advancing Munoz an additional 180 feet.

That two-base hit put the WooSox ahead 3-2, though they would ultimately lose that one-run lead rather quickly with Kaleb Ort allowing two runs in the bottom half of the eighth before Worcester went down quietly in the ninth.

Even while the WooSox were unable to close out the series on a positive note on Sunday, DeShields still proved to be productive in his first weekend with Worcester by going 4-for-14 (.286) with a double, a home run, three RBI, one run scored, one stolen base, one walk, and four strikeouts over his first three games with the affiliate.

DeShields, who turns 29 later this month, was originally selected by the Astros in the first round of the 2010 amateur draft out of Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.).

The son of longtime big-leaguer Delino DeShields, Junior spent the first four years of his professional career in the Astros organization before being scooped up by the Rangers in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft.

Making his major-league debut for Texas the following April, the 5-foot-9, 190 pounder became a key cog in the Rangers’ outfield picture, as he appeared in 100 0r more games and stole 20 or more bases in four out five seasons with the club from 2015 through 2019.

In December 2019, DeShields — as well as pitching prospect Emmanuel Clase — was dealt to the Indians from the Rangers in exchange for right-hander Corey Kluber.

DeShields’ tenure with Cleveland wound up being short-lived, as he did not make his Indians debut until early August last year and was ultimately non-tendered over the winter before re-upping with the Rangers on a minor-league deal back in February.

After failing to make the Rangers’ Opening Day roster out of spring training, DeShields was assigned to Triple-A Round Rock and slashed a modest .263/.392/.368 over 66 games with the Express prior to him being traded to the Red Sox in exchange for cash considerations.

The reason Boston was able to acquire a player such as DeShields in the wake of the July 30 trade deadline is due to the fact that the veteran outfielder was not on Texas’ 40-man roster and had yet to accrue any major-league playing time so far this season.

With the Red Sox recently promoting top outfield prospect Jarren Duran and losing fellow outfield prospect Marcus Wilson to the Mariners on waivers, the addition of DeShields provides the club with experienced upper-minors outfield depth in the event of an injury or something of the sort.

That being said, if the Sox were to qualify for the postseason this fall, DeShields would be eligible for the playoffs so long as he is added to Boston’s major-league roster by September 15 and remains there for the final weeks of the regular season.

Of course, it is no sure thing that a. the Red Sox will secure a postseason spot, or b. the Red Sox view DeShields as someone who can contribute at the big-league level this season.

Still, it goes without saying that the acquisition of DeShields — as well as the timing of it — is certainly intriguing.

(Picture of Delino DeShields Jr.: Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Nathan Eovaldi, Red Sox melt down in 9-run fifth inning, fall to Blue Jays, 12-4; Boston drops to 1-7 in last 8 games

At one point Friday night, the Red Sox had a 2-0 lead over the Blue Jays in their first game at Rogers Centre in nearly two years.

Nathan Eovaldi, making his 22nd start of the season for the Sox, got off to a strong start in the opener of this four-game weekend series by retiring 12 of the first 15 batters he faced over four impressive, scoreless innings.

The Boston lineup, meanwhile, was matched up against rookie starter Alek Manoah for Toronto. After managing just one hit the first time through the order, Alex Verdugo led off the top side of the fourth with a line-drive double.

Verdugo advanced to third on a J.D. Martinez groundout and scored from third on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Xander Bogaerts to give the Sox the first lead of the night.

An inning later, Marwin Gonzalez reached base via a one-out infield single, moved up to second on a walk drawn by Christian Vazquez, and came in to score from second on a two-out RBI single courtesy of Enrique Hernandez.

Another free pass to Verdugo loaded the bases for the slumping — but still threatening J.D. Martinez, but Manoah managed to escape the jam by getting the All-Star slugger to weakly pop out to first base.

At that point, exactly halfway through the nine-inning contest, the Red Sox found themselves in possession of a 2-0 lead with a dealing Eovaldi seemingly on his way to a quality inning.

Instead, the bottom fell out for Eovaldi — and the Sox — in the latter half of the fifth, resulting in this game completely turning on its head.

There, back-to-back-to-back doubles from Toronto’s 7, 8, 9 hitters (Alejandro Kirk, Randal Grichuk, and Breyvic Valera) brought in their first two runs of the night to knot things up at 2-2, though they were not done there.

Eovaldi got George Springer to fly out, intentionally walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to set up a double play, and struck out Marcus Semien on three pitches for the second out. But the veteran right-hander was unable to finish the job, as he served up an RBI single to Bo Bichette, a two-run double to Teoscar Hernandez, and a two-run home run down the left field line to Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Just like that, on the back of three straight run-scoring hits with two outs, the Blue Jays jumped out to a 7-2 lead and that subsequently marked the end of the line for Eovaldi as he got the quick hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 86 (57 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler wound up surrendering a season-high seven runs — all of which were earned — on eight hits, two walks, and four strikeouts over just 4 2/3 of work.

In relief of Eovaldi, newcomer Hansel Robles got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, although he certainly did not stop the bleeding. After issuing a single to Kirk, the righty plunked Grichuk on the elbow with a 96 mph fastball, sparking some drama as the Blue Jays dugout took exception to the beaning.

Though nothing came of Robles’ extra-curriculars sans both dugouts receiving warnings from home plate umpire Jim Wolf, the Jays tacked on two more runs with a 2-RBI double off the bat of Springer, thus capping off a nine-run bottom of the fifth for Toronto.

From there, Hunter Renfroe clobbered a two-run home run off Blue Jays reliever Ryan Borucki to cut the deficit to five runs at 9-4 in the top of the sixth, but the right fielder’s 18th big fly of the season did not make much of a difference in the end.

That being the case because after Austin Davis allowed one run to cross the plate in the bottom half of the sixth, Renfroe popped out with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh.

Martin Perez — on the same day he was demoted to the Red Sox bullpen and just one day after his start against the Tigers — took over for Davis and yielded one additional run on two hits in the seventh.

And in the eighth, Jonathan Arauz became the fourth position player to pitch for the Red Sox this season, and he also allowed one more run to score to make it a 12-4 contest in favor of the Blue Jays, which would go on to be Friday’s final score.

Of the 12 pitches (eight strikes) Arauz threw, four were identified by sliders and three were identified as curveballs. He topped out at 43.7 mph.

Anyway, with the loss, the Red Sox have now dropped seven of their last eight games and have fallen to 64-47 on the season as a result. They are now 2 1/2 games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Doubleheader on-deck

The Sox and Jays will play two at Rogers Centre on Saturday, with Game 1 scheduled to begin at 3:07 p.m. eastern time and Game 2 to follow at 7:07 p.m. ET.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta is slated to face off against left-hander Robbie Ray in the day cap, while righty Tanner Houck will square off against fellow right-hander Jose Berrios in the night cap.

Both games will be broadcast on NESN.

(Picture of Nathan Eovaldi: Cole Burston/Getty Images)

Red Sox remove Martín Pérez from starting rotation; Tanner Houck expected to take left-hander’s spot

The Red Sox have removed left-hander Martin Perez from their starting rotation and moved him to the bullpen, manager Alex Cora announced Friday.

Perez recorded just four outs while surrendering three runs in his latest start against the Tigers in Detroit on Thursday, hence the move to demote him to the bullpen.

Including Thursday’s outing, the 30-year-old has posted an ERA of 4.77 and FIP of 4.90 with 85 strikeouts and 33 walks over 22 starts spanning exactly 100 innings of work this season.

After tossing 7 2/3 scoreless innings against the Astros at Minute Maid Park on June 3, Perez has struggled mightily since then, pitching to the tune of a 7.13 ERA and 1.073 OPS against in his last 11 starts and 41 2/3 innings pitched.

As The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier pointed out on Thursday, Perez has made nine starts of four innings or fewer so far this year, which is the most in the American League and tied for the most in all of Major League Baseball.

While Perez may have made his final start for the Red Sox this season, Cora still believes the veteran southpaw can provide value out of the bullpen, especially with fellow lefty Darwinzon Hernandez being sidelined with a right oblique strain at the moment.

“Obviously with Darwinzon (Hernandez) being down, having that third lefty (in the bullpen) is something I’ve been telling Chaim (Bloom) will be good, especially against a few teams in this division now,” Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) prior to Friday’s game against the Blue Jays. “Obviously New York is not as right-handed as they were early. Tampa, the Yankees and obviously we’re going to play some teams that have a lot of switch-hitters. So I do believe somehow, someway, he’s going to help us out of the bullpen.”

With Perez, who owns a lifetime 4.60 ERA in 16 career relief appearances (31 1/3 innings pitched) heading to the Boston bullpen, Tanner Houck will likely be taking the lefty’s spot in the Sox’ starting rotation.

Houck, who threw a simulated game in Detroit on Monday, will start the night cap of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Over six appearances (four starts) for the Red Sox this season, the 25-year-old right-hander has produced a 2.45 ERA and 1.71 FIP to go along with 30 strikeouts and just five walks in 22 1/3 innings of work.

In addition to Houck essentially re-joining Boston’s starting rotation this weekend, Chris Sale’s return is on the horizon as the ace left-hander prepares to make what should be his final rehab start with Triple-A Worcester on Saturday.

That being said, one has to wonder if Garrett Richards’ spot in the rotation could be in jeopardy as well if Cora and Co. want to roll with five starters (Sale, Houck, Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, Eduardo Rodriguez) relatively soon.

(Picture of Martin Perez: Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox place Jarren Duran on COVID-19 related injured list, recall Jonathan Araúz from Triple-A Worcester

Before opening up a four-game weekend series against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Friday night, the Red Sox placed rookie outfielder Jarren Duran on the COVID-19 related injured list.

In a corresponding move, infielder Jonathan Arauz was recalled from Triple-A Worcester, the club announced earlier Friday afternoon.

Duran becomes the second Boston player to be placed on the COVID-related injured list during the team’s current road trip.

All-Star closer Matt Barnes, who is vaccinated against the virus, was placed on the COVID IL on Tuesday in Detroit due to his feeling under the weather, but only missed one day of action after testing negative Tuesday night and being activated on Wednesday.

Duran, on the other hand, is experiencing COVID-like symptoms but has yet to test positive for the virus. As was the case with Barnes in Detroit, Duran is quarantining at the team’s hotel in Toronto and awaiting further testing, according to Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

If Duran’s PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test comes back negative later Friday night, he could be activated from the COVID IL at any time.

If the 24-year-old top prospect tests positive, however, he will remain on the COVID-related injured list and additionally will be placed in mandatory quarantine for at least 10 days. That, in turn, would result in the Red Sox triggering more virus-related protocols.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, the Red Sox were tested for COVID-19 as a team upon arriving in Canada on Thursday night. Duran is awaiting final word.

Duran’s agent, Barrett Arthur of BJB Group, has informed The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier that his client “has had multiple negative tests for COVID-19” and that “his placement on the COVID-19 injury list, as of now, is based purely on symptoms.”

Regardless, with Duran out of Boston’s lineup for Friday night’s series opener against the Blue Jays at the minimum, Enrique Hernandez will get the start in center field in the speedster’s place.

Arauz, meanwhile, is recalled from Worcester just two days after he was sent down at the time Barnes was activated from the COVID IL himself.

A member of the Sox’ taxi squad for their longest road trip of the season, Arauz is back up with Boston for the third time this year.

In his second and most recent stint with the big-league club, which spanned from July 30 through August 4, the 23-year-old appeared in three games, going 2-for-6 (.333) at the plate with one walk and two strikeouts over seven trips to the plate while playing second base and serving as a pinch-runner.

If Duran is able to return from the COVID-19 related injured list at any point this weekend, one would have to assume Arauz would once again get sent down to the WooSox in a corresponding move.

(Picture of Jarren Duran: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox sign former Reds right-hander José De León to minor-league deal

The Red Sox have signed right-hander Jose De Leon to a minor-league contract, De Leon himself announced on Twitter Thursday.

“Since ‘97, when I started playing baseball, I always dreamed about being a Red Sox,” De Leon wrote Thursday morning. “Today, the dream of that little kid from Isabela, Puerto Rico, becomes reality. So kids, never stop dreaming! We’re back #OnAMission.”

De Leon, who turns 29 on Saturday, was released by the Reds on July 23 after being designated for assignment on July 19.

Across nine appearances (two starts) with Cincinnati this season, the righty posted an 8.35 ERA and 4.53 FIP to go along with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks over 18 1/3 total innings pitched from April 5 through May 4.

Optioned to Triple-A Louisville on May 5, De Leon put up an ERA of 4.63 — but a much more respectable 3.02 FIP — in 12 outings spanning 11 2/3 innings of work with the Bats prior to getting DFA’d.

A native of Isabela, Puerto Rico, the 6-foot-2, 215 pound hurler was originally selected by the Dodgers in the 24th round of the 2013 amateur draft out of Southern University. He was traded to the Rays in January 2017 in exchange for Logan Forsythe, missed the entirety of the 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery that March, and was later traded to the Reds in November 2019 in exchange for cash considerations and a player to be named later.

Once regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, De Leon made his major-league debut with the Dodgers in September 2016 and has appeared in a grand total of 22 games (six starts) at the big-league level between Los Angeles, Tampa Bay and Cincinnati.

In those 22 outings, De Leon has pitched to the tune of an 8.44 ERA and 5.98 FIP while striking out 27.7% and walking 14.5% of the batters he has faced. He also owns a lifetime 3.35 ERA at the Triple-A level.

Per Baseball Savant, De Leon operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a sinker, changeup, and slider. He has also utilized a four-seam fastball in the past.

While it’s unclear at the moment which affiliate De Leon is report to (likely Triple-A Worcester), one thing is for certain: the right-hander does represent some intriguing pitching depth for a club that is seemingly in need of it at the moment.

On top of that, De Leon played alongside Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran and for Red Sox quality control coach Ramon Vazquez for Criollos de Caguas (Alex Cora’s hometown team) of the Puerto Rican Winter League last winter, so there is certainly some familiarity there.

Martín Pérez allows 3 runs in just 1 1/3 innings as Red Sox get blown out by Tigers, 8-1, in series finale

Any good vibes the Red Sox accumulated while snapping their five-game losing streak on Wednesday night were immediately wiped off the board in Thursday’s series finale against the Tigers at Comerica Park.

The Sox fell to the Tigers by a final score of 8-1, dropping the three-game series in the process of getting hit with their sixth loss in their last seven games.

Martin Perez, making his 21st start of the season for Boston, was hit hard in what was his shortest outing of the year to date.

Managing to record just four outs, the veteran left-hander surrendered three runs — all of which were earned — on five hits, zero walks, and one hit batsman to go along with two strikeouts over his 1 1/3 innings of work.

Right out of the gate, Perez was rudely greeted by Detroit, as he served up a leadoff home run to Robbie Grossman to begin things in the very first inning.

More leadoff trouble did Perez in in the second, with Victor Reyes leading off with a triple and Zack Short following with a sacrifice fly to give his side the early 2-0 lead.

After yielding back-to-back singles to the Tigers’ No. 8 and No. 9 hitters, Perez plunked Grossman on a 90 mph cutter that subsequently ended his day much sooner than expected.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 37 (25 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler raised his ERA on the season to 4.77 in what could very well be one of — if not his last start in a Red Sox uniform for the time being.

In relief of Perez, Phillips Valdez got the first call from manager Alex Cora out of the Boston bullpen, and he inherited quite a mess with the bases loaded and two outs to get in the second.

Valdez officially closed the book on Perez’s start by allowing one of those inherited runners to score on a groundout, making it a 3-0 game in favor of Detroit. He did, however, fan Miguel Cabrera to get out of the second inning before tossing two more scoreless frames.

From there, Hansel Robles got roughed up for the first time since being traded to the Red Sox, as he served up a two-run, ground-rule double to Jeimer Candelario in the fifth that was followed by an RBI triple off the bat of Reyes. Both back-breaking hits came with two outs in the inning.

Fellow deadline acquisition Austin Davis did not fare much better over the next two innings, with the lefty issuing a run-scoring base hit to Jonathan Schhop in the sixth as well as an RBI groundout to Reyes in the seventh that put Detroit up 8-0.

Yacksel Rios took over for Davis with two outs in the seventh, and he ended the inning while also striking out one in a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, though it did not make much of a difference in the end.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Tigers rookie left-hander Tarik Skubal, making his first ever start against Boston.

Dealt a 3-0 deficit after just two innings, the Sox really were not able to get much going against Skubal.

They had an early opportunity in their half of the third, with Enrique Hernandez reaching base via a one-out walk and Rafael Devers following with an infield single. Both runners advanced an additional 90 feet on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, but J.D. Martinez was called out on strikes and Xander Bogaerts lined out to extinguish the threat.

All in all, the Boston bats went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position against Skubal and three Detroit relievers, with Alex Verdugo taking responsibility for his side’s lone run of the afternoon with a sacrifice fly that brought in Franchy Cordero from third base.

That cut the Sox’ deficit down to seven runs at 8-1, which would go on to be Thursday’s final score.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 64-46 on the season while dropping to 1 1/2 games back of an idle Tampa Bay Rays team for first place in the American League East.

Next up: On to Canada

The Red Sox will board a flight to Toronto as they head north of the border for the first time in nearly two full years for the start of what has the makings to be a pivotal four-game weekend series against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday night.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball for Boston in the opener, and he will be matched up against fellow righty Alek Manoah for Toronto.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Red Sox need to turn things around quickly.

(Picture of Martin Perez: Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Red Sox acquire speedy outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. from Rangers and assign him to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have acquired outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. from the Texas Rangers in exchange for cash considerations, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

The reason the Sox were able to make a trade in the wake of the July 30 trade deadline is because of the fact that DeShields is on a minor-league contract and has not been on a major-league roster so far this season.

DeShields, who turns 29 later this month, initially inked a minor-league pact with the Rangers back in early February and opened the 2021 minor-league season with Triple-A Round Rock, where he slashed .263/.392/.368 (99 wRC+) with nine doubles, one triple, five home runs, 18 RBI, 46 runs scored, 16 stolen bases, 50 walks, and 62 strikeouts over 66 games (305 plate appearances) for the Express.

A former first-round pick of the Astros out of Woodward Academy (Ga.) back in 2010, DeShields was selected by Texas in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft and accrued five years of big-league experience with the Rangers prior to being part of a three-player trade with the Indians that saw Corey Kluber briefly head to the Lone Star state in December 2019.

Across just 37 games with Cleveland during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, the speedy right-handed hitter posted a modest .252/.310/.318 slash line (72 wRC+) to go along with three doubles, two triples, seven RBI, 10 runs scored, three stolen bases, nine walks, and 29 strikeouts over 120 total trips to the plate.

Known for his speed and defensive abilities, DeShields — who is listed at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds — has been assigned to the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, where he figures to provide some experienced outfield depth for the WooSox alongside the likes of Michael Gettys and Tate Matheny.

As noted by Cotillo, Boston has seen its upper-minors outfield depth take a hit as of late with Jarren Duran being promoted last month and Marcus Wilson being claimed off waivers by the Mariners earlier this week.

That said, it should be fascinating to see if, in addition to providing organizational depth and insurance in the event of an injury, DeShields will garner any sort of big-league consideration with his new club once rosters expand in September. We will have to wait and see on that.

(Picture of Delino DeShields: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Connor Seabold strikes out 10 over 6 scoreless innings for Triple-A Worcester

Eduardo Rodriguez was not the only pitcher in the Red Sox organization who struck out a season-high 10 batters on Wednesday night.

Pitching prospect Connor Seabold, making his just his third start of the year for Triple-A Worcester, dazzled against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees affiliate) at PNC Field in Moosic, Pa.

Over six dominant innings of work, Seabold kept the RailRiders off the scoreboard while yielding just one hit and one walk to go along with those 10 punchouts.

Setting the tone by fanning the first five hitters he faced out of the gate, the right-hander saw his bid for a perfect game end when he issued a two-out walk to Thomas Milone in the bottom of the third, but followed that by taking a no-hitter into the fifth before he gave up a one-out single to veteran catcher Rob Brantly.

Seabold was able to strand Brantly at first by retiring the next two RailRiders who came up to the plate against him, and he put the finishing touches on his stellar night by punching out two more in a scoreless sixth inning.

Of the 85 pitches the 25-year-old hurler threw on Wednesday, 59 — or 69.4% — of them went for strikes. He also induced 20 swings-and-misses, per Red Sox Stats on Twitter.

Seabold, who does not turn 26 until January, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 12 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking sixth among pitchers in the organization.

The Southern California native was slated to open the 2021 season in Worcester’s starting rotation, bur was placed on the injured list in early May due to right elbow inflammation.

After missing approximately 2 1/2 months because of that ailment, Seabold began a rehab assignment with the Florida Complex League Red Sox and made two starts with them before being activated off the IL last month.

Including Wednesday night’s strong showing, Seabold has allowed a grand total of 10 runs (seven earned) on 12 hits, five walks, and 16 strikeouts across three starts (14 1/3 innings pitched) with the WooSox. That’s good for an ERA of 4.40, a WHIP of 1.19, and a batting average against of .226.

The Red Sox originally acquired the 6-foot-3, 195 pound righty — as well as fellow pitcher Nick Pivetta — in a trade with the Phillies last August that sent relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree to Philadelphia.

Seabold spent the remainder of the summer at the Sox’ alternate training site before being added to the club’s 40-man roster in November in order to be protected from that winter’s Rule 5 Draft.

Since he was added to the 40-man during the offseason, the former third-round draft pick out of Cal State Fullerton seemed prime to serve as topline rotation depth for the Red Sox at the Triple-A level to start the year, but injuries instead altered those plans.

Now that he is back and pitching at a seemingly high level, though, it should be interesting to see if the Sox have any plans to utilize Seabold at the major-league level once rosters expand from 26 to 28 players at the beginning of September.

For now, Seabold — who operates with a 91-93 mph fastball that tops out at 95 mph, a deceptive 80-82 mph changeup, and an 83-85 mph slider according to his SoxProspects.com scouting report — is in line to make his next start for the WooSox when they take on the Syracuse Mets at Polar Park on Tuesday, August 10.

(Picture of Connor Seabold: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox crush 3 homers, punch out season-high 18 batters in 4-1 win over Tigers to snap 5-game skid

After a few stressful days, the Red Sox can breathe a collective sigh of relief as they put their five-game losing streak behind them with a 4-1 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park on Wednesday night.

Former Tigers All-Star J.D. Martinez gave the Sox an early lead in the middle game of this three-game series, as he crushed a 410 foot solo shot off Detroit starter and former first overall draft pick Casey Mize to lead things off in the top half of the second inning.

Martinez’s 21st home run of the season put Boston up 1-0, and they added more on to that later on in the fifth.

There, with Mize still on the hill for Detroit, Hunter Renfroe ripped a line-drive double to lead off the inning, while Franchy Cordero struck out and Christian Vazquez flew out for the first two outs.

At that time, the Red Sox had gone 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and it appeared as though they were going to let another scoring opportunity go to waste.

Enrique Hernandez had other plans, however, as he took a 3-2, 87 mph slider down the heart of the plate from Mize and deposited it 426 feet to deep left-center field for his 15th big fly of the year — a two-run blast.

Moments later, Jarren Duran followed with a solo shot of his own, this time taking Mize 355 feet down the left field line for his second big-league homer — and first since July 19.

Hernandez and Duran going back-to-back gave Boston the 4-0 lead over Detroit, and that four-run edge was more than enough for Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez to work with.

Rodriguez, making his 21st start of the season for Boston, put together his best outing since being removed from his July 23 start against the Yankees early due to migraine symptoms.

Over five solid, scoreless innings of work on Wednesday, the left-hander kept the Tigers off the board while scattering just two hits and four walks to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts on the night.

Right out of the gate, Rodriguez ran into some early trouble in the bottom of the first when he issued a one-out walk to Jonathan Schoop that was followed by a hard-hit single off the bat of Robbie Grossman to put runners on the corners. But Rodriguez escaped the jam by fanning Miguel Cabrera and Eric Haase in consecutive order.

While he did deal with his fair share of traffic the rest of the way, the Venezuelan southpaw did manage to limit the damage in that he did not allow a single run to cross the plate.

The fifth inning presented one final challenge for Rodriguez, as he walked two of the first four hitters he faced in the frame before getting Grossman to punch out to retire the side and end his evening on a positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 99 (64 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler ultimately earned his eighth winning decision of the year while also lowering his ERA to 5.33.

In relief of Rodriguez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call from manager Alex Cora out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he danced his way around a tight spot by recording a pair of potentially game-altering strikeouts.

From there, Josh Taylor got the first two outs of the seventh before serving up a solo home run to Schoop to trim Boston’s lead down to three runs at 4-1.

That — and a six-pitch walk of Grossman — resulted in Adam Ottavino taking over for Taylor, and the veteran righty did his job by getting Cabrera to fly out to end the seventh while also striking out a pair in a scoreless bottom of the eighth.

With a three-run lead to protect going into the ninth, Red Sox closer Matt Barnes, freshly activated from the COVID-19 related injured list, was deposited for his first outing in exactly a week, and he slammed the door on the Tigers to notch his 24th save of the season while also locking down the 4-1 victory for his side.

All in all, five Boston pitchers combined to punch out a season-high 18 Detroit hitters on Wednesday night.

With the win, not only do the Sox snap a brutal five-game skid, but they also improve to 64-45 on the season to remain one game back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Perez vs. Skubal

The Red Sox will send veteran left-hander Martin Perez to the hill as they go for the series win over the Tigers at Comerica Park on Thursday afternoon.

Detroit will counter with rookie lefty Tarik Skubal, who has yet to face off against Boston since making his major-league debut last August.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe and Enrique Hernandez: Duane Burleson/Getty Images)