Tag: relievers

Red Sox one of several teams interested in free-agent reliever Alex Colomé, per report

The Red Sox are among the teams reportedly interested in free-agent reliever Alex Colome, per FanSided’s Robert Murray.

Colome, who recently turned 32, is coming off a 2020 campaign with the White Sox in which he posted a superb 0.81 ERA and .460 OPS against over 21 appearances and 22 1/3 innings of work while converting 12 out of a possible 13 save opportunities.

The veteran right-hander is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to net himself a one-year deal worth somewhere around $6 million this offseason, though MLBTR does have him returning to the South Side.

That being said, Colome does have connections to the Red Sox, as the above tweet mentions, thanks to chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.

Both Bloom and Colome spent plenty of time together with the Rays following the latter’s big-league debut in 2013, which came more than six years after he signed with Tampa Bay out of the Dominican Republic in March 2007.

Listed at 6-foot-1 and 225 lbs., Colome works with just two pitches: a cut and four-seam fastball, per Baseball Savant. He posted a 15.3% whiff rate with those pitches last season.

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The Red Sox, coming off a 2020 campaign in which they ranked 27th in baseball in bullpen ERA (5.79), are in need of upgrades to their relief corps.

Colome, despite owning a lifetime 5.31 ERA at Fenway Park, certainly fits that mold and could even emerge as the club’s closer if he is indeed signed.

For the time being, though, that remains just a possibility since it is not yet known how aggressively the Red Sox are pursuing the experienced hurler.

Red Sox claim right-hander Joel Payamps off waivers from Diamondbacks, designate Robert Stock

The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Joel Payamps off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the club announced Wednesday.

In order to make room for Payamps on Boston’s 40-man roster, right-hander Robert Stock was designated for assignment. Righty Ryan Weber and left-hander Matt Hall were also outrighted to Triple-A Worcester.

Payamps, 26, had spent the previous two seasons with Arizona, appearing in a total of four games while allowing four runs (three earned) over seven total innings pitched in those appearances. He was designated for assignment last Friday.

The Dominican Republic native was originally signed by the Rockies as an international free agent in 2010 and has 145 career minor-league outings (119 starts) under his belt.

Per Statcast, Payamps utilizes a four-pitch mix that is comprised of a four-seam fastball, a slider, a sinker, and a changeup. He averaged 94.2 mph and topped out at 95.8 mph with his heater this past season.

With the addition of Payamps to the 40-man roster via a waiver claim, the Red Sox needed to create some room, and they did so by designating Stock.

The 31-year-old was initially claimed off waivers by Boston from the Phillies back on July 27.

In his debut season with the Sox, Stock posted a 4.73 ERA and 3.34 FIP over 10 appearances and 13 1/3 innings pitched spanning three separate stints with the big-league club.

Given the fact he can reach 99 mph with his heater, Stock may be someone that Boston would like to stash away in the minors for bullpen depth. The Washington native will of course have to clear waivers in order for that to happen, though.

As for Weber and Hall, the two hurlers who represented 40% of the Sox’ Opening Day rotation this year were outrighted to Triple-A after being designated for assignment on November 20.

Assuming both Weber and Hall accept their minor-league assignments as opposed to electing free agency, they too could provide integral swingman depth for the Red Sox since both are capable of starting and working out of the bullpen.

With Wednesday’s moves made, Boston’s 40-man roster is currently at full capacity. Expect more transactions like this one to be made by chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co. as the offseason continues.

UPDATE: As pointed out by SoxProspects’ Chris Hatfield, Payamps is out of minor-league options, so the Red Sox could very well look to sneak him through waivers as they did with second baseman Christian Arroyo over the summer.

Who is Eduard Bazardo? Newest addition to Red Sox’ 40-man roster could prove to be important bullpen piece in 2021

At this time last year, it appeared as though Eduard Bazardo had a legitimate shot to be added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster.

The right-handed pitching prospect was Rule 5 eligible for the first time, and he needed to be added to Boston’s 40-man roster in order to be protected from the 2019 Rule 5 Draft.

Among the five players who were added last November, Bazardo was not one of them as left-handers Kyle Hart and Yoan Aybar were the only two pitchers to make the cut.

The decision by the Red Sox to leave Bazardo off the 40-man roster meant the Venezuelan could be snatched up by another club during the major-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

Fortunately for Boston, that did not happen, as Bazardo went undrafted and remained with the organization he began his professional career with back in 2014 after signing for just $8,000 as an international free agent.

Even while staying with the Sox, Bazardo did not get too much exposure in 2020 on account of there being no minor-league season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He was able to appear in four Grapefruit League games back in March before the shutdown, but that was some of the only in-game action he saw up until October.

That being the case because after not being added to the Red Sox’ 60-man player pool at any point during the season, Bazardo was invited to participate in the club’s fall instructional league down in Fort Myers.

There, according to SoxProspects.com’s Ian Cundall, the 6-foot, 155 lb. righty caused quite the stir thanks to what he did on the mound.

“Right-handed reliever Eduard Bazardo was the most impressive arm at Instructs, showing off increased velocity that puts him squarely in the mix to either be added to the 40-man roster on Friday or selected in the Rule 5 draft,” Cundall wrote earlier this week. “At Instructs, all of Bazardo’s stuff was improved, as he sat 93-97 mph and often pitched at 95-96 with, as one scout called it, a ‘silly’ curveball. His curveball elicited some horrible swings, and its spin rate topped  3000 rpm, which is elite. His fastball is now a plus-to-better pitch, and his curveball is solidly a plus pitch as well.”

The way Bazardo pitched at fall instructs obviously caught the attention of Red Sox higher-ups, such as chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, and he was able to leverage his performance to a spot on Boston’s 40-man roster earlier Friday evening.

As indicated above, Bazardo’s pitch mix includes a fastball and curveball, as well as a split-finger fastball, per his SoxProspects.com scouting report. 

With consistent control and improved command, Bazardo was able to fool hitters at a decent rate at fall instructs, and he’ll presumably have the chance to do that again come February.

Cundall predicts that Bazardo will make his major-league debut in 2021 as a reliever, and given the current state of the Red Sox bullpen, it’s not hard to see why that may be a legitimate possibility.

Red Sox sign former Royals right-hander Kevin McCarthy to minor-league deal, per report

The Red Sox have signed free-agent right-hander Kevin McCarthy to a minor-league contract, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

Per Nightengale, McCarthy can make up to $825,000 if he makes Boston’s major-league roster.

The 28-year-old has spent the past five seasons with the Royals after being taken by the club in the 16th round of the 2013 amateur draft out of Marist College.

Most recently, the New York native appeared in just five games for Kansas City in 2020, allowing three earned runs over six innings pitched (4.50 ERA) before getting outrighted off the Royals’ 40-man roster last month.

Instead of accepting a minor-league assignment, McCarthy opted for free agency, and it only took him a little under two weeks to be scooped up by another team, albeit on a minor-league pact.

Prior to the 2020 season, McCarthy had proven to be a capable major-league reliever with the Royals. From 2016-2019, the righty posted a 3.78 ERA and 4.04 FIP over 164 appearances and 185 2/3 innings of work.

With those numbers in mind, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom is presumably hopeful that McCarthy can revert back to that adequate form he had displayed in Kansas City with a new organization.

McCarthy, who turns 29 in February, will likely get a shot at making the Sox’ Opening Day roster if he impresses enough out of the bullpen this coming spring. We will have to wait and see on that.

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On another note, McCarthy’s Twitter handle is @KMAC_n_cheez15, so that’s cool.

Red Sox free agency: right-hander Keone Kela comments that he would ‘love’ to play in Boston

Former Pirates reliever and current free-agent right-hander Keone Kela recently expressed an interest to play with the Red Sox through social media.

Early Friday night, Major League Baseball’s official Instagram account posted an update pertaining to the Red Sox’ rehiring of Alex Cora to be their next manager.

Within minutes of the post going live, Kela took to the comment section, tagged the Sox’ official Instagram handle (@redsox) and simply expressed his thoughts through the use of the ‘100’ emoji (💯).

According to Dictionary.com, the ‘100’ emoji is “used in digital communication to express or emphasize achievement, support, approval, and motivation. It also generally means ‘absolutely’ or ‘keep it 100’ (keep it real), so it would appear that Kela approves of the move by the Red Sox to bring Cora back.

On top of that, when urged by a fellow commenter to ‘come on down [to Boston], Kela replied, “I’d love to” followed by a heart emoji. The full exchange can be seen in this accompanying screenshot, courtesy of Reddit user u/williamsw21.

Kela, 27, has spent the last 2 1/2 seasons with the Pirates after beginning his big-league career with the Rangers in 2015.

In his time with Pittsburgh, the Los Angeles native posted a 2.49 ERA and 3.54 FIP over 51 total appearances and 47 innings pitched going back to July 2018.

Most recently, in what was already a truncated 2020 campaign, Kela managed to appear in just three games for the Pirates on account of testing positive for COVID-19 in July and going down with right forearm tightness in late August.

Seeing how he is still relatively young as he enters free agency for the first time, Kela could look to take a short-term deal this offseason in order to better establish his value next winter if he can stay healthy.

According to Statcast, the righty has in his arsenal a curveball that hovers around 82-83 mph, a four-seam fastball that hovers around 96 mph and can top out at 98 mph, and a changeup that hovers around 90-91 mph.

Taking that into consideration, the Red Sox could perhaps benefit from adding someone of Kela’s caliber to the mix in their bullpen. The club is coming off a 2020 season in which it owned the second-worst bullpen ERA (5.72) in the American League.

There are certainly other free-agent relievers the Red Sox could target here, such as Liam Hendriks, Trevor May, or Blake Treinen, but seeing how Kela, or whoever runs his Instagram account, has expressed an interest in signing with Boston, this may very well be an avenue worth exploring for chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co.

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On another note, Cora’s return makes it seem as though the Red Sox could become a more popular destination for free-agents since the Sox skipper is so well regarded by players. That should be something worth paying attention to as the offseason progresses.

Matt Barnes Not Only Reliever Who Could Close Out Games for Red Sox Following Brandon Workman Trade, Ron Roenicke Says

With Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman now Philadelphia Phillies, a couple late-inning spots just opened up in the back end of the Red Sox bullpen. More specifically, with Workman gone, the Sox do not exactly have a set closer at this point in time.

Right-hander Matt Barnes took charge of that responsibility in Boston’s 8-5 win over the Orioles on Friday and he looked good doing so, needing just 13 pitches to record his first save since last June.

Even with Barnes’ impressive importance fresh in his mind, Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke didn’t really commit to the 30-year-old hurler as his set ninth-inning man moving forward.

“No doubt, I have faith in what he can do,” Roenicke said of Barnes during his postgame media availability. “I probably won’t do it the same way that we did with [Workman] because we had Barnes for the seventh or eighth or somebody and then going to [Workman]. This will be a little bit different, probably. I’m sure [Barnes] will get most of the opportunities, but if it matches up better with him in the eighth inning and another closer in the ninth, we’ll do that. I don’t think I’m just going to limit him to doing it for one inning.”

If it’s Barnes getting the call for the ninth, Roenicke named Austin Brice and Josh Taylor as relievers who could close out games if necassary.

“I think we have a couple guys that could do it,” the Sox skipper added. “I’m comfortable with all of them, so I think the match-ups will tell us what to do there.”

Left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez, who worked two scoreless innings in his 2020 debut on Friday after missing time on the COVID-19 related injured list, could be another candidate to close were it not for the plans the Red Sox have for the 23-year-old hurler.

“The only thing with Darwinzon is because we know he can give us two or three [innings], it may be more important to do that in the…sixth, seventh, or eighth, maybe,” said Roenicke. “I think he is more valuable in doing that than just keeping him to one inning. We’ll see as time goes on, but he was coming out [Friday] for the first time. He threw some nasty pitches. I know sometimes he may get a little wild, but his pitches, you see the swings they take and the bats that break and it’s just really good stuff.”

Out of the 40 pitches Hernandez threw in his first outing on Friday, the Venezuelan got the Orioles to swing and miss seven times. Because he accrued two innings of work against Baltimore, his next outing likely won’t come until the Red Sox’ next series against the Blue Jays in Buffalo.

Red Sox Trade Rumors: Phillies Have Spoken To Boston About Brandon Workman, per Report

With the 2020 trade deadline fast approaching, the Red Sox are already getting involved in some rumors, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the club has been in contact with the Phillies about right-hander Brandon Workman.

Workman, who turned 32 last week, is set to become a free agent for the first time this winter.

The Texas native owns an ERA of 4.05 and a FIP of 2.57 through his first seven appearances and 6 2/3 innings pitched this year. He is also coming off a season in which he accrued 16 saves while finishing third among qualified American League relievers in fWAR (2.1) in 2019.

The Phillies, meanwhile, own the worst bullpen ERA (8.07) and fourth-worst FIP (5.61) in baseball through their first 21 games of the season, so the need to improve their ‘pen is certainly there.

Philadelphia also has a prior connection to Workman, as the club drafted him out of high school in the third round of the 2007 amateur draft. The Sox closer forwent going pro then, however, and instead played college baseball at the University of Texas for three seasons before getting drafted by Boston in the second round of the 2010 amateur draft.

Even though the Red Sox (8-18) only have one less win that the Philles (9-12) do at this point, it would appear as though one club is aiming to be sellers at the deadline while the other is leaning towards being a buyer.

In terms of what the Phils would be willing to give up in this potential deal, it would be difficult to see them part ways with any one of their four top-100 prospects seeing how Workman is on an expiring contract. I would venture to say that, from Philly’s point of view, they could give up far less in order to acquire just one to two months of Workman’s service.

Along with Workman, outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Kevin Pillar are two more players on the Sox’ active roster who are set to become free agents at the end of the season, while first baseman Mitch Moreland and left-hander Martin Perez have club options for 2021.

If chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co. feel any need to move any of these five players, they have until August 31 to do so.

Matt Barnes Plays Pivotal Role for Red Sox in 6-3, Skid-Snapping Victory Over Phillies

Matt Barnes recorded five crucial outs in the seventh and eighth innings of the Red Sox’ 6-3 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday to snap a nine-game losing streak. That being said, getting those five outs was no easy task.

Coming into the afternoon on three days rest, the right-hander was dispatched in the top of the seventh with his side up 4-3 and the tying run in scoring position for Philadelphia as the heart of Philadelphia’s order was due to hit.

Barnes got his first opponent, the vaunted Bryce Harper, to fan on four pitches, with the fourth pitch being a 1-2, 84 mph curveball down and in. He then got his next opponent, the ever-dangerous J.T. Realmuto, to whiff on another 2-2, 85 mph curveball below the strike zone.

“I was able to make some quality pitches that fortunately went my and the team’s way,” Barnes said during his postgame media availability. “It was definitely awesome.”

Impressive work there for sure, but Barnes’ job was not yet done, as he came on for a clean inning in the top of the eighth as well.

There, with his side now up 5-3, the 30-year-old again struck out another man in Phillies leadoff hitter Phil Gosselin, but he needed seven pitches to do so.

The next man up for Philadelphia, though, was by far Barnes’ toughest opponent and someone he had faced plenty of times before in ex-Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius.

In their first head-to-head matchup this season, Barnes got ahead in the count at 0-2, but proceeded to sprinkle in a ball every once in a while as Gregorius continued to foul off a plethora of pitches.

Fastball after fastball. Curveball after curveball. It did not matter for Gregorius, as he fouled off a total of nine pitches from Barnes, with the ninth and final one being followed by a ball four that was up and in.

When all was said and done, Gregorious had won this battle against Barnes and was awarded first base after an exhausting 14-pitch at-bat.

“It was 14 [pitches], huh?” Barnes said with a chuckle. “I mean, it’s a battle, man. It’s a battle. You got to just continually try to execute good pitches. I executed a decent 3-2 pitch, a fastball about a ball off [and] in. Credit to him for putting together an at-bat like that. It’s exhausting for not only me but him as well.”

Once again, Philly looked like they could be threatening as the tying run was now at the plate in Alec Bohm. Fortunately for Boston, Barnes, with the help of shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin, was able to extinguish that threat by getting the rookie third baseman to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

“In a two-run game, one wrong pitch could be a two-run homer and we’re in a totally different spot in the game,” the UCONN product added. “I was able to make a quality pitch. I got to the 3-2 count to Bohm and wanted to throw a quality breaking ball in the zone to him. He put a decent swing on it, fortunately Lin made a great play with the backhand and him and [Jose] Peraza were able to turn the double play for us.”

The Red Sox went on to top the Phillies by a final score of 6-3 following a scoreless ninth inning from Brandon Workman, and Barnes, despite needing 38 pitches to do so, took home his fourth hold of the season as a result.

Red Sox Left-Hander Josh Taylor ‘Ready To Go’ After Getting Activated From COVID-19 Related Injured List

Going into the year, Josh Taylor would have never thought that he would be making his 2020 debut in the middle of August.

But, his testing positive for COVID-19 resulted in him being sidelined for about six weeks before he was finally  activated from the injured list prior to Monday’s game against the Yankees.

When speaking with reporters for the first time in a while on Monday, the left-hander admitted that he really did not know what to expect upon getting that positive test result back in the beginning of July.

“I was asymptomatic, so I had no idea [the test] would come back positive,” Taylor said. “I kept looking back and maybe I got it at a grocery store or something. I have no clue. I had two long weeks of sitting in a hotel room to figure it out and nothing really comes to mind.”

In Taylor’s absence, the Red Sox pitching staff endured their fair of struggles, which is something the 27-year-old may have helped with considering he posted a 3.11 ERA and .638 OPS against in 52 appearances out of the Boston bullpen as a rookie last year.

That possibility did not sit too well for Taylor while he was in self-isolation and watching his team getting off to a dreadful 6-16 start to the season.

“It sucks sitting in my hotel room and watching the game on TV,” he continued. “Seeing an inning go bad and saying ‘I could have been there to at least try to help limit the damage or get us through the inning.’ It’s tough, but I’m just happy I’m here know and can help the team contribute and hopefully we can turn things around.

Despite how much it must have gotten on Taylor to to be in that situation, he was at least able to stay in relatively good shape by using what was available to him in his room. That being his own laundry.

“I was throwing a ball into a sock, really,” the southpaw said of his self-isolation routine. “You tape a sock to your hand and throw [the ball] into the sock. That’s about as good as you get.”

Fortunately, Taylor can move on from that and look forward to appearing in a real game for the first time since last September. He is indeed ready for that to happen, as you may expect.

“I haven’t been put in a real-game scenario, but I definitely feel like I’m ready to go,” the Arizona native said. “I feel like my arm should be where it was last year and I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to go out and compete at the level I did last year.”

It’s been a frustrating last few weeks for Taylor, but he’s back in the majors and ready to build off what he accomplished in 2019, shortened season and all.

 

Red Sox Call up Robert Stock, Option Jeffrey Springs to Pawtucket

Before taking on the Rays in the second of a four-game series at Fenway Park on Tuesday night, the Red Sox have recalled right-hander Robert Stock from the club’s alternate training site in Pawtucket and in a corresponding move, optioned left-hander Jeffrey Springs to that same alternate training site.

Stock. 30, was originally claimed by Boston off waivers from the Phillies late last month after he was designated for assignment by Philadelphia on July 23.

Prior to this year, the University of Southern California product appeared in 42 games for the Padres across the 2018 and 2019 seasons, posting an ERA of 4.11 and FIP of 3.27 over 50 1/3 total innings pitched. His rookie campaign was much more effective than his sophomore one, though.

While working out at the Sox’ alternate training site at McCoy Stadium, Stock fanned a pair and reached 100 mph with his four-seam fastball in a sim game appearance over the weekend.

Per Statcast, the former second-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals back in 2009 works with a four-seamer, slider, changeup, and sinker. The average velocity of his heater this past season was 97.9 mph.

If Stock gets into a game during this series against the Rays, I would expect it to come in a low-leverage situation. Of course, he’ll likely be available to work in Thursday’s bullpen game.

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As for Springs, the 27-year-old southpaw was sent down to Pawtucket less than 24 hours after surrendering three runs on five hits in just 1 1/3 innings of relief against Tampa Bay on Monday.

Through his first four appearances with the Red Sox after making his first career Opening Day roster, Springs owns an unsightly 15.43 ERA and 1.164 OPS against over 4 2/3 innings of work.

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With Springs now in Pawtucket, the Red Sox currently have two left-handed pitchers on their 28-man roster, and one of them is Martin Perez. Perhaps Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor are close to returning.