Tag: tyler danish

Red Sox activate Rich Hill from bereavement list, option Tyler Danish to Triple-A Worcester

Before dropping Sunday’s series finale against the Rays by a final score of 5-2, the Red Sox activated Rich Hill from the bereavement list and, in a corresponding move, optioned Tyler Danish to Triple-A Worcester.

Hill spent five days on the bereavement list after his father, Lloyd, passed away at the age of 94 last week. The 42-year-old had been away from the team to attend his father’s services in Milton.

In his return to the mound on Sunday, Hill was certainly not at his best, but he still grinded his way through four scoreless innings of work at Tropicana Field. Over those four frames, the veteran left-hander yielded four hits and three walks while hitting one batter and striking out another.

With some defensive help from the likes of Rob Refsnyder and Christian Vazquez, Hill finished with a final pitch count of 62 (35 strikes) on Sunday. He relied primarily on his four-seam fastball and curveball combo and induced a total of three swings-and-misses on the afternoon.

While he did not factor into Sunday’s decision, Hill did lower his ERA on the season to 4.85 through three starts spanning 13 innings pitched. It is unclear when the Massachusetts native will make his next start, though it will likely come in Baltimore at some point next weekend.

With the Red Sox activating Hill earlier Sunday morning, they cleared a spot for the lefty by sending down Danish. Danish, 27, was called up from Worcester for the first time last Tuesday and appeared in two games with the big-league club.

In those two outings, the right-hander twirled three cumulative scoreless innings while allowing no hits and two walks. He also struck out five of the 10 batters he faced.

On the surface, it may appear as though Danish will be returning to the WooSox. That said, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports that Danish is still with the Red Sox and is a candidate to be called up once more ahead of this week’s series against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

To add on to that, The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham tweets that Danish is indeed flying with the team to Toronto and will be replacing a pitcher who is placed on the restricted list on Monday.

As noted by Cotillo, the Sox will be leaving a number of players — including Tanner Houck — behind for their trip north of the border since they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Regardless of the number of players placed on the restricted list on Monday, Danish will find himself back in the big-leagues and presumably pitching out of Boston’s bullpen at Rogers Centre.

(Picture of Rich Hill: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Red Sox break up no-hitter in 10th inning, then get walked off on by Kevin Kiermaier in wild 3-2 loss to Rays

The Red Sox delivered a late birthday present to Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier on Saturday night. Kiermaier, who turned 32 on Friday, crushed a two-run walk-off home run off Hansel Robles in the 10th inning to lift Tampa Bay to a stunning 3-2 win over Boston at Tropicana Field.

With the loss, the Sox fall to 7-8 on the season. They have not won consecutive ballgames since April 16-17.

Garrett Whitlock, making his first start and fifth overall appearance of the year, absolutely dominated the Rays’ lineup. In what was his first career big-league start, the right-hander yielded just one hit and no walks to go along with seven strikeouts over four scoreless, near-perfect innings of work.

After taking a perfect game into the fourth inning, Whitlock gave up a leadoff double to Brandon Lowe. He then stranded Lowe at second base by retiring the final three batters he faced in order. The 25-year-old finished with a final pitch count of 48 (33 strikes) and turned to his sinker 58% of the time he was on the mound.

In relief of Whitlock, Austin Davis received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from acting manager Will Venable. The left-hander maneuvered his way around a two-out walk in an otherwise clean frame before making way for Kutter Crawford, who twirled three scoreless innings of his own while striking out five.

Tyler Danish walked the first batter he faced in the ninth to put the potential winning run on base, but left him there to send this 0-0 game into extra innings.

To that point in the contest, the Red Sox lineup had been no-hit by six different Rays pitchers in J.P. Feyereisen, Javy Guerra, Jeffrey Springs, Jason Adam, Ryan Thompson, and Andrew Kittredge. They reached base six times over that stretch via five walks and a fielding error, but were unable to do anything with those base runners.

In the top of the 10th, Matt Wisler took over for Kittredge and Jackie Bradley Jr. became the automatic runner at second base. On the third pitch he saw from Wisler, an 0-2 slider, Bobby Dalbec came through in the clutch by lacing an RBI triple down the right field line.

Dalbec’s 322-foot foot triple left his bat at 97.1 mph. It also provided the Sox with their first hit of the night and drove in Bradley Jr. to give them a late 1-0 lead. Dalbec then scored on a Christian Vazquez sacrifice fly to double that advantage to 2-0.

That sequence led to Venable going with Robles in the bottom half of the 10th. With Randy Arozarena at second base and the potential tying run at the plate, Robles fanned Ji-Man Choi and Josh Lowe for the first two outs of the inning.

A balk from Robles allowed Arozarena to advance to third. With the Rays down to their final out, Taylor Walls reached base on a throwing error committed by Trevor Story and Arozarena scored to cut Tampa Bay’s deficit to one.

Robles then fell behind in the count against Kiermaier and served up the game-winning, two-run homer on a 96 mph four-seamer down the heart of the plate. Kiermaier deposited it 372 feet into the right field seats to send the Rays home with a come-from-behind victory.

Next up: Hill vs. McClanahan in rubber match

Despite losing in heartbreaking fashion, the Red Sox still have a chance to win this three-game series against the Rays on Sunday afternoon. Boston will turn to left-hander Rich Hill as he makes his return from the bereavement list in the series finale. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, will roll with fellow southpaw Shane McClanahan.

First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Hansel Robles and Kevin Kiermaier: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta’s early-season struggles continue as Red Sox fall back to .500 in 6-1 loss to Blue Jays

On an emotional night in which they honored the late Jerry Remy at Fenway Park, the Red Sox fell to the Blue Jays by a final score of 6-1 on Wednesday. Boston drops back to 6-6 on the season and 3-3 at home.

Nick Pivetta, making his third start of the year for the Sox, was not particularly sharp. The right-hander surrendered five earned runs on seven hits, four walks, and four strikeouts over four innings of work.

The Jays overcame an early 1-0 deficit and got to Pivetta for all five runs in the top of the second inning. Raimel Tapia followed a Matt Chapman leadoff single by lifting a 404-foot two-run home run to right field. A pair of walks and a softly-hit single loaded the bases for George Springer, who plated an additional run on a sacrifice fly to center field. Bo Bichette capped off the rally by lacing a two-run single to left field that gave his side a commanding 5-1 lead.

If there were any silver linings, it’s that Pivetta was able to bounce back to some degree. After getting through the rest of the second unscathed, the Canadian-born hurler stranded one runner in a scoreless top of the third and stranded two more in a scoreless top of the fourth.

All told, Pivetta finished with a final pitch count of 95 (61 strikes) over his four innings. The 29-year-old relied primarily upon his four-seam fastball and knuckle curveball while hovering around 93.5 mph with the former and inducing just three swings-and-misses with the latter.

Through three starts this season, Pivetta has yielded 13 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings. That is good for an ERA of 10.03, which is certainly not what the Red Sox are looking for out of the righty.

In relief of Pivetta, Phillips Valdez received the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora. Valdez retired five of the seven batters he faced before handing things over to Matt Barnes, who allowed one run to score in the seventh on a single and sacrifice fly in the seventh.

An inning later, Tyler Danish came on for his first appearance in a Red Sox uniform and his first overall appearance at the big-league level since 2018. The 27-year-old punched out the side in the top of the eighth and worked his way around a leadoff walk while striking out two more in a clean top of the ninth.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios to begin things on Wednesday, and it appeared as though they were seeing their opponent well out of the gate.

J.D. Martinez followed a one-out double from Rafael Devers in the first inning by ripping a 105.7 mph RBI single to center field. Martinez advanced all the way to third on another single that left Alex Verdugo’s bat at 108.7 mph, but was stranded there.

After falling behind by four runs, Boston nearly staged a rally of their own in the second inning following back-to-back one-out hits from Jackie Bradley Jr. and Connor Wong. Despite having runners on the corners and two outs to work with, Enrique Hernandez and Devers both fell short against Berrios.

A scary moment arose in the bottom of the third. With two outs and a runner on second, Trevor Story was hit in the head by a 93 mph sinker from Berrios. The ball fortunately deflected off of Story’s helmet and the second baseman was able to remain in the game.

Story getting beaned came moments after Martinez led the inning off with a double but came up gimpy at second base. The 34-year-old slugger was pinch-ran for by Christian Arroyo and was later diagnosed with left adductor tightness. He is day-to-day.

Even with Arroyo and Story on base, Bobby Dalbec flew out to extinguish the threat in the third. In the fifth, Xander Bogaerts doubled with one out but was left stranded at third. In the sixth, Dalbec drew a leadoff walk and later advanced to second, but — like Bogaerts — was deserted there.

Arroyo and Bogaerts each singled off Blue Jays reliever with one out in the seventh and moved up an additional 90 feet on a Verdugo groundout. Alas, they too were unable to score from there and Bogaerts would turn out to be the last Red Sox hitter to reach base.

At the end of the day, Boston went a dismal 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base as a team.

Next up: Gausman vs. Houck in rubber match

The winner of this three-game series will be determined on Thursday afternoon. The Red Sox will be rolling with right-hander Tanner Houck and the Blue Jays will be turning to fellow righty Kevin Gausman.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

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

Red Sox roster moves: Christian Vázquez, Jonathan Araúz placed on COVID-19 related injured list; Tyler Danish, Rob Refsnyder called up from Triple-A Worcester

Before opening up a three-game series against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park on Tuesday, the Red Sox made a series of roster moves.

First off, catcher Christian Vazquez and infielder Jonathan Arauz were both placed on the COVID-19 related injured list. Secondly, right-hander Tyler Danish was recalled from Triple-A Worcester, while outfielder Rob Refsnyder was selected to the active roster from Worcester.

Vazquez heads to the COVID-19 related injured list one day after fellow backstop Kevin Plawecki and two other unidentified staff members tested positive for the virus on Monday. With Arauz joining them, the trio could be out of action for the next 10 days.

That being said, it is not yet known if Arauz or Vazquez have tested positive for COVID-19 themselves. Under Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols for the 2022 season, players who test positive can return in less than 10 days if they return two negative PCR tests, show no sign of a fever, and receive approval from a team medical official and MLB’s joint COVID medical committee.

Still, with Plawecki and Vazquez sidelined for the time being, Connor Wong — who was called up in place of Plawecki on Monday — is currently the only active catcher on Boston’s big-league roster. The 25-year-old will bat ninth and catch Nathan Eovaldi in Tuesday’s opener against Toronto.

While Wong remains the lone backstop on the Sox’ 28-man roster for now, top catching prospect Ronaldo Hernandez was spotted at Fenway Park on Tuesday and is expected to be called up for the first time before first pitch at 7:10 p.m.. Hernandez, 24, is already on the 40-man roster but a corresponding move will still need to be made in order for the Colombian to join Wong on the major-league squad.

With the likes of Arauz and Vazquez, the Red Sox were able to clear a 40-man roster spot for Refsnyder, who originally inked a minor-league deal with the club in December. After not making Boston’s Opening Day roster out of spring training, the 31-year-old accepted his assignment to Worcester and has thrived there thus far.

In 11 games with the WooSox, the right-handed hitting Refsnyder has batted .400/.551/.600 with four doubles, one home run, eight RBIs, 12 runs scored, one stolen base, nine walks, and eight strikeouts over 49 plate appearances. He has also seen playing time in both center and right field.

Danish, meanwhile, was already on the Red Sox’ 40-man roster after being selected to it on April 4. The 27-year-old right-hander was then optioned to Worcester to begin the 2022 campaign, but has yet to allow a run through his first three appearances (three innings pitched) out of the WooSox’ bullpen.

Following Tuesday’s series of transactions, the Red Sox now have 38 active players on their 40-man roster. Of the 28 players on Boston’s big-league roster, 16 are pitchers and 12 are position players. That composition is likely to change when Hernandez is officially promoted.

(Picture of Christian Vazquez: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox add Tyler Danish to major-league roster, place Chris Sale on 60-day injured list in series of moves

Following Monday’s 2-0 loss to the Twins at Hammond Stadium, the Red Sox announced that they had made a series of roster moves.

First off, right-hander Tyler Danish was selected to the major-league roster. In order to make room for Danish on the 40-man roster, left-hander Chris Sale was placed on the 60-day injured list with a right rib stress fracture.

Danish, 27, originally signed a minor-league deal with Boston that included an invite to major-league spring training back in February. The righty has posted a 1.50 ERA to go along with five strikeouts and two walks over five appearances (6 innings pitched) so far this spring.

A former second-round pick of the White Sox out of Durant High School in 2013, Danish debuted for Chicago in 2016 and spent three seasons with the club. The Florida native produced a 4.85 ERA (6.70 FIP) across 11 outings (one start) during that stretch, but has not pitched at the big-league level since 2018.

After being released by the Mariners in 2019, Danish spent the next two seasons pitching in independent ball before latching on with the Angels organization last year. He produced a 3.84 ERA across 32 appearances (three starts) between Double-A Rocket City and Triple-A Salt lake.

Listed at 6-feet and 200 pounds, Danish operates with a five-pitch mix that consists of a curveball, a sinker, a changeup, a four-seam fastball, and a slider, per Baseball Savant.

With Danish making the Opening Day roster, the Red Sox created an open spot for the non-roster invitee by placing Sale on the 60-day injured list.

Sale, who turned 33 last week, has been sidelined since late February, when he suffered a stress fracture in his right rib cage while throwing a live batting practice session at his alma mater, Florida Gulf Coast University, during the MLB lockout.

As noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, Sale has yet to start a throwing program since sustaining the injury, meaning he will not be ready for game action for quite some time. The Red Sox, in turn, have ruled their ace out until June 6 at the earliest since the 60-day injured list clock starts on Opening Day.

While Danish may have made Boston’s Opening Day roster, three other non-roster invitees in right-hander John Schreiber and outfielders Franchy Cordero and Rob Refsnyder were all reassigned to the minor-leagues.

Cordero and Schreiber have been with the Red Sox organization since last February, when the former was acquired from the Royals in the trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City and the latter was claimed off waivers from the Tigers.

Refsnyder, on the other hand, inked a minors pact with Boston back in November and appeared to have a real chance to break camp with the big-league camp this spring as a right-handed hitting bench bat who can handle left-handed pitching.

Alas, neither Cordero, Refsnyder, or Schreiber made the team, though they are all expected to accept their assignments to Triple-A Worcester, according to MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith.

Elsewhere, the Red Sox transferred two of their top pitching prospects in Brayan Bello and Jay Groome from Triple-A Worcester to Double-A Portland. Both Bello and Groome are on Boston’s 40-man roster and were initially optioned to Worcester earlier this spring.

Rather than begin the 2022 season with the WooSox, though, the pair of young hurlers will return to the Sea Dogs’ starting rotation to kick off the minor-league campaign.

With Monday’s transactions made, the Red Sox now have 30 players at major-league spring training with only three days to go until Opening Day. Of those 30 players, only two non-roster invitees remain in veteran reliever Hansel Robles and corner infielder Travis Shaw.

Regardless of who and does not make the team from here, Boston still needs to trim down the size of their big-league roster to 28 players before taking on the Yankees in the Bronx on Thursday.

(Picture of Tyler Danish: Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images)

Red Sox sign right-handers Silvino Bracho, Darin Gillies to minor-league deals for 2022 season

The Red Sox have signed right-handers Silvino Bracho and Darin Gillies to minor-league contracts for the 2022 season, the club announced on Sunday. The deals also include invites to major-league spring training.

Bracho, 29, is a veteran of five big-league seasons (2015-2018, 2020) with the Diamondbacks. He missed all of the 2019 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery that March and made just one appearance for Arizona in 2020 due to a bout with COVID-19 pandemic.

The Giants inked Bracho to a minors pact in December 2020 and he spent the entirety of the 2021 season with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, posting a 4.14 ERA and 5.19 FIP to go along with 65 strikeouts to 19 walks over 49 relief appearances spanning 50 innings of work.

A native of Venezuela, Bracho returned to his home country this off-season to pitch for Aguilas del Zulia of the Venezuelan Winter League. The veteran righty yielded just a 1.99 ERA in 19 outings (22 2/3 innings) for Zulia before representing Venezuela in the Caribbean Series.

Listed at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, Bracho operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a four-seam fastball, changeup, slider, and sinker, per Baseball Savant. He is out of minor-league options but should provide the Red Sox with intriguing and experienced bullpen depth at Triple-A Worcester.

Gillies, on the other hand, is another 29-year-old right-hander who was originally selected by the Mariners in the 10th round of the 2015 amateur draft out of the esteemed Arizona State University.

This past season, Gillies spent the first half of the year with Seattle’s Double-A affiliate in Arkansas before being promoted to Triple-A Tacoma in late July. With the Rainiers, he posted a 3.74 ERA and 5.09 FIP with 22 strikeouts to nine walks over 18 appearances (one start) and 21 2/3 innings pitched.

A native of California, Gillies became a minor-league free agent at the conclusion of the 2021 campaign after spending the first seven years of his professional career with the Mariners organization. The 6-foot-4, 220 pounder has yet to make his major-league debut, but he does throw up to 96-97 mph.

In addition to Bracho and Gillies, the Red Sox also announced that they had signed fellow righty Tyler Danish to a minor-league contract for the 2022 season. With these three officially on board, Boston has now invited 11 players to major-league camp as non-roster invitees.

They join the likes of pitchers Taylor Cole, Michael Feliz, and Zack Kelly, catcher Roldani Baldwin, infielders Roberto Ramos and Yolmer Sanchez, and outfielders Rob Refsnyder and Christin Stewart.

(Picture of Silvino Bracho: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Red Sox sign right-hander Tyler Danish to minor-league deal for 2022 season, per report

The Red Sox have signed free-agent right-hander Tyler Danish to a minor-league contract for the 2022 season, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ Tim Dierkes. The deal includes an invite to big-league spring training.

Danish, 27, was originally drafted by the White Sox in the second round of the 2013 amateur draft out of Durant High School (Plant City, Fla.). After just three seasons in the minors, the Florida native made his major-league debut for Chicago as a 21-year-old in 2016.

In parts of three seasons (2016-2018) with the South Siders, Danish posted a 4.85 ERA and 6.70 FIP to go along with 11 strikeouts to 13 walks over 11 appearances (one start) and 13 innings of work.

Towards the end of the 2018 campaign, Danish was outrighted off Chicago’s 40-man roster and became a minor-league free agent. He inked a minors pact with the Mariners the following January.

The Mariners, however, released Danish in May after he had struggled with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma. Shortly after getting cut loose by the M’s, the well-traveled righty signed on with the independent league New Britain Bees and spent the rest of the 2019 season there.

While the COVID-19 pandemic may have wiped out the 2020 minor-league season, Danish was still able to pitch for the Sioux Falls Canaries of the independent American Association. He leveraged what he did there to a minor-league contract with the Angels last May.

Upon joining the Angels organization, Danish was initially assigned to Double-A Rocket City, but only needed three outings (and 10 one-run innings) there before receiving a promotion to Triple-A Salt Lake in June.

Across 29 appearances — three of which were starts — with the Salt Lake Bees, Danish put up a 4.33 ERA and 4.45 FIP with 67 strikeouts and 15 walks over 60 1/3 innings of work. His 47.1% groundball rate, 25.8% strikeout rate, and 5.8% walk rate rank among the best of pitchers who accrued at least 60 innings in the Triple-A West last year.

The last time he appeared in the major-leagues, Danish — someone who has earned the reputation as a groundball specialist — operated with a five-pitch mix that consisted of a curveball, a sinker, a changeup, a four-seam fastball, and a slider, per Baseball Savant.

Danish, who does not turn 28 until September, is listed at 6-foot and 200 pounds and has one minor-league option remaining, per FanGraphs. It feels safe to assume that he will begin the 2022 minor-league season with Triple-A Worcester, though he should have a chance to compete for an Opening Day job in Boston’s bullpen this spring.

Regardless of that, Danish becomes the ninth player the Red Sox have invited to major-league camp, joining the likes of fellow hurlers Taylor Cole, Michael Feliz, and Zack Kelly, catcher Roldani Baldwin, infielders Roberto Ramos, and Yolmer Sanchez, and outfielders Rob Refsnyder and Christin Stewart.

(Picture of Tyler Danish: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)