Joely Rodríguez will pitch for Double-A Portland on Saturday, and could be activated before Monday’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners.
The left-handed reliever was Boston’s first free agent signing last November, but hasn’t pitched for the big-league team yet. He began the season on the injured list, after suffering a right oblique strain during a spring training game.
Rodríguez last pitched for the New York Mets. In 2022, he posted a 4.47 ERA across a career-high 55 games, including nine games finished. He ranked in the 84th MLB percentile or better in expected slugging (84), hard hit rate (91), chase rate (94), barrel rate (95) and average exit velocity (96). He struck out 57 batters and only gave up three home runs, but also issued a career-worst 26 walks, putting him in the 6th percentile in walk rate.
Upgrading the bullpen was one of Boston’s top priorities over the offseason, and despite some dicey moments, the extreme makeover is paying off. Red Sox relievers collectively own a 3.42 ERA and are holding opposing batters to a .236 batting average, over 144 2/3 innings, which is tied for third-most in the American League. The Red Sox are 14-3 when they score first, and are 16-0 when leading after six innings and undefeated when they lead after the sixth (16-0), seventh (17-0), and eighth innings (19-0).
Garrett Whitlock will pitch for Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. A bullpen standout in his 2021 debut season, the Red Sox now view him as a starting pitcher. He was placed on the injured list in late April with Ulnar Neuritis, but tests revealed no ulnar nerve damage.
The Rays claimed Zack Littell off waivers on Friday, a week after the Red Sox acquired him from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations.
In between, the 27-year-old right-hander made a pair of relief appearances for the Red Sox. He allowed three earned runs on three hits, three walks plus one intentional, and struck out two across three innings.
Littell becomes the second former Red Sox reliever to join the Rays this week for pennies on the dollar. They also signed Jake Diekman to a major league deal on May 9, after the left-hander was released by the Chicago White Sox.
Diekman signed a 2-year, $8 million contract with the Red Sox ahead of the 2022 season, but struggled during his time in Boston, posting a 4.23 ERA across 44 games. While he struck out 51 batters across 38 1/3 innings, he also allowed 22 runs, 18 of them earned, on 27 hits, issued 30 walks.
The Red Sox traded Diekman to the White Sox at the deadline, at which time Chicago took on the remainder of his contract, which includes a $4 million club option or $1 million buyout for next year. As such, the Rays will only pay the lefty the prorated major league minimum.
Tampa Bay’s bullpen currently has the third-best ERA in the majors, and a frustrating tendency to turn other teams’ discards into dominant arms. Will they strike gold again with Littell and Diekman?
In the history of regular-season inter-league play, no one has been better than the Red Sox. Their 293-201 (.593) record is the best in the Majors, and they have a chance to improve upon it further this weekend.
The St. Louis Cardinals are in town for three games, adding on to the long shared history between the two storied franchise, which includes four World Series meetings, split evenly. The Cardinals took home the prize in 1946 and 1967, and the Red Sox exacted revenge in 2004 and 2013.
The Cardinals are also completing a stretch of road series in Major League Baseball’s three oldest ballparks. They finished their last road trip with a set at Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962, and played the Chicago Cubs this week before flying to Boston. Wrigley Field is the National League’s oldest ballpark. It opened in 1914, two years after Fenway, and the Cubs began playing there two years later.