Less than 24 hours after Alex Cora said, “There’s a good chance he doesn’t have to go,” the Red Sox placed Kutter Crawford on the 15-day injured list.
The 27-year-old right-hander left Wednesday’s game with a left hamstring strain, but the Red Sox hoped he’d be able to avoid an official IL stint.
While the move is retroactive to May 4, it leaves the Red Sox without one of their most effective long relievers for a significant stretch. Crawford began the season in the rotation, but found success in a bullpen role. After two starts, he made five relief appearances totaling 16.2 innings. He’s held opponents to two earned runs (both homers) on eight hits, 12 strikeouts, and one walk. Each of his four April appearances was at least two innings.
According to a source, Crawford’s injury is “mild,” but the Red Sox want to be careful with him and not rush him back. While an IL stint takes him away for a minimum of 15 days, it also affords them to add another pitcher to the roster, rather than simply having Crawford sit out, which leaves the bullpen depleted.
Kaleb Ort has been recalled from Triple-A to take Crawford’s place, less than a week after being optioned to Worcester (April 29). Over 12 major league appearances this year, he’s allowed 12 runs (10 of them earned) on 16 hits, walked six, and struck out 12. Since his one-game debut in 2021, the 31-year-old righty has a career 6.59 ERA across 38 games, with 30 earned runs allowed over 41 innings.
Alex Verdugo had the day off on Thursday, but was supposed to be in the lineup for Friday night’s series opener in Philadelphia.
Unfortunately, he’s dealing with a stomach bug, so Raimel Tapia will take his place in the leadoff spot and right field for the second night in a row. In Thursday night’s series finale (and sweep) at Fenway Park, he went 1-for-4 with a double, three runs, an RBI, a walk, and two strikeouts.
This will be Tapia’s third consecutive start, and fourth in his last five games. He didn’t start back-to-back games at any point in April.
It’s worth noting that the Red Sox have been successful when he’s in the starting lineup. The 29-year-old outfielder only started two of his first ten games, and the team went 3-7. He started five of his subsequent ten, and the team went 6-4.
According to MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry, the Red Sox have acquired Zack Littell from the Texas Rangers in exchange for cash considerations.
Littell already has five years of major league experience under his belt, almost entirely as a reliever. The 27-year-old right-hander debuted with the Minnesota Twins in 2018, and was effective for them the following season. Despite a 52.6% hard-hit rate (league average is 38.9%), he posted a 2.68 ERA and 3.62 FIP over 29 appearances, with 32 strikeouts, nine walks, and 11 earned runs across 37 innings. After struggling to limit home runs in the shortened 2020 season, the Twins outrighted him off the 40-man and he became a free agent.
The San Francisco Giants gave Littell a minor league deal for the 2021 season, with an invite to spring training. He didn’t earn a spot on the Opening Day roster, he ended up with the major league club at the end of April, and went on to pitch in a career-high 63 games that year. While the righty continued to get hit hard, with a 46% that put him in the bottom 5% of the league, he posted a 2.92 ERA and struck out 63 batters in 61 2/3 innings, helping the Giants finish 107-55, to take the National League West crown from the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time since 2012.
The Giants optioned Littell to Triple-A in September 2022, the day after he got into a verbal spat with manager (and 2004 Red Sox World Series champion) Gabe Kapler.
While Kapler called the roster move a baseball decision, he also told reporters, “behavior is part of performance as well.”
Littell hasn’t pitched in the majors since. He signed a minor league contract with the Rangers in January, and has a 2.25 ERA with 16 strikeouts and two walks over eight appearances (12 innings) with Triple-A Round Rock.