With the club badly in need of reinforcements, the Red Sox announced a flurry of moves to replenish the roster ahead of Monday’s game.
The Red Sox made three call-ups from Triple-A Worcester, including left-hander Bailey Horn, right-hander Chase Shugart and catcher/infielder Mickey Gasper. The latter two are making their big league debuts and will wear No. 61 and 77 respectively.
They will be replacing left-hander Brennan Bernardino and right-hander Brad Keller, who were each optioned to Triple-A, and outfielder Jarren Duran, who will begin his two-game team-issued suspension for using a homophobic slur Monday night.
In addition, the Red Sox also activated right-hander Brayan Bello from the paternity leave list and placed left-hander James Paxton on the 15-day injured list with a right calf strain. Bello will start Monday’s game for the Red Sox, and Cora said Paxton underwent his MRI earlier Monday, though they won’t get the full results until shortly before first pitch.
“The doctor will be here at 6 p.m. so we’ll know more then,” manager Alex Cora said. “He’s in pain. He’s obviously not moving well, so we’ll see what happens.”
Boston also designated infielder/outfielder Jamie Westbrook for assignment.
Cora said that after back-to-back emergency bullpen days over the weekend the club’s pitching staff is heavily depleted and they needed reinforcements to stay afloat. He said the decision to option Bernardino was a tough one, but given how short the bullpen is right now they need all the fresh arms they could get.
“Where we’re at right now, we have to reset. We have to,” Cora said. “Pitching-wise obviously Bernie was a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish, he has struggled but he’s still a part of this. With Paxton’s injury, bullpen day on Saturday, to try and win a ballgame, we can’t pitch Lucas (Sims) today, we can’t pitch (Luis) Garcia, it’s one of those situations where we have to be patient. Today, maybe tomorrow, and reset and then go. It doesn’t mean we can’t win a game, but we have to stay away from guys, otherwise it’s going to tough.”