Red Sox Shuffle Roster With 3 Moves Amid Yankees Showdown
The Red Sox clearly had to mix things up...
Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas The flailing Boston Red Sox needed a minor roster shuffle ahead of a Wednesday matchup with the New York Yankees. Stemming from a need to refresh the pitching staff, which has had to work far too hard over the last week in addition to losing starter Sonny Gray to the injured list, the Red Sox reportedly decided on a set of three roster moves. Baseball Now's Andrew Parker was the first to confirm Tuesday that the Red Sox were expected to call up left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rivera, who was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A earlier in the day, for his major league debut.
MassLive's Chris Cotillo reported on Wednesday that right-handed pitcher Jack Anderson would be demoted to Triple-A after throwing two innings in Tuesday night's 4-0 loss to the New York Yankees, and that first baseman Triston Casas would be placed on the 60-day injured list to open up a spot on the 40-man roster. Rivera, 22, has been a fast riser in the organization after pitching for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and striking out 16 batters in his first 10 innings for Double-A Portland this season. Though no moves have yet been made official, we anticipate that Rivera will become the new long man in the bullpen for however long he remains in the majors, while top prospect Payton Tolle should be recalled ahead of Saturday's game to make his first start of the season in Gray's place.
Anderson wasn't bad in his first three big-league outings by any means, but they were all in low-leverage situations. He could be back up to play the same long-relief role once his required 15 days in the minors are up, or the Red Sox could choose to prioritize his development by putting him in the Worcester rotation for a while. Casas was attempting to return from a torn patellar tendon when the Red Sox shut him down two weeks ago with what has now been diagnosed as an abdominal strain.
He was virtually guaranteed to return more than 60 days from when the latest setback was suffered, so there's no harm done by restricting him in that regard. More MLB: Red Sox-Yankees Series Preview: 3 Keys to a Boston Win