BOSTON — The Red Sox have placed pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez, Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor on the injured list.
Boston offered no formal reason for the Wednesday-morning roster moves, but all three left-handers have been away from Summer Camp while battling COVID-19. Rodriguez and Hernandez remain at home while Taylor is isolated in a Boston hotel room.
Rodriguez finished sixth in last year’s American [...]
BOSTON — The Red Sox have placed pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez, Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor on the injured list.
Boston offered no formal reason for the Wednesday-morning roster moves, but all three left-handers have been away from Summer Camp while battling COVID-19. Rodriguez and Hernandez remain at home while Taylor is isolated in a Boston hotel room.
Rodriguez finished sixth in last year’s American League Cy Young Award voting and was expected to serve as the Opening Day starter. Hernandez and Taylor enjoyed strong rookie seasons as key bullpen pieces.
"We’re starting to see some good things on testing," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said Tuesday. "I don’t want to say exactly what that is, but there’s a progression."
Rodriguez made the most of an injury-free campaign last season. He set new career highs with 34 starts, 203 innings pitched and 213 strikeouts. His 3.81 earned-run average was best among Red Sox pitchers who made double-digit starts.
Rodriguez was the only returning Boston rotation member who managed a full season in 2019. Nathan Eovaldi was limited to just 12 starts and spent three months on the injury list after surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow. Chris Sale (left elbow) will spend all of 2020 on the IL after Tommy John surgery while David Price (trade to the Dodgers) and Rick Porcello (free agency, Mets) have departed.
Hernandez has long been regarded as one of the organization’s top prospects, and he began to deliver on that promise last season. The 23-year-old debuted in April and made all but one of his 29 appearances out of the bullpen. Hernandez struck out 57 in just 30 innings and surrendered a lone home run.
Taylor was the player to be named later in a March 2018 trade that sent infielder Deven Marrero to the Diamondbacks. Former president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski appears to have won that deal, as Taylor posted a 3.04 ERA in 52 appearances last season. The 27-year-old struck out 62 and limited opponents to 40 hits in 47 innings.
Eovaldi is in line to take the ball when the Red Sox open the regular season against the Orioles on July 24. His regular five-day schedule calls for one last outing on Sunday before facing Baltimore next Friday night at Fenway Park. Eovaldi has looked sharp in each of intrasquad game appearances.
"I haven’t said anything to Nate yet," Roenicke said Tuesday. "That conversation will happen in the next couple of days."
Draftee Wu-Yelland signs
The Red Sox have announced the signing of fourth-round draft selection Jeremy Wu-Yelland.
MLB Pipeline tweeted Tuesday night the deal between Boston and the Hawaii left-hander is for $200,000. The Red Sox made the deal official in a release Wednesday afternoon. Wu-Yelland becomes the third member of the club’s draft class in the fold, following first-rounder Nick Yorke and third-rounder Blaze Jordan.
Wu-Yelland made 32 of his 40 career appearances out of the bullpen for the Rainbow Warriors, pitching to a 4.67 earned-run average. He was off to a hot start in 2020, going 1-1 with two saves and a 0.69 ERA over seven appearances. Wu-Yelland allowed just two extra-base hits and struck out 16 through 13 innings of work.
Wu-Yelland is a 6-foot-2-inch, 210-pound native of Spokane, Wash. He was named a preseason All-American as a high school senior and put up solid numbers in 2019 with the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Wu-Yelland finished 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA in 10 appearances, helping Chatham reach the league playoffs.
Florida State left-hander Shane Drohan is Boston’s lone remaining unsigned pick. The Red Sox selected Drohan in the fifth round at No. 148 overall. They retain $479,900 in their bonus pool and Drohan’s slot value checks in at $364,400.
The math here works in Boston’s favor thanks to the selection it made at No. 17 overall. The Red Sox surprised most draft observers by going with Yorke, and his bonus of $2.7 million was nearly $910,000 under his slot value. Wu-Yelland’s reported bonus is nearly $288,000 under his slot value.
The Red Sox made good use of that extra cash to pry Jordan away from his Mississippi State commitment. The power-hitting corner infielder agreed to terms for a reported $1.75 million, which was more than $1.08 million over his projected slot value. Boston should now be able to sign Drohan in advance of the Aug. 1 deadline.
Miami right-hander Brian Van Belle headlines the 14-man undrafted free agent class signed by the Red Sox to date. Boston has officially announced agreements with 11 players, all of whom were eligible to sign for a maximum of $20,000 apiece. Van Belle was named to multiple preseason All-America teams entering his redshirt senior season with the Hurricanes.
Distancing dugouts
The normal baseball sounds at Fenway Park on Wednesday afternoon were accompanied by the whir of power drills and the pounding of hammers on metal.
The Red Sox have started their auxiliary dugout construction project. Metal stanchions covering six sections of field boxes were in place as workouts began under the bright sunshine.
Boston will place some sort of covering atop the bars extending over the first five rows of seats. Several red chairs have been removed to give workers extra space and account for future social-distancing guidelines.
"We had a white [tent] when they put them up [earlier]," Roenicke said Tuesday. "I’m sure they’ll turn them either green or red or something to make them blend in better."
The Red Sox are also likely to install extra bullpen space beyond the wall in right field. Roenicke said Tuesday Boston is allowed a maximum of nine players and three coaches in its home dugout at any time.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25