The Red Sox are bringing in some bullpen reinforcements, signing right-hander Brad Keller to a big league contract. The deal is pending a physical but the club plans to add him to the roster in time for the start of Sunday’s game.
To clear space on the roster, the Red Sox are optioning right-hander Zack Kelly to Triple-A Worcester.
Keller was designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox earlier this week and elected free agency after clearing waivers. The 28-year-old has pitched in parts of seven big league seasons, mostly with the Kansas City Royals, and owns a career 4.28 ERA in 695.2 MLB innings.
Though primarily a starting pitcher throughout his career, Keller is expected to pitch out of Boston’s bullpen as a bulk reliever.
“He’s got good stuff, he’s interesting,” manager Alex Cora said Sunday. “Where we’re at right now using Chase (Anderson) for four innings two days ago and Zack for three innings yesterday we’re short in that aspect, so he’ll give us multiple innings.”
The demotion is a tough break for Kelly, who has pitched well in the majors since being called up last month. In 11 games Kelly posted a 2.16 ERA over 16.2 innings, but Cora said given how the roster is currently constructed, they had to make a tough call.
“It’s where we’re at roster wise and tough decisions are going to happen,” Cora said. “Tougher decisions are going to come. People are going to get healthy and we’ve got a lot of good pitchers and we can only carry X amount of them.”
As for his message to Kelly?
“He threw strikes, he struggled against Tampa but after that he was really good,” Cora said. “There was no message, this is where we’re at.”
O’Neill day to day
Tyler O’Neill (knee soreness) wasn’t in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale against Milwaukee, and Cora indicated he’s day-to-day. The plan is for O’Neill to sit Monday in Baltimore before hopefully returning to the lineup on Tuesday, and Cora said he’s confident the outfielder can avoid a trip to the injured list.
The knee soreness has helped contribute to O’Neill’s recent struggles at the plate. Since the start of May he’s batted .151 with two home runs and a 43.9% strikeout rate, and over his last four games he’s gone 0 for 15 with 10 strikeouts.
Starters announced for Baltimore
Cora announced the Red Sox starters for the upcoming series in Baltimore, saying Cooper Criswell will pitch the opener on Monday, Brayan Bello will start Tuesday and Kutter Crawford will pitch the finale on Wednesday. The Orioles came into Sunday second in the AL East at 32-18 and swept the Red Sox in their first meeting at Fenway Park back in April.
Penrod promoted
The Red Sox officially announced that left-hander Zach Penrod has been promoted from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester. The 26-year-old, who this time last year was playing independent ball in Montana, has turned heads ever since signing and so far this year has struck out 53 batters through 35.1 innings in Portland. To clear space on the Triple-A roster, the Red Sox also released right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez.
