Red Sox face decision with Brandon Workman as reliever opts out of minor-league deal

Brandon Workman’s future with the Red Sox will have more clarity within the next two days.

Workman, who signed a minor-league contract to return to the Red Sox last month, is opting out of his deal, Alex Cora said. That means the Red Sox have 48 hours to decide if they want to activate him to the 26-man roster or release him. Cora didn’t lean one way or another on the Red Sox’ thinking on Tuesday.

“There’s a lot of stuff on the table,” Cora said. “Right now, we’ve got a 26-man roster and he’s not part of it.”

The Red Sox traded Workman, who had spent six seasons with them, last August to the Phillies in the deal that brought them Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold. He went on to have major struggles in Philadelphia and it continued into this year with the Cubs before he was designated for assignment.

Workman was picked up by his former club in a low-risk move and sent to Triple-A Worcester, where he’s looked strong. The 32-year-old has posted a 1.29 ERA with 10 strikeouts to four walks over seven innings. Cora said they’ve been pleased with how Workman is throwing, as his cutter and breaking ball have been improved.

“His last two outings were outstanding,” Triple-A pitching coach Paul Abbott said. “I feel like that was the Brandon Workman that we had seen in the past. I feel like he came here on a mission to show that he could be that guy and I think he’s more trying to impress that he has the stuff and … I think the last two outings he got back to where he felt good. … I was pretty happy with the last two outings. He looked pretty good.”

The Red Sox have multiple decisions coming with their bullpen. Cora said Ryan Brasier, who’s missed the first two months with a left calf injury he suffered at the end of spring training, threw a simulated game this past week and is due for a rehab assignment soon, so he should be ready to return in the near future. If they decide to promote Workman, Colten Brewer would be a candidate to be optioned.

Dalbec sits again

For a second consecutive day, first baseman Bobby Dalbec was out of the Red Sox’ lineup as Cora opted to start Danny Santana against Astros right-handed starter Luis Garcia. Cora said the rookie, who’s hitting .146 against righties and .314 against lefties, will be back for the final two games in Houston.

“Right now obviously he’s been scuffling, he’s been chasing pitches out of the zone,” Cora said. “I just feel like there are certain matchups we’ve got to try to avoid. We’ve got to protect him. I know (Jose) Urquidy (Monday) he was kind of like a reverse platoon guy but where he’s at with the fastball we felt like the two guys we play over Bobby, they had a chance, it didn’t work out that way. But talking to Timmy (Hyers) and Peter (Fatse), we’re trying to help him out as much as possible and put him in situations to be successful and he’ll be back (Wednesday) in the lineup.”

Houck gets closer

Tanner Houck, who’s on the injured list in Worcester with a sore flexor muscle, seems to be approaching a return as he threw a bullpen for the first time on Tuesday, Abbott said. All of the pitches during the session were fastballs.

“He’s on the mend and looked pretty good,” Abbott said.

Seabold, however, doesn’t seem as close. Abbott said there aren’t any updates on the right-handed pitching prospect who’s been dealing with elbow inflammation.

“We’re making sure that everything is — not only with his arm, but he’s going to be ready to come back and avoid injuries,” Abbott said. “He has a history of breaking down. I think we just want to hit some things that can possibly help him avoid some future issues.” …

With his start on Tuesday night, Xander Bogaerts tied Nomar Garciaparra for the third-most games at shortstop in Red Sox history, at 956 games. He now trails Everett Scott (1,093) and Rick Burleson (1,004) on the franchise’s all-time list. …

The WooSox announced that they will be offering vaccines to fans who attend games at Polar Park this week. Fifty Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available at every game, and fans, who must be at least 18 years old, will be given a complimentary general admission ticket and WooSox cap with their shot. The WooSox’ game on Tuesday night was their first at Polar Park without capacity restrictions.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3vH5iEc