Red Sox Notebook: Alex Cora admits he needed another starting pitcher last week

Alex Cora needs more options.

The Red Sox manager admitted Monday that if Tanner Houck was healthy, Houck would’ve started at least one game last week, if not more during the Sox’ recent stretch as their rotation has an 8.20 ERA since June 4.

But Houck is out for at least a few more weeks with a sore flexor tendon and the Sox’ next-best options, Bryan Mata and Thad Ward, are out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Asked how many times Cora would’ve liked to go to a depth starter recently with the rotation getting blasted of late, the skipper said, “There was a spot probably this week. I’ll keep it at that.”

Since June 5, Nathan Eovaldi (7.94 ERA), Eduardo Rodriguez (8.10 ERA), Martin Perez (29.70 ERA), Garrett Richards (6.10 ERA) and Nick Pivetta (7.45 ERA) have all struggled mightily.

If the Sox had any depth at all, Cora would’ve turned to it by now.

“Coming into the season, that was a strong suit of our pitching staff, having five guys here plus the other three capable guys (Houck, Mata and Ward) and obviously thinking about Chris Sale later on,” Cora said Monday. “There are big league teams that got hit (by injuries) at the big league level. We got hit at the minor league level…

“I don’t think fatigue is part of the equation, but at the same time, coming into the season we had a plan. Giving these guys a breather at certain spots in the season was important. But we don’t have that luxury now.”

The Sox tried Ryan Weber, who allowed 11 runs in 5-2/3 innings in a mop-up role Sunday and was designated for assignment on Monday.

They don’t have any other obvious choices to call on, in the bullpen or out of the rotation.

“The only extra starter we can add right now is Thursday and Monday; it’s the off-days,” Cora said .”And we have to take advantage of that.”

Sox make a trade

Desperate for arms, the Red Sox acquired one before Monday’s game.

In exchange for cash, the Sox landed 27-year-old right-hander Yacksel Rios from the Seattle Mariners.

Like many of the pitchers the Sox acquired during the 2020 season, Rios was recently designated for assignment after struggling at the big league level. He had a 9.00 ERA in three innings with the M’s and has a 6.47 ERA over parts of five big league seasons for three different clubs.

Chavis returns

Michael Chavis is back in the big leagues as the Red Sox look to deepen their bench with two off-days in the next eight days.

Chavis was called up Monday to take the place of Weber, who was DFA’d to make room on the 40-man for Rios.

Chavis hit .273 with a .753 OPS in 33 at-bats with the Red Sox this year. In Triple-A Worcester, he hit .263 with a .737 OPS in 76 at-bats.

The Sox continue to pass over Jarren Duran, who hit his 10th homer of the season for Worcester this weekend. He has 10 homers in 24 games with a .972 OPS.

All-Star voting results

MLB released the first batch of the fans’ votes for the starting lineups at this year All-Star Game in Denver, and the Red Sox have a pair of players leading their positions.

Xander Bogaerts (502,629 votes) and Rafael Devers (451,042 votes) each ended the week in line to start for the American League, while J.D. Martinez (293,757 votes) was second at the designated hitter spot to Shohei Ohtani (526,608 votes).

“With Xander, I think it started when we went to New York the first time when we were going to play the Mets and we were on national TV and obviously playing the Mets and Jacob deGrom and Francisco Lindor,” Cora said. “People started talking and it got louder. Every time they talk about the Red Sox, they talk about Xander. And then the other guy at third base, the happy guy, he’s just fun to watch as a baseball fan.”

Odds and ends

The Woo Sox announced that tickets for the remainder of the season at Polar Park will go on Sale Tuesday morning. Tickets start at $9…

The Red Sox entered Monday a season-high-tying three games out of first place in the AL East…

Lefty Josh Taylor enters the week with a streak of 17 consecutive scoreless outings.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2RStvJ2