Boston opens season
Rodriguez makes team over Bernardino
The Red Sox made a slew of transactions Thursday morning in order to finalize their Opening Day roster.
Several of the moves were mere formalities. The Sox placed righthander Liam Hendriks (UCL surgery) and left-hander Chris Murphy (UCL sprain) on the 60- day injured list, and right-hander Bryan Mata went on the 15- day IL with a right hamstring strain.
Infield newcomer Vaughn Grissom ( left hamstring strain) and veteran outfielder Rob Refsnyder ( left toe fracture) are on the 10day IL. Both are retroactive to March 25, as is Mata’s.
Grissom is completing extended spring training in Fort Myers, but will join the team for the April 9 home opener before beginning a minor league rehab assignment. The Sox expect him to make his season debut before the end of the month.
The Sox also selected Naoyuki Uwasawa to the Major League roster. They acquired the righthander from the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, and optioned him to their spring training complex.
The more surprising news this week is southpaw Joely Rodriguez making the Major League roster over 2023 standout Brennan Bernardino. Bernardino, 31, was one of Boston’s most reliable and versatile arms last year, posting a 3.20 ERA across 55 outings for the Sox, including six starts and eight games finished. He also just completed spring training without allowing an earned run in seven outings.
Rodriguez was Boston’s first free- agent signing during the previous offseason, but missed almost the entire season due to injuries. He re- signed with the Sox on a minor-league deal early in spring training, and allowed three earned runs on 11 hits over seven preseason games (8 innings). He triggered the opt- out in his contract last Friday, which forced the Sox to either add him to the Major League roster or release him into free agency. Ber
nardino, however has remaining minor league options, which allowed the Sox to send him to Triple-a late Monday night in order to keep Rodriguez.
Bobby Dalbec had a strong spring, but making the Opening Day roster was still somewhat unexpected. He can provide infield and outfield depth as well as another right-handed bat option. However, the 28-yearold struggled to hit at the big-league level over the
last two years, and only appeared in 21 Major League games last season, as Triston Casas took ownership of first base and emerged as a Rookie of the Year finalist.
With that, the roster is set. The Sox have several first-timers in this year’s group: Wilyer Abreu, Opening Day starter Brayan Bello, Isaiah Campbell, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Justin Slaten, Enmanuel Valdez, and Greg Weissert.
Updates from Cora
Sitting in the visitors’ dugout ahead of Red Sox Opening Day against the Mariners, Alex Cora offered up several pitching updates.
The Sox see newcomer Chase Anderson as someone who can provide long relief.
“Probably multiple innings,” Cora said. “I think it’s achievable (to keep him stretched out) with the guys that we have.”
“He has a good changeup, he’s using the cutter, too, so he fits the program,” the Sox skipper said. “We’ll use him as a long guy.”
Anderson signed a 1.25 million Major League contract with up to $500K in performance bonuses on Mar. 23, hours after the Pirates released him from his minor-league deal. Since the start of 2020, he owns a 6.19 ERA over 192 innings, and pitched in the Majors for five teams during that span. But he’s affordable depth, which makes him a fit for Boston’s current spending parameters.
Then there’s Uwasawa, whom the Sox acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this week.
“Good split,” Cora said. “I think we faced him twice in spring training. Early on, he was struggling with the velo and command. There’s other stuff that came into play, but we feel pretty comfortable with him. Obviously, we’re trying to add as many big-league pitchers on our 40-man roster, and we do believe he’s one. It just happens that he’s not here with us.”
(Uwasawa is working in extended spring training at the club’s Fort Myers complex.)
The Sox also plan to stick with a five-man rotation, at least for this 10-game trip on the west coast, but Cora left the door open for a potential sixth starter in the future.
“Not on this trip, no,” he said.