The Boston Globe

Wimberly has his moment in big-league sun

- By Julian McWilliams GLOBE STAFF Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @byJulianMa­ck.

After nearly 20 years, Corey Wimberly finally got his shot at the big leagues. First-base coach Kyle Hudson was on paternity leave for the series against the Orioles at Camden Yards. So, the Red Sox called up Wimberly, the team’s minor league outfield/baserunnin­g coordinato­r.

“It feels really good. It feels like my major league debut,” Wimberly said Wednesday in Baltimore. “For me, this is something I’ve been chasing my whole life, so it’s just a dream come true to be able to be here to contribute at this level.”

Wimberly played college baseball at Alcorn State, a historical­ly black college in Mississipp­i. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Rockies in 2005, arguably the best draft class in Major League Baseball history — Andrew McCutchen, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Justin Upton, and Jacoby Ellsbury were all a part. Wimberly enjoyed a 10-year minor league career, hitting .289 and swiping 307 bags in 821 games.

After his retirement in 2016, Wimberly was hired by the Red Sox as their assistant manager for then-Low A Greenville. He slowly began climbing the coaching ladder — manager of the Lowell Spinners for the 2018 season, followed by Salem, followed by Double A Portland in 2021 before being promoted to his current position.

Some of Wimberly’s minor league tenure came in the Mexican League, where he taught himself Spanish. Now, he’s fully bilingual. When Brayan Bello needed a translator one afternoon in 2021 prior to a Sea Dogs game, Wimberly handled it.

“He’s done an amazing job throughout the system,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I think baserunnin­g-wise in the minor leagues, we’re doing an outstandin­g job. Defensivel­y in the outfield, you can see the strides with the guys that we have. We love him. He’s going to be a big league coach at one point.”

Jarren Duran played for Wimberly’s Salem team in 2019, and was ecstatic when he saw him.

“I was screaming. ‘Wimbo, let’s go baby!,’ ” Duran said. “I know it’s always a dream for everybody to make it up to this level.”

Duran said Wimberly would always talk to him about stealing bases, and that his passion for the sport is palpable.

“He’s a really good coach, man,” Duran said. “I dealt with some tough injuries as a player,” Wimberly said. “I never looked back on it, never regretted one day. I always had a blast just being a part of the game. I’m grateful for this opportunit­y. I’m just grateful for this opportunit­y.”

Wimberly had a bit of time to soak in the sun during Wednesday’s series finale. It won’t be his last chance.

“Corey Wimberly is very deserving of this opportunit­y,” said one American League executive. “He’s managed and coordinate­d at a high level. Outstandin­g leadership qualities. Solid playing background in the minor leagues. He was actually one of the fastest players in the sport.

“He’s well-respected throughout the industry.”

Cleveland calling

The 13-13 Red Sox welcome the 12-13 Guardians to Jersey Street for three games beginning Friday evening, with Nick Pivetta opposing Shane Bieber, who remains one of the better pitchers in the big leagues. The 2020 AL Cy Young winner has a 3.23 ERA in five starts.

Garrett Whitlock and Zach Plesac are scheduled for Saturday, with Chris Sale and fellow lefty Logan Allen on Sunday.

Cleveland’s starters ranked 18th in the big leagues as of Thursday with a 4.53 ERA. The Sox’ 6.41 starters’ ERA is the second-worst in baseball, ahead of only the A’s.

The Guardians’ offense has gotten off to a slow start, batting .231/.313/.348. They don’t slug much now and didn’t in dominating the AL Central last year, instead finding their identity in athleticis­m, defense, and putting the ball in play. As of Thursday, Cleveland had the second-lowest strikeout rate (19.3 percent) and second-highest contact percentage (79.3) as a team. (The Red Sox ranked fifth in contact rate at 78.2 percent.)

“They have a good team. They pitch. I think, offensivel­y, they do enough,” Cora said. “They run the bases well, so we got to be ready. They’re a good team. You saw last year.”

Defense, however, has been lacking so far this year. The Guardians are minus-18 defensive runs saved through 25 games according to Fangraphs, ahead of only Oakland and well behind the bottom-10 Red Sox (minus-6).

The Sox were 5-2 against the Guardians last season.

Willis cleared to return

Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis was released from the hospital Thursday and cleared to rejoin the team. Willis became lightheade­d prior to Wednesday’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies and was taken for tests. The team said the 62-year-old will travel with the Guardians to Boston. He is in his seventh season on manager Terry Francona’s staff in Cleveland; he landed there after departing the Red Sox, where he was pitching coach under John Farrell from May 2015 through Farrell’s ouster following the 2017 season . . . Red Sox reliever Chris Martin was originally scheduled to pitch for Triple A Worcester Thursday, but his outing was pushed to Friday after Martin dealt with a stomach bug earlier in the week.

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