The Red Sox are wasting no time easing back into the second half.
Boston opens Friday with a doubleheader against the American League East-leading Rays at Fenway Park, the first game of a four-game set that immediately puts the club in a demanding spot. Because it’s a doubleheader, the Red Sox were allowed to add a 27th man to the active roster, and MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported that left-hander Alec Gamboa got the call.
“Alec Gamboa called up as 27th man,” Cotillo wrote on X on Friday morning.
Gamboa, 29, has already made his big league debut this season. He first appeared on May 5 against the Detroit Tigers and worked a scoreless ninth inning.
In all, he has pitched in four games for Boston this year, posting a 3.60 ERA across five innings. His latest outing came July 4 against the Los Angeles Angels, when he again threw a scoreless ninth in an 8-1 win.
He has allowed two earned runs in those five innings.
Boston’s schedule leaves plenty of innings to cover on Friday. Game 1 is set for 1:35 p.m.
ET, with lefty Jake Bennett starting for the Red Sox. Game 2 follows at 7:10 p.m.
ET, and neither team has announced a starter yet. One possibility for Boston is Brayan Bello, who was brought back up for the first-half finale against the New York Mets on July 12.
In that game, he entered in relief after Payton Tolle and went 4 1/3 innings, giving up one earned run on a Francisco Lindor solo homer.
With 18 innings on the slate, Gamboa could easily be asked to help absorb some of the workload before heading back to Triple-A after the doubleheader ends.
Boston reached the All-Star break on a nine-game winning streak, the hottest team in baseball. Now the Red Sox get an immediate measuring stick against the team sitting atop the American League East. If they can stay hot through the four-game series, it would be a strong sign the surge is built to last.
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Rosarios development matters because catching prospects can change an organizations outlook fast if the hit tool starts to catch up with the defense. For Boston, that is the real intrigue here: a player who has long been viewed through the lens of projection is suddenly giving evaluators a reason to wonder whether the offensive progress is real, and whether it might be arriving sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]