The Boston Red Sox rolled out a roster shakeup Tuesday that included one expected return and one move nobody saw coming.
The headliner is right-hander Jedixson Paez, who was selected to the major league roster and will start Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. The 22-year-old is getting his first career start for the organization that signed him as an international free agent in 2021.
Boston also reinstated infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the 60-day injured list, added left-hander Eduardo Rivera from Triple-A Worcester before placing him on the 60-day injured list with a lumbar strain, and designated infielder Brett Harris for assignment to clear room.
Paez is the most intriguing piece of the puzzle. He began the season with the Chicago White Sox after being taken from Boston in the Rule 5 Draft, then made three relief appearances for Chicago and gave up six earned runs across three innings before being returned to the Red Sox organization in April.
Since coming back, Paez has moved fast. He put up a 4.41 ERA at Double-A Portland, striking out 56 batters while walking only five in 49 innings. That control helped earn him an August promotion to Worcester, where he recently turned in one of his sharper outings of the year: one earned run, one hit, eight strikeouts and no walks over five innings.
He does not profile as a pure power arm, but his command has made him stand out. Paez has consistently kept the free passes down and forced hitters to do damage in the strike zone.
The task in front of him is no small one. Seattle put up eight runs against Boston on Monday, with Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone all going deep. The Red Sox still escaped with a 9-8 win after Trevor Story delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning, but Paez now gets the assignment of slowing that lineup down a night later.
Kiner-Falefa’s return gives interim manager Chad Tracy another versatile option for the stretch run. The 31-year-old had been out since June with a stress reaction in his left forearm and was moved to the 60-day injured list on Aug. 11, but he was always expected back when rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1.
His value is straightforward: he can move around. Kiner-Falefa has played shortstop, third base and second base in the majors, and he has also spent time in the outfield. With Boston dealing with a number of injuries, that kind of flexibility matters.
Among those absences, All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras went on the injured list Monday with a left hamstring strain, while Masataka Yoshida and multiple pitchers remain unavailable.
So Boston’s latest set of moves brings back one familiar piece and hands a major league ball to a pitcher who just months ago was back in the organization after a Rule 5 detour. Paez’s start against Seattle will show whether the Red Sox found another arm worth trusting down the stretch.
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Red Sox Turn To Intriguing Young Arm As Roster Crunch Hits Boston
A roster squeeze brought a fresh look to Bostons pitching plans, with the Red Sox selecting the contract of right-hander Jedixson Paez from Triple-A Worcester and lining him up to make his major league debut as a starter. The move came as part of a broader shuffle, as the club created room on the 40-man roster by designating infielder Brett Harris for assignment.
The Red Sox also reinstated utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the 60-day injured list, while left-hander Eduardo Rivera was placed on the 60-day injured list after being recalled. For Paez, the promotion puts an intriguing young arm in the spotlight at a moment when Boston is balancing health, depth and immediate innings all at once. [Read more 🡒]
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He was briefly sent back to Triple-A, only to find his way back soon after because of another injury elsewhere on the roster. For a club trying to sort out its lineup and keep its depth intact, Gaspers production has made this more than a temporary fill-in situation, and it leaves Boston with a real choice about how much leash his bat has earned. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox September Call-Up Plan Still Leaves One Big Roster Question
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Kiner-Falefa brings the kind of versatility clubs tend to value when the calendar turns to September and the games carry more weight, especially with postseason experience in his background. The open question for Boston is on the mound, where the team has not yet settled on a pitching addition, leaving one final choice to shape how the expanded roster looks for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]