Crimson Sox Notes: Grissom, Pivetta, Bello, Yoshida

Vaughn Grissom will make his Crimson Sox debut tonight towards the Twins. Boston reinstated the younger infielder from the 10-day injured checklist, optioning Bobby Dalbec to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding transfer. Grissom will get the nod on the keystone and is hitting seventh towards Chris Paddack.

Acquired from the Braves for Chris Sale, Grissom entered camp as Boston’s anticipated second baseman. Groin and hamstring points (plus a current bout with the flu) saved him off the sector for the primary 5 weeks. That paired with a season-ending harm to Trevor Story to depart the Sox very shorthanded within the center infield. They moved Ceddanne Rafaela in to deal with shortstop.

It’s been extra of a revolving door at second base, the place nobody has produced. Boston second basemen are hitting an MLB-worst .179/.202/.299 over 125 plate appearances. Enmanuel Valdez and Pablo Reyes took nearly all of these reps. Valdez was not too long ago optioned, whereas Reyes has been designated for task.

Grissom, 23, brings fairly a bit extra offensive upside. He’s coming off a .330/.419/.501 line in Triple-A within the Atlanta system. The Braves’ loaded infield restricted him to 64 huge league contests over the previous two seasons, however he turned in a stable .287/.339/.407 displaying. Grissom collected 10 hits (eight singles and two doubles) over 9 video games on his minor league rehab stint.

Supervisor Alex Cora supplied optimistic updates on a handful of injured pitchers this night (link via MassLive’s Christopher Smith). Nick Pivetta is predicted to return to the rotation throughout subsequent week’s collection in Atlanta. The righty tossed three innings in a rehab begin with Worcester yesterday. Whereas the outcomes weren’t good — he allowed 4 runs on three hits and 4 walks — the Sox don’t really feel he wants one other minor league look. Pivetta dominated by way of two begins earlier than a light flexor pressure despatched him to the IL on April 9.

Brayan Bello and Garrett Whitlock are a bit additional behind, however each are set to take steps of their respective recoveries. Bello, who went on the shelf on April 21 with lat tightness, will make one rehab begin at Double-A Portland and will return to Boston by the tip of subsequent week. Whitlock is about to throw a bullpen session tomorrow, his first mound work since an indirect pressure knocked him out on April 17.

Regardless of the accidents, the Crimson Sox’s rotation has been improbable. Boston starters enter play Friday with an MLB-best 2.03 ERA. They’re ninth in strikeout fee and sixth in strikeout/stroll fee differential. Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck have every logged round 40 innings of sub-2.00 ERA ball. Bello, Whitlock and Pivetta had been every performing effectively earlier than occurring the IL. Depth arms Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski have stepped in successfully of their respective trio of begins.

The information wasn’t universally optimistic for Boston, nevertheless. Designated hitter Masataka Yoshida is heading for a second opinion after his current IL placement, tweets the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham. The Sox initially introduced his harm as a left thumb sprain. It’s not fully clear what the preliminary analysis instructed, however information of a second opinion is no less than considerably alarming.

Yoshida began the season slowly however had begun to seek out his type earlier than the harm. He’s hitting .275/.348/.388 over 89 plate appearances for the 12 months. Accidents to Yoshida and Triston Casas led the Sox to go outdoors the group for Garrett Cooper and Dominic Smith to separate enjoying time between first base and DH.