Red Sox Make Next Round of Camp Cuts, Reassign Four Players

[Alex Mayes]

The Red Sox have made another series of spring training moves, reassigning multiple names to minor-league camp. This group is exclusively pitchers this time, which makes sense in the wake of the team signing southpaw Danny Coulombe last week. The names being reassigned are: left-handed pitcher T.J. Sikkema, and right-handed pitchers Seth Martinez, Wyatt Olds, and Noah Song. 

This leaves big league camp at 54 while Craig Breslow and the coaching staff begin to whittle away the depth options in the bullpen. It’s been a mixed bag for each of these four pitchers during their time in spring training. Song posted a stellar 1.13 ERA across six games, but lacked control as evidenced by his three wild pitches. He did post nine strikeouts though, indicating that there’s still life left in his pitch mix and he should be pushing for a spot on the 26-man roster at some point this season.

Olds fared much worse, posting a 6.75 ERA over seven games, but he also struck out nine. Martinez held a 7.27 ERA with only five strikeouts. Sikkema clocked in with the highest ERA at 9.00 over three games, but struck out five in those three appearances. 

Song is perhaps the most shocking name to be reassigned so far in camp, but he doesn’t have a true spot in the bullpen as it’s currently constructed. Should he show out in Worcester early in the season, expect to see his name called early and often. As for the other three, the reassignment makes sense as none of them have shown to be dependable enough in camp to warrant consideration for the big-league roster at this point. 

We’re getting closer and closer to Opening Day, so expect more names to be reassigned to minor league camp as Breslow and Alex Cora start making the tough roster decisions.

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[davidrw]

It makes sense that the Red Sox reassigned these pitchers after adding a left-handed option recently. Spring training is always a balancing act between roster depth and performance, and minor-league assignments give players a chance to refine their skills. It will be interesting to see how these pitchers progress as the season approaches.

[moonslav59]

We still have over 2 X the amount of players that will make the opening day 26 man roster in ST'ing, right now.

Many are just biding time and trying to make an impression for a possible later call-up or to catch on with another team.

I think almost all the 26 slots are known. The biggest bubble guys are Rule 5 man Watson and Matt Thaiss, who has an upward mobility clause that kicks in 5 days before opening day.

Injuries may shift some things around, of course.