Steve Drumwright

It is Jake Bennett's day. The Boston Red Sox called up Bennett, a left-hander, from Triple-A Worcester to make his MLB debut as the starter in Friday's game against the Houston Astros. Infielder Nate Eaton was optioned to Triple-A on Thursday. Bennett, Talk Sox's No. 12 prospect, was acquired from the Washington Nationals in the offseason in a trade for another top prospect, right-hander Luis Perales. In five starts at Worcester, Bennett had a sparkling 0.86 ERA in 21 innings, allowed just three runs (two earned) on 12 hits with three walks and 16 strikeouts. He has a chance to stick in the rotation with the recent injury to ace Garrett Crochet. Bennett was a second-round pick of the Nationals in 2022 out of Oklahoma. Bennett missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2023. He returned in 2025 to appear in 19 games (one in relief) and compiled a 2.27 ERA in 75⅓ innings with 19 walks and 64 strikeouts. View full rumor

The Boston Red Sox will be without their ace for a while. Left-handed starter Garrett Crochet went on the 15-day injured list Wednesday due to inflammation in his left shoulder. Third baseman-outfielder Nate Eaton was called up from Triple-A Worcester to take Crochet's roster spot. Crochet had been slated to start Friday, with left-hander Jake Bennett a likely candidate. Crochet hadn't displayed the same form that led to his brilliant 2025 season, when he finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting and went 18-5 with a 2.89 FIP with an 5.7% walk rate and 31.3% strikeout rate, leading MLB with 255 strikeouts. In six starts this year, Crochet had a 4.33 FIP and 6.30 ERA, having allowed five runs twice and 11 in another. He has a 8% walk rate and 26.8% strikeout rate. Surprisingly, this move comes after perhaps his best start of the season. In Saturday's 17-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, Crochet went six shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out seven. Eaton played in 41 games for the Red Sox last year, putting up a .296/.348/.383 slash line with one homer, four RBIs and nine stolen bases. In 27 games for Worcester this year, Eaton's slash line is .292/.373/.458 with three homers, 12 RBIs and six stolen bases. View full rumor

The Boston Red Sox, off to a 10-17 start, fired manager Alex Cora and five members of the coaching staff Saturday in an early-season stunner. A sixth coach is being reassigned. Hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, third base coach Kyle Hudson, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and major-league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin were also fired by the Red Sox. Game-planning coach Jason Varitek is considering a possible reassignment. Chad Tracy, the 40-year-old manager of Triple-A Worcester since 2022, has been named interim manager. "Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude,” Red Sox principal owner John Henry said in a released statement. “He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways. These decisions are never easy, but this one is especially difficult given what Alex has meant to the Red Sox since the day he arrived. I want to thank Alex, our coaches, and their families for everything they have given to this organization. They have been part of this club in a way that goes beyond the field, and they will always have our respect and gratitude." The moves came shortly after the Red Sox pounded out a 17-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles snapped a four-game losing streak. Despite that offensive showing, the Red Sox were last in the AL East and had a .667 team OPS, which ranks 26th out of 30 teams, and ranked 20th in runs scored with 112 in 27 games (4.15 per game). Entering Saturday, the Red Sox had lost four straight and six of seven. Cora's contract runs through 2027 and has just over $13.5 million remaining following an extension in 2024. Cora led the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series championship following a 108-54 record in his first season as an MLB manager. Cora compiled a 620-541 record, missing the 2020 season as a result of a suspension for his involvement in the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal. He was initially fired by the Red Sox in January 2020, then rehired after the season. After posting winning records in his first three seasons, the Red Sox finished 78-84 in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons and 81-81 in 2024. Boston went 89-73 last year. His 620 wins are the third-most in Red Sox history. The Red Sox made the postseason just twice in the eight seasons since winning it all in 2018, losing to the Houston Astros in six games in the 2021 AL Championship Series, then falling to the rival New York Yankees in the final game of the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series last year. Double-A Portland manager Chad Epperson will become the third base coach and Worcester hitting coach Collin Hetzler will join the Red Sox's hitting staff. Cora also played four seasons as an infielder for the Red Sox, including being a member of the 2007 World Series championship team. His last season as a player was in 2011. View full rumor

The Boston Red Sox feel Eduardo Rivera is ready for a big jump. A day after promoting the left-handed starter from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester, the Red Sox called up Rivera on Wednesday to make his MLB debut. So Rivera is basically going straight from Double-A to the majors. Right-handed reliever Jack Anderson was optioned back to Triple-A. First baseman Triston Casas (ruptured left patellar tendon, abdominal strain) was transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL to make room for Rivera on the 40-man roster. What role the 6-foot-7 Rivera will fill is another question as the rotation currently has a hole due to right-hander Sonny Gray going on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with a strained right hamstring. But the bullpen has also been overworked in recent days and left-hander Payton Tolle, Talk Sox's No. 1 prospect, is primed to be called up to fill Gray's spot. The 22-year-old Rivera had made two starts at Double-A Portland this year, pitching 10 innings with three walks and 16 strikeouts. In 2025, splitting time between High-A and Double-A, Rivera made 15 starts and five relief appearances, walking 46 and striking out 108 in 87 innings. Rivera pitched for Puerto Rico this spring in the World Baseball Classic. Anderson was called up April 14 to make his MLB debut and has pitched three times covering eight innings, which could be the role for Rivera. Anderson allowed one run in each of those outings, while giving up eight hits and two walks while striking out six. View full rumor

While awaiting word on the severity of the injury, the Boston Red Sox placed right-handed starter Sonny Gray on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with a strained right hamstring. Gray was injured in Monday's Patriots Day game against the Detroit Tigers, leaving in the third inning of an 8-6 victory. He was set to undergo imaging Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury. Left-handed reliever Tyler Samaniego was called up from Triple-A Worcester. This is Samaniego's second stint with the Red Sox this season. He came up April 8 and made his MLB debut that day against the Milwaukee Brewers, pitching a scoreless inning with three strikeouts and a walk. He pitched 3⅔ innings in three games, without allowing a run, walking three and striking out four. Gray, acquired in the offseason via trade from the St. Louis Cardinals as a rotation stabilizer, had a 4.30 ERA in five starts, walking five and striking out 13 in 23 innings. The Red Sox will need to find a replacement in the rotation for Gray, perhaps left-hander Payton Tolle. The Red Sox open a three-game series at Fenway Park today against the rival New York Yankees. View full rumor