Ex-Yankees Hurler May Make Sense For Red Sox After Disappointing Bullpen Injury News
Opening Day is quickly approaching, and the Boston Red Sox won't be at full strength.
Boston's starting rotation has been in the news for most of spring training as James Paxton, Brayan Bello, and Garrett Whitlock all suffered setbacks at different times. Bello and Whitlock are back on the hill and Paxton should soon follow but there has been no word yet if any of the trio will be ready for Opening Day.
The Red Sox got some more bad news Sunday after relief pitcher Joely Rodriguez suffered an oblique injury. The lefty reportedly woke up sore and the team will get imaging done, but the expectation is that he will open the 2023 campaign on the injured list, according to the Boston Globe's Alex Speier.
With Rodriguez likely to begin the season on the injured list, it leaves Boston short on left-handed relief pitchers. Oddanier Mosqueda and Ryan Sherriff are two in-house options that could make sense for the Red Sox in the short term as the team waits for Rodriguez's return.
If the Red Sox were to opt for an external option, one player that would make perfect sense for Boston is former New York Yankees reliever, Zack Britton. The two-time All-Star spent the first seven-plus years of their career with the Baltimore Orioles before being acquired by the Yankees during the 2018 campaign. Britton has been a member of the Yankees ever since but appeared in just three games in 2022 after undergoing Tommy John Surgery.
The 35-year-old is healthy now but hasn't signed with a club so far. Britton, when healthy, has what it takes to be a very solid reliever for a club in 2023. The lefty compiled an ERA under 2.00 in 2019 and 2020. Even if he's not able to reach those numbers, he has a career ERA of 3.13 which certainly could help a Boston club that had one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball in 2022.
Rodriguez was a big pickup for Boston this past offseason and hopefully, he will be back very soon. If he is set to miss an extended period of time, Britton makes perfect sense. Even if Rodriguez doesn't miss much time, it wouldn't hurt the Red Sox to take a flyer on Britton. Boston currently has just two lefties in the bullpen so adding a third wouldn't hurt in general.
Hopefully, it doesn't take long until Rodriguez is back on the field.
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