While fans of the Giants and Red Sox were focused on the blockbuster deal that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco earlier this evening, the clubs made a pair of related transactions that may have flown under the radar amid a busy evening of news around the league. A look at those moves:
- The Giants selected the contract of left-hander Joey Lucchesi, who took both the active and 40-man roster spots of Kyle Harrison after he was dealt to Boston as part of the Devers trade. In an unusual wrinkle, the transaction was made official before the start of tonight’s game against the Dodgers but was not announced until Lucchesi had already begun warming up in the San Francisco bullpen and taken the mound for his first appearance as a Giant. The 32-year-old signed a minor league deal with San Francisco back in January on the heels of a four-season run with the Mets where he served mostly as minor league depth. He pitched to a 3.78 ERA (109 ERA+) with a 4.02 FIP in 95 1/3 innings of work during his time in Queens, a slight improvement on the matching 4.21 ERA and FIP he posted in 299 1/3 innings of work with the Padres across his first three seasons in the majors. Lucchesi profiles as a swing man or back-end rotation piece, though in his first outing with the Giants he surrendered two runs on three hits while recording just two outs.
- Meanwhile, the Red Sox designated left-hander Zach Penrod for assignment this evening. Penrod’s departure makes room for the addition of Kyle Harrison to the club’s 40-man roster, after Jordan Hicks took Devers’s own 40-man spot. The southpaw made his big league debut for Boston last year and pitched to a 2.25 ERA across seven relief appearances, though he walked (four) more batters than he struck out (three) while also hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch during that brief cup of coffee. He’s not yet made an appearance at the big league level this year and has a 3.38 ERA in 5 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A this season. Boston will now have one week to either work out a trade involving Penrod or attempt to pass him through waivers. Should he wind up clearing waivers, the Red Sox will have the opportunity to send him outright to the minors as non-roster depth.