The Red Sox announced Monday that they’ve designated left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez for assignment and selected the contract of righty Brad Keller from Triple-A Worcester in his place.
Rodriguez was selected to the 40-man roster himself on Friday, and the Sox used him heavily over the weekend. The 32-year-old southpaw pitched in three straight games from Friday through Sunday, logging 2 2/3 innings and allowing a run on four hits and no walks with one strikeout. Rodriguez was surely unavailable today for what’s effectively a doubleheader — the Sox will finish their suspended game against the Blue Jays and then play a second game versus the Jays this evening — and will be jettisoned from the roster for a fresh arm in Keller.
This weekend’s stretch of three solid appearances from Rodriguez helped to pare down a rough earned run average that now sits at a still-unsightly 5.93 on the season — albeit in just 13 2/3 innings. Rodriguez’s under-the-hood numbers are far, far better. He’s fanned a below-average 18.8% of his opponents but also sports a pristine 3.1% walk rate and a massive 59.2% ground-ball rate in this season’s 14 appearances. Metrics like xFIP (3.07) and SIERA (2.87) are much more bullish on his performance than his ERA.
That’s nothing new for Rodriguez, who sports a roughly average 22.5% strikeout rate in his career, a higher-than-average 10% walk rate and a terrific 56% ground-ball rate. In 170 2/3 innings, he’s posted a 4.80 ERA, but his respectable ability to miss bats and huge ground-ball tendencies have long led ERA alternatives to forecast better bottom-line results. Rodriguez has at times had success in the majors, but his whiffs and grounders have been undercut by persistent struggles with men on base; his career 64% strand rate is about eight percentage points worse than average.
Now that Rodriguez has been designated for assignment, he’ll be placed on waivers and made available to the other 29 clubs. A new team would owe him a prorated $2MM base salary for any time spent on the big league roster or injured list (about $344K for the remainder of the season). If he goes unclaimed, he can reject his outright assignment, become a free agent, and hope to latch on with a new club as a depth option prior to the Aug. 31 postseason eligibility deadline.
Today’s move is a swap of one veteran for another. Keller will rejoin the team after being previously designated for assignment himself, electing free agency, and returning on a minor league deal. He’s appeared in 15 games for Boston this season and pitched 37 2/3 innings of 5.30 ERA ball with a 17.8% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 49.3% ground-ball rate. He’s been working primarily as a starter in Worcester and is stretched out for long relief if needed. In 30 innings with the WooSox this season, Keller has a 3.00 ERA.
Keller is in his first season with the Red Sox organization but spent six years as a fixture on the Royals’ pitching staff. From 2018-20, he was a regular in the rotation and a steady source of quality innings. His results dipped in 2021, and by 2023 his command had deteriorated to the point where he walked a stunning 45 batters in 45 1/3 innings. Keller eventually hit the injured list and was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, which required season-ending surgery. He’s yet to rediscover his 2018-20 form (360 1/3 innings, 3.50 ERA, 16.8% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate, 52.1% grounder rate), but he’s still relatively young at 29 and has been outstanding in the minors recently. Over his past 22 innings in Triple-A, Keller sports a 0.82 ERA and 15-to-1 K/BB ratio.