Red Sox infielder Jamie Westbrook passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment earlier this week and has now been assigned outright to Triple-A Worcester, reports Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe. He’ll stick with the organization but is no longer on the 40-man roster.
Westbrook signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox back in December and made his big league debut as a 29-year-old rookie earlier this season. The former D-backs draftee, who’s also spent time with the Yankees and Brewers organizations, got into 21 games and tallied 48 plate appearances. He managed just a .150/.234/.350 slash in that time, however.
Prior to his call to the majors, Westbrook was quite productive in Triple-A — as has been the case throughout his pro career. He hit .291/.381/.475 in 291 plate appearances for the WooSox (23% better than average, per wRC+), bringing his lifetime batting line in parts of six Triple-A seasons to a healthy .284/.377/.462 in more than 1700 plate appearances. He’ll now head back to Worcester and look for another shot down the stretch. If he doesn’t get one and isn’t added back to the 40-man roster before the end of the season, Westbrook will once again be able to become a minor league free agent.