The Red Sox have signed right-hander Jake Faria to a minor league deal, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter links). The contract includes an invitation to Boston’s big league Spring Training camp, and a guaranteed $735K salary if Faria makes the active roster.
Since the start of the 2019 season, Faria has pitched only 51 1/3 MLB innings — 32 2/3 frames with the Diamondbacks in 2021, and 18 2/3 innings split between the Rays and Brewers in 2019. In between those stints in the majors, Faria also pitched at the Triple-A level with the Angels in 2021 and with the Twins last season, with a cumulative 6.64 ERA over 80 innings over the last two years.
It has been a tough ride for Faria in recent years, after he came up through Tampa Bay’s farm system with a lot of promise, and had a quick start to his MLB career with a solid 3.43 ERA over 86 2/3 innings in his 2017 rookie season. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was working in the Rays’ front office during Faria’s tenure in Tampa, so the minor league deal will give Bloom a chance to see first-hand if Faria can recapture any of that old form.
Not counting those 2017 numbers, Faria otherwise has a 5.65 ERA and underwhelming strikeout and walk rates over 116 1/3 innings as a Major League pitcher. Home runs have been an issue, as Faria has allowed 19 homers in that limited 116 1/3 inning sample size. While Faria has still regularly worked as a starter at Triple-A, he has mostly been utilized as a reliever in the majors since 2018, so the Red Sox likely view him as a multi-inning reliever at best if he can win a job in their bullpen.