4:50pm: The Sox have also placed right-hander Luis García on the injured list, with righty Josh Winckowski recalled in a corresponding move. Chris Cotillo of MassLive was among those to relay that swap on X.
3:42pm: The Red Sox have designated right-hander Brad Keller for assignment and placed righty Lucas Sims on the 15-day injured list due to a right lat strain, per a team announcement. Keller’s DFA paves the way for lefty Rich Hill to be selected from Triple-A Worcester — a move that was originally reported earlier this morning. Right-hander Greg Weissert is up from Worcester to take Sims’ spot in the bullpen.
Keller, 29, has been up and down with the Red Sox several times this season. The longtime Royals hurler originally inked a minor league with the White Sox over the winter but latched on with Boston after being quickly cut loose in Chicago. Keller was summoned to the majors for a third stint with the Red Sox earlier this week and allowed three runs in four innings of long relief during yesterday’s doubleheader. He’s posted a 5.84 ERA with the Red Sox and an overall 5.44 mark in 41 1/3 innings between Chicago and Boston this year.
It’s been a rough decline for Keller, who from 2018-20 was a regular in the Kansas City rotation. He pitched 360 1/3 innings of 3.50 ERA ball for the Royals and looked to be settling in as a solid mid-rotation arm. His production dwindled in 2021-22, however, and in 2023 he walked 45 batters in 45 1/3 innings of work. That alarming deterioration of his command led to an IL trip, and imaging/testing eventually revealed symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. Keller underwent surgery last summer, and while he’s pitched well in Triple-A recently, he’s yet to rediscover his form at the big league level.
The Red Sox will place Keller on release waivers or outright waivers shortly. He’s already cleared a couple of times this season and figures to do so again. Once he clears, he can become a free agent and sign with any team, although last time he was in that spot, he simply re-signed with the Red Sox on a new minor league pact. A similar series of events this time around would come as little surprise.
Sims, 30, was a trade deadline pickup for the Sox but has been torched for nine runs in 10 innings since coming over from the Reds. That’s a far cry from the 3.57 mark he notched in 35 1/3 innings prior to the swap, which sent minor leaguer Ovis Portes to Cincinnati. Whether his rocky performance was due to injury or a change in pitch selection — Boston significantly scaled back the usage of his four-seamer in favor of a cutter — isn’t clear. Most lat strains require an absence of some note, however, and if Sims is out for any substantial period of time, that could spell the end of his time in Boston entirely. He’s slated to become a free agent at season’s end.