Red Sox activate Craig Breslow from DL, option Brandon Workman

Left-handed reliever Craig Breslow was brought along slowly in spring training, and ended up beginning the 2014 season on the disabled list. That's over now, though, as the Red Sox have activated him and optioned right-handed pitcher Brandon Workman back to Triple-A Pawtucket to open a roster spot.

Red Sox manager John Farrell has said that Brandon Workman won't be a reliever, and he won't be bounced back-and-forth between starting and relieving all season long: the only reason he filled in for Breslow at this time was because it was right out of spring training, and simply delayed when he would get regular rotation work for the PawSox. While Workman is not a lefty like Breslow, between Andrew Miller and Chris Capuano, Boston could survive for a couple of weeks without having their regularly scheduled trio of southpaws in the pen.

Breslow had a strong 2013, posting a 1.81 ERA over 59-2/3 innings, and he was invaluable in both the Division and League Championship series before fatigue seemed to set in right before the Sox headed to the World Series. Farrell stated earlier this spring that this fatigue is part of why Breslow came along slowly in spring training to begin with. It's difficult to glean much from his 2-2/3 rehab innings with the Pawtucket Red Sox, but Breslow continued to walk more batters than he struck out in his brief time there, as he did during the closing games of last October. It might just be Breslow shaking off the rust, but thanks to that, maybe the Red Sox keep Breslow out of high-leverage spots he would previously have been in for a while until they're sure the high-quality version of him has returned.

Workman heads to Pawtucket after throwing 6-1/3 innings of relief with the Sox, including four in Tuesday's contest against the Rangers. He struck out seven batters while allowing just one walk and run a piece in his three games, and returns to a level where he has all of 35-1/3 career frames.