Red Sox call up Deven Marrero and Hector Velazquez

Another day, another set of September call-ups for the Red Sox. On Sunday, the Red Sox added two more to the list by adding Deven Marrero and Hector Velazquez to the roster in advance of Sunday night’s game in New York.

It’s not a surprise to see either of these names added to the roster. Marrero held down third base for a bit this year, and while his overall offensive production isn’t great he still brings plenty to the table. For one, he’ll be a great late-inning defensive replacement, and on games that see Xander Bogaerts and Eduardo Nuñez in the middle infield the Red Sox now have the ability to switch them out for Marrero and Tzu-Wei Lin late in games. Additionally, he has had some success against left-handed pitching, which could be important at third base.

Meanwhile, Velazquez gives the Red Sox another multi-inning option out of the bullpen. This is probably the most crucial part of September call-ups, as the Red Sox no longer have to worry about using overworked middle relievers and setup men in blowouts. Now, they have guys like Velazquez, Roenis Elias and eventually Brian Johnson who can take over for long stretches. If the Red Sox end up clinching the division with a decent amount of time left in the season, you can also expect to see Velazquez getting a start or two to give some rest to the current rotation.

With these two up, the only members of the 40-man who are not on the disabled list or the active roster are Johnson, Kyle Martin, Ben Taylor and Henry Owens. Carson Smith is also expected to come up this week and Bryce Brentz could be joining him.