Red Sox release R.J. Alvarez as one of three roster moves

Before the Red Sox got set to play their second game of the series up in Buffalo against the Blue Jays, they made a few roster moves regarding the pitching on the fringe of the roster. They released R.J. Alvarez, outrighted Stephen Gonsalves and placed him back at the Alternate Site and outrighted Mike Shawaryn but did not have him go back to the Alternate Site.

We’ll start with Alvarez, who was a minor-league signing by the team this past winter. A right-handed reliever, he was never able to make it up to the majors despite getting some looks back in March before the league went on hiatus. He has pitched in the majors for parts of two seasons for a total of 28 innings, pitching to a 7.39 ERA with 32 strikeouts and 18 walks. That was back in 2014 and 2015, though. More recently, he’s bounced around various organizations, topping out at Triple-A.

While Alvarez is now out of the organization and a free agent, both Gonsalves and Shawaryn remain. The former was once a top prospect with the Twins before injuries slowed down his career. He was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox in late-July from the Mets but was designated for assignment last week when the team claimed Andrew Triggs off waivers.

Shawaryn, meanwhile, is a former fifth round pick by the organization who has pitched in the majors for the team but wasn’t able to stick as a starter or a reliever, serving as more of a tweener. It became clear as this year went on and he never got his chance that the team didn’t see a future for him, and that becomes more stark with him not even heading back to Pawtucket to rejoin the player pool. He had been designated for assignment to make room for Christian Arroyo, who himself has been designated for assignment since then.

With these moves, by my count, the Red Sox have a full 60-man player pool.