Red Sox place Colten Brewer on the injured list

The Red Sox need all hands on deck on the pitching side this weekend as they take on the Blue Jays for five games over four days. Now, there are two off-days in a three-day span following this, but in the immediate future guys can get fatigued quickly without the starters doing their jobs. And now, they are without one of the guys who seemed likely to start one of the five games. Colten Brewer has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a finger strain on his pitching hand. Taking his place on the active roster is Marcus Walden.

As I said, this has to throw some sort of wrench into the pitching plans this weekend. Brewer would have been lined up to start Saturday, and that is coming after a doubleheader in which the two games will be started by Chris Mazza and Zack Godley. That the two games on Friday are each seven innings helps, but it’s still hard to see them being able to go without someone who can go at least three innings. The two long relievers on the roster right now are Mike Kickham and Andrew Triggs. They may be able to piece together some innings on Saturday, but they did just throw three frames each on Wednesday. We could also see another transaction before then. Brewer’s stint on the IL is backdated to September 1.

As for Walden, he came into the season as one of the more important relievers on this roster but frankly did not do his job at all. The righty pitched to an ugly 12.00 ERA over nine innings with more walks than strikeouts. The sample is obviously small, but he has to be feeling some pressure for this second chance he’s getting in 2020. If things go south again, he could be a potential DFA candidate this winter given the coming 40-man crunch. That’s a thought for the future, though. For now, the Red Sox just need to find the innings to get through the rest of the season.