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The Red Sox have been shuffling through the bottom of their bullpen a ton of late, making three moves in the matter of a week or so with that last bullpen spot. Now, they are taking a man out of the bullpen again, but this time they’ll be replacing him with a position player. Chris Cotillo of Masslive reported on Monday that they were calling Michael Chavis back up to the majors. Ryan Weber was designated for assignment to make room on the roster.
Red Sox DFA Ryan Weber and call up Michael Chavis.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) June 14, 2021
Chavis has been up and down between Boston and Worcester a few times already this year, struggling to get into much of a rhythm at all this year. He has, however, been swinging a good bat in Triple-A over the last week or so, going 9-19 over five games with a double and three homers. The Red Sox are still looking for a spark in the bottom of this lineup, and hopefully Chavis can get hot and provide that. Expect him to see time at both first and second base.
As for Weber, this was basically a foregone conclusion after Sunday’s game that he would be taken off the roster. The veteran was brought in to provide some innings, and he did so, but not in pretty fashion. He gave Boston 5 2⁄3 innings after Martín Pérez couldn’t get through the second, but Weber also allowed 11 runs in the outing. There’s a good chance he’ll clear waivers and will return to Worcester’s rotation.
It’s also worth noting that the move also creates a spot on the 40-man roster. It’s likely they don’t have a plan for this right now, and another pitcher could very well take this spot if the rotation continues to struggle. That said, the Jarren Duran watch should also be keeping an eye on this spot.
Update (4:30 PM ET)
The Red Sox filled the 40-man spot immediately, acquiring Yacksel Ríos from the Mariners.