Red Sox invite three non-roster invitees to non-existent spring training

There’s a trope on sitcoms in which one of the characters is in love with someone, and in an effort to try and get them to their house they invite them to a non-existent party. The results vary depending on the tone of the show, but generally speaking it doesn’t go well. The Red Sox may not be in love with anyone, but they are sending out invitations to a non-existent camp, with three more minor-league contracts that include spring training invitations being doled out on Sunday. One was to Tyler Danish, who we already knew they had signed, and he will be joined by Silvino Bracho and Darin Gillies, all three of whom are right-handed pitchers.

Of course, I am mostly joking about the non-existent party thing. For now, spring camps are closed but eventually a new CBA will be agreed to (we think, anyway) at which point spring training will indeed exist and these players will have a party to go to. With major-league contracts being prohibited as long as the lockout goes on, this is the only way teams can add players from outside the organization.

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We’ve already written a bit about Danish in the linked post above, but he is largely swingman depth who has a small amount of major-league experience and once was a relatively well-regarded prospect. He last pitched in the Angels organization, pitching to a 4.33 ERA for their Triple-A affiliate, striking out 26 percent of opponents while walking six percent. The righty will be in his age-27 season in 2022.

Bracho, meanwhile, was once a promising young reliever in the Diamondbacks organization. He’s shown off some solid swing and miss stuff in the majors, but his walk rate has been middling and he has struggled mightily to keep the ball in the yard, allowing 17 homers in 89 ²⁄₃ career major-league innings, a rate of 1.7 homer per nine innings. He’s also suffered a major elbow injury, undergoing surgery in 2019. He came back last year and pitched in the Giants organization, pitching to a 4.14 ERA at Triple-A with a 29 percent strikeout rate and 8.5 percent walk rate and 1.8 homers per nine. Bracho will be in his age-29 season in 2022.

Finally, Gillies has not pitched in the majors unlike the other two pitchers here. A former 10th round pick, the righty has spent his entire career to this point in the Mariners organization. Most recently, he split last season between Double-A and Triple-A, pitching to a combined 2.80 ERA over 40 innings, striking out 52 and walking 21. Last May, Eric Logenhagen of FanGraphs mentioned Gillies’ ability to throw hard, getting up into the high 90s out of the bullpen. Gillies will be in his age-29 season in 2022.