Boston Red Sox Call Up Career Minor Leaguer Jamie Westbrook For MLB Debut

Utility man Jamie Westbrook has spent the past 12 seasons working his way through a handful of teams' minor league systems, and now he has finally reached the big leagues with the Boston Red Sox.

Feb 20, 2024; Lee County, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox infielder Jamie Westbrook (73) poses for a photo during media day at JetBlue Park. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Jamie Westbrook from Triple-A Worcester, the team announced Sunday morning.

Westbrook, a 28-year-old utility man from Holyoke, Massachusetts, will make his MLB debut when he takes the field with the Red Sox. He is set to become the 21st MLB player to hail from Holyoke, and the first since longtime Atlanta Braves reliever Mark Wohlers retired in 2002.

In a handful of other moves, Boston placed both infielder Vaughn Grissom and infielder/outfielder Romy Gonzalez on the 10-day injured list. Grissom is dealing with a right hamstring strain, while Gonzalez has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain.

Right-handed pitcher Garrett Whitlock was also transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to make room for Westbrook on the 40-man roster.

Corner infielder Bobby Dalbec has been recalled from Triple-A Worcester alongside Westbrook.

The #RedSox today made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/5H4ZjUZb82

— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 2, 2024

With so many transactions getting announced at once, it was easy for Westbrook's arrival to get overlooked.

Westbrook is a career minor leaguer, starting when the Arizona Diamondbacks picked him in the fifth round of the 2013 MLB Draft. He spent the next seven years with the organization, making it as far as Triple-A, but he never earned a call-up to the big leagues.

From there, Westbrook signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants, only for the 2020 minor league season to get canceled because of COVID-19. Instead, Westbrook spent the summer with the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths of the Constellation Energy League.

The following year, Westbrook was a member of Team USA at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He went 4-for-22 with a home run and four runs during the tournament, earning a silver medal along the way.

Westbrook then bounced around between the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees before signing with the Red Sox this past December. In his minor league career, Westbrook is a .279 hitter with a .780 OPS, racking up 125 home runs, 593 RBI and 1,179 hits in 1,159 games.

Through 49 games with the Worcester Red Sox this season, Westbrook was batting .267 with five home runs, 29 RBI and an .801 OPS. He joined the Red Sox as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training as well, batting .286 with an .891 OPS across 20 Grapefruit League contests.

Westbrook is not in the Red Sox's starting lineup for the series finale against the Tigers, but he will be available off the bench Sunday. The vast majority of Westbrook's experience has been at second base and left field, although he has logged plenty of innings at third base and in right field as well.

The local product may have moved away from Massachusetts when he was 10 years old, but taking the field at Fenway Park will surely be a massive moment for Westbrook.

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