Giants Baseball Insider

SF Giants trade RHP Mauricio Llovera to Red Sox for pitching prospect

The SF Giants traded recently designated for assignment righty Mauricio Llovera to the Boston Red Sox for pitching prospect Marques Johnson.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants trade RHP Mauricio Llovera to Red Sox for pitching prospect
SF Giants trade RHP Mauricio Llovera to Red Sox for pitching prospect /
In this story:

The SF Giants traded right-handed relief pitcher Mauricio Llovera to the Boston Red Sox for right-handed relief-pitching prospect Marques Johnson on Wednesday night. Llovera has been a solid middle reliever with the Giants over the past two seasons but was out of options and designated for assignment last week. The Giants have assigned Johnson to Single-A San Jose.

SF Giants reliever Mauricio Llovera throws a pitch. (2022)
SF Giants reliever Mauricio Llovera throws a pitch. (2022) / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Johnson was drafted by the Red Sox in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Long Beach State, agreeing to turn pro for a $122,500 signing bonus. Johnson did not make his pro debut until this year and has struggled with the Red Sox Single-A affiliate in Salem. This season, Johnson has a 6.55 ERA in 34.1 innings pitched (28 appearances) with 43 strikeouts and 24 walks.

Johnson, 23, will need to significantly improve his command to reach the majors. However, he remains an intriguing prospect despite his struggles. Johnson's fastball sits in the mid-90s with sharp cut and extremely high spin rates, per SoxProspects.com's Ian Cundall. Moreover, in his past nine appearances (11.2 innings pitched), Johnson has a 2.31 ERA with 16 strikeouts and just two walks.

Over the past two seasons with the Giants, Llovera recorded a 3.74 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 10 walks across 21.2 innings pitched (22 games) in the majors and has been even more dominant at Triple-A. In all of his stints, the 27-year-old righty has looked like an MLB-ready middle reliever. However, with a healthy bullpen, the Giants could not option him back to the minor leagues without subjecting him to waivers once they added him to the 40-man roster. So, the Red Sox took advantage.

Published
Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

Home/San Francisco Giants News