Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox Make Very Surprising Cut After Announcing Corey Kluber Signing

Boston shed some pitching depth

Scott Neville

Red Sox Make Very Surprising Cut After Announcing Corey Kluber Signing
Red Sox Make Very Surprising Cut After Announcing Corey Kluber Signing /
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The Boston Red Sox have decided to shed some organizational pitching depth in favor of an established veteran Thursday despite being fairly weak in that regard. 

Boston officially signed right-hander Corey Kluber, which should greatly aid the starting rotation. Unfortunately, the corresponding move hurts the team's depth.

Fellow right-hander Connor Seabold was designated for assignment to make room for Kluber on the 40-man roster, the team announced.

Seabold went 0-4 with and 11.29 ERA, 19-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a whopping .402 batting average against last season in 18 1/3 innings last season for Boston.

That said, he has an electric pitch mix with a 20.8% whiff rate on his fastball, 21.9% whiff rate on his slider and an incredible 41% whiff rate on his changeup. 

In his first start of the 2022 season, Seabold recorded seven strikeouts and 21 swing-and-misses, but he also allowed seven earned runs. It's been quite the anomaly for Seabold, but his potential is certainly there.

The 26-year-old is the No. 21 prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline and dominated Triple-A last season. 

Seabold posted an 8-2 record with a 3.32 ERA, 89-to-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .237 batting average against in 86 2/3 innings for Worcester.

If he could put it all together, Seabold could be quite the weapon. 

One issue Seabold had was a stubbornness to rely on his fastball, when he was much more effective with his changeup. Red Sox manager Alex Cora reportedly tried to get him to throw his filthy changeup more often, but his pitch usage never changed -- which could be a factor for his designation. 

The current starting rotation looks like it will be comprised of Kluber, Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock, Bryan Bello or James Paxton. The depth options include Tanner Houck -- who will likely transition back to the bullpen -- Josh Winckowski and Kutter Crawford. 

It would make the organizational depth deeper if Seabold could clear waivers, but that seems unlikely given his potential. 

The move isn't a massive deal, but depleting an already thin area of the roster is something to monitor. 

More MLB: Ex-Yankees Outfielder Signs With Red Sox As Much-Needed Depth Piece

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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