Red Sox Make Rare April Trade With Brewers To Bolster Starting Pitching Depth

Boston has been in desperate need of some external help

Scott Neville | Apr 19, 2024

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez (53) looks up after the final out of the fifth / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox finally addressed their lack of starting pitching depth after an injury-laden start to the season.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made his first in-season trade in his rookie season at the helm of baseball operations in an attempt to shore up the pitching staff following injuries to both Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock.

"The Red Sox acquired right-handed pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for cash considerations, and optioned him to Triple-A Worcester," the team announced. "To make room on the 40-man roster, the club transferred shortstop Trevor Story to the 60-Day Injured List.

"In addition, the Red Sox optioned left-handed pitcher Joe Jacques to Worcester following (Thursday's) game against the Cleveland Guardians."

Gutierrez has had a busy couple of months with a lot of moving involved. The 28-year-old signed with the Miami Marlins during spring training but was designated for assignment after just one big-league appearance on March 31 and joined the Milwaukee Brewers. After just a couple of Triple-A outings, he was once again DFA'd and is now headed to join the WooSox.

The right-hander has a career 5.47 ERA with a 121-to-72 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .274 batting average against and a 1.53 WHIP in 154 2/3 innings across 30 starts and 33 total appearances from 2021-2024 at the big-league level.

Gutierrez, like many waiver claims, does not appear to be a player to get excited about but the way the pitching staff has performed this season, you have to give pitching coach Andrew Bailey and the rest of the development system the benefit of the doubt.

With Gutierrez on the 40-man roster and left-handed reliever Cam Booser joining the 40-man roster and 26-man active roster after a dominant start in Worcester, someone is going to have to be designated for assignment. It's almost certainly going to be Jacques headed for a stint on the waiver wire.

More MLB: Red Sox Breakout Star Headed To Injured List, Putting Career Year On Pause

Published Apr 19, 2024

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