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Boston Red Sox place Rick Porcello on 15-day disabled list

By Sean Penney |

The Boston Red Sox have placed righthander Rick Porcello on the 15-day disabled list with soreness and inflammation in his triceps. Recently acquired reliever Ryan Cook has been activated to take Porcello’s spot on the roster.

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Porcello is having a nightmare of a season, posting a brutal 5.81 ERA that ranks last among qualified starters in the league. 20 starts into his tenure with the Red Sox it is already looking like Boston made a mistake investing $20+ million per year on a four-year extension that doesn’t even kick in until next season.

While there was no indication of an injury following his last start, it would certainly explain his results. Wednesday night’s loss to the Chicago White Sox was a disaster even by the low standards he has set this season, as Porcello lasted only 2 innings and was roughed up for 6 runs (5 earned). He gave up a pair of long balls in that start, bringing his season total of home runs allowed to 20, which is the most he’s allowed since he was a 20-year old rookie in 2009.

Manager John Farrell explained that this has not been a lingering issue for Porcello, but it cropped up after his last start. While he does not expect it to become a long-term issue, his inability to throw a bullpen session on Sunday gave him no chance at starting on Tuesday.

“The best we could have done would have been to push him back to Saturday to give him ample time, but we felt like that was going to be too much of a risk,” said Farrell, according to the Providence Journal’s Brian MacPherson. “We feel like it’s a short-term thing, but at the same time, we need to be able to back him out there.”

The Red Sox have yet to announce a starter for Tuesday’s game, but there is speculation that top pitching prospect Henry Owens could make his big league debut. Farrell had revealed earlier this week that changes were on the horizon for this pitching staff, with Brian Johnson expected to rejoin the rotation next week and Owens to debut shortly after.

Johnson is scheduled to start for Triple-A Pawtucket Sunday afternoon, so he would not be available to start again on Tuesday, barring a last minute scratch. Owens is supposed to start for the PawSox on Monday, so it may make more sense to call him up first to take Porcello’s spot.

The priority for Porcello is to get healthy, but perhaps some time off will be good for him. With the way he has been pitching this season, replacing him with one of the promising young lefties in their system should be good for the Red Sox.

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