Red Sox News: Boston shuffles roster in attempt to end losing skid

Chaim Bloom shuffles his Red Sox deck of cards

For the last few Monday’s it’s felt like the collective that is Red Sox Nation has been waiting for some roster moves to be made. Well, today that day finally came and while Chaim Bloom didn’t make any wild roster changes, he did make some moves to try and correct the deficiencies that have hurt the team as of late. It’ll take a bit of time to see if Bloom’s shuffling will pay off but at least he’s trying and not just sitting idly by.

Yesterday’s move of bringing Ryan Weber back to the Majors was a head-scratcher that I’m sure made sense to someone in the organization. The reasoning was that he was scheduled to start in Worcester and with the recent bad luck surrounding the starters, the team wanted him in Boston to eat innings if Martín Pérez couldn’t get it done. They must have one hell of a crystal ball at Fenway Park because the worst-case scenario came about and in a damn hurry.

Pérez lasted just 1.1 innings while getting absolutely massacred by the Blue Jays. The team from the Great White North tuned up Martín by scoring five earned runs on three homers. Just like that, Pérez Day was over before it could begin and it was the “Ryan Weber Show.” For as good as the righty has been pitching in Worcester he looked as if he was a little leaguer trying to pitch at Fenway yesterday.

While Weber would eat up 5.2 innings for the Red Sox he always allowed the Jays to put the game completely out of reach. Coming back from five runs is nothing for this Boston offense, but when they have to overcome 16 runs, that’s a different story.

The right-hander gave up 11 runs on 13 hits while serving up another four homers. Boston had been the best at keeping their opponents away from going deep, that’s a thing of the past now. Weber did strike out seven while walking just a pair yesterday if you needed some sort of positive in that mess.

Even though he did exactly what he was brought up to do yesterday, it looks like Weber’s time with the Red Sox may be finished. The team announced today that the starter has been Designated for Assignment and now the waiting game begins.

We could run into a scenario where another team claims him, which is the scenario we absolutely want. Or we could have another Austin Brice on our hands and Weber clears waivers and we’re stuck with him.

It honestly didn’t come as a surprise to me to see the news as Weber has been one of those fringe guys for the club that never seems to get it right when it matters the most. He excels in the Minors but when it comes to The Show he just can’t get it done. With him being DFA’d the Red Sox needed to fill a spot on the roster and they called on old reliable, Michael Chavis. This will be the Ice Horse’s third stint with the big club this season and just like before, he has to make as much of however long he’ll be here.

We all know the story on Chavis and so does the rest of the league. He’s a guy that will give his everything in every aspect of the game but he has a massive weakness, the high heat. Could this be the time he finally figures out that his bat will most likely never catch it, I hope so because there’s a lot he can bring to this team.

Look no further than his last tour of duty when he made it a habit of turning singles into doubles because teams weren’t paying attention. He has the right mentality, energy, and ability to be on this team, he just has to prove it once again.

As far as Weber’s 40-man roster spot is concerned, Chaim Bloom began his mid-season wheeling and dealing a bit early this year. He picked up Yacksel Ríos from the Mariners after the pitcher was DFA’d recently. I’ll be honest and admit that I don’t know much about Ríos as I don’t often tune into the AL West but let’s take a look at what he’s done and use that to figure out where he may fit in with this squad.

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Ríos is in his fifth year of service having spent time with the Phillies, Pirates, and Mariners in the big leagues. His 9.00 ERA through just 3.0 innings of work is pretty concerning to me especially with a 2.333 WHIP and an even 6.0 K/9 – 6.0 BB/9 split. This could all just be attributed to a poor season as he’s a career 6.47 ERA pitcher that’s averaged an 8.7 K/9 in his five years of work. Even though he’s been added to the 40-man roster he does have options available so I’m not sure if he’ll be in Boston right away.

Adding more pitching depth will most likely be what Bloom aims to do at the deadline this year especially with how overworked the bullpen is becoming these last few weeks. When the season was young and the starters were holding their own I wasn’t concerned but now that we’ve had a handful of terrible starts, our relievers are getting fried. A new home may be just what Ríos needs to find his game again and we know the Boston coaching staff can have that effect on players.

The Red Sox have far exceeded anyone’s expectations so far this season but there’s a lot of time left on the calendar. This will hardly be Chaim’s only move this season as we’ve all seen what he can do when the deadline approaches. Only time will tell if this one will work out but considering it didn’t cost the organization very much then it’s worth the risk. What matters most now is getting back to doing the things that allowed this squad to be one of the best for the first chunk of the season.