3) Red Sox roster change: Demote Kaleb Ort, promote Ryan Sheriff
The lone lefty reliever on the Red Sox roster is Richard Bleier who hasn’t gotten off to a strong start. Is it the reason they’re not playing particularly well? Not at all. However, it wouldn’t hurt to see what Ryan Sheriff can do.
There are plenty of righties already in the bullpen so demoting Kaleb Ort and at least seeing what Sheriff can do is worth trying out for a week. Sheriff has pitched well in the early going for the Triple-A club. A decent arm in the past, at times, he has minor league options left so if it doesn’t work they can easily send him back down.
One caveat to this is that Sheriff isn’t on the 40-man roster. Moving someone to the 60-day IL could be one way to open up a spot. This roster change may need to wait until that opportunity actually comes along.
Unfortunately, the Red Sox can’t do much to improve their biggest early weakness: the starting pitching. Chris Sale isn’t going to disappear although many will say he already has and this guy taking the mound is an imposter.
There won’t be any major Red Sox roster change coming anytime soon. Small moves like these three can make a difference.