The Boston Red Sox are skipping Sonny Gray's start on Tuesday and need to decide who will start in his place.
The Red Sox could have a bullpen day, but they are in the middle of a 13-game stretch, and taxing the bullpen on just day five seems less than ideal. The rosters are set to expand on Tuesday, and interim manager Chad Tracy has noted the team will work through how they want to structure the rotation.
"We’re just talking through what we want to do,” Tracy said, per The Boston Globe's Tim Healey. “It’s September and we’re talking through, what do we want to do and how do we want to structure this rotation? … We’ll get more information as we go.”
The Red Sox could look to call up Jedixson Paez. They lost Paez to the Chicago White Sox in the Rule 5 Draft, but he was designated for assignment in April and had to be offered back to the Red Sox for a $50,000 fee. Paez pitched in three games for the White Sox, posting an 18.00 ERA.
For the Red Sox, he had a 4.59 ERA in 17 games in Double-A, including seven starts. In Triple-A, he has made three starts to the tune of a 2.92 ERA. According to MassLive's Chris Cotillo, he was listed as the WooSox starter all week for Sunday's game, but did not pitch. He would make sense as a call-up for a spot start. In his last Triple-A game, he threw five innings, allowing one earned run on one hit and striking out eight.
Tracy noted that Gray feels fine physically, and Gray agreed. However, the Red Sox are thinking ahead and getting him some extra rest as they eye October. The Red Sox have not clinched a berth yet, but it's not too early to start thinking about the pitching plan for the postseason.