The Boston Red Sox won their MLB leading 75th game of the season in walk-off fashion on Monday night. They responded to this win by adding even more offense to their team. Although they have a very talented team, they did have an opening at second base with Dustin Pedroia’s inability to stay healthy this season.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Ian Kinsler has been acquired by the Boston Red Sox.
Kinsler is currently in his 13th MLB season and the Red Sox will be the 4th team he will play for at second base. This season, he has compiled 13 home runs and 32 runs batted in through 355 at-bats. He holds a .304 on-base percentage and a .406 slugging percentage.
Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt have been splitting time at second base this season while Dustin Pedroia has been on the disabled list. Nunez holds a .289 on-base percentage with a .369 slugging percentage. Holt holds a .358 on-base percentage with a .365 slugging percentage.
Kinsler’s slugging percentage over these two hitters most likely attracted Boston to acquire him for the stretch run.
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According to Jon Heyman of Fancred, Boston will send Ty Buttrey and Williams Jerez to the Los Angeles Angels. Buttrey is a right-handed pitcher that is currently #19 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Red Sox Prospects list. Jerez is a left-handed pitcher that is currently #23 on the same list.
Buttrey has spent the entire 2018 season with the Pawtucket Red Sox, which is Boston’s Triple-A affilitate. Through 32 appearances out of the bullpen he holds a 2.25 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He has an eye-opening 64 strikeouts with only 14 walks through 44.0 innings pitched.
Jerez has also spent the entire 2018 season in Pawtucket. Through 33 appearances, he is 2-1 with 5 saves. He also has a good amount of strikeouts with 67 through 51.1 innings pitched. He has walked 24 batters and allowed 47 hits for a 1.38 WHIP.
Rosenthal also tweeted that the Angels will send $1.8 million to cover around half of Kinsler’s remaining salary for this season.
As the New York Yankees have made many moves to improve their team for the stretch run, expect Boston to be very active as well over the next 24 hours.