The Red Sox started off with a terrible start, but they did have some potentially useful pitching reinforcements along the way. Manager Ron Roenicke announced Thursday that the Red Sox could activate left-handers Josh Taylor this weekend, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports. Another southpaw, Darwinzon Hernandez, is on a similar timeline. Not one of the relievers has retired this year after positive testing for the coronavirus July 4th.
The pitching staff of Boston went into the action on Thursday as one of the worst in the league, and that was before the Rays absolutely started on the Red Sox. Any help is then welcome, and based on what they did last season, Taylor and Hernandez could provide something.
The 27-year-old Taylor had an under-the-radar breakout campaign as a rookie in 2019, in which he logged a 3.04 ERA / 3.11 FIP over 47 1/3 innings. Taylor also notched 11.79 K / 9 and 3.04 BB / 9.
Like Taylor, Hernandez debuted a season ago, throwing up 30 1/3 frames. The former standout prospect was only allowed to make up a 4.45 ERA with an unsustainable running level of 7.71. At the same time, however, Hernandez averaged 95.5 mph on his fastball and hit an incredible 16.91 hits per nine. The 23-year-old ranked first in K / 9 among all pitchers who will collect 30-plus innings in 2019.
