Pitcher Aaron Cook will be making his Boston debut on Saturday afternoon, Red Sox GM Ben Cherington officially announced on Thursday night. Cook will be starting in place of Josh Beckett, who has experienced stiffness after his 126-pitch outing last Sunday.
While the announcement means that Cook's option has in fact been exercised by the club, the 33-year-old's promotion does mean a demotion for one of the Red Sox top prospects.
Jose Iglesias was sent back down to Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday afternoon, after a brief two-day stint with the big club, clearing space for Cook on the Boston roster. Iglesias was right back at it for the PawSox on Thursday, going 2-for-3 and scoring a run in the team's 6-4 loss in Toledo.
While Cook and Iglesias swap spots, another move had to be made in order to clear room on the team's 40-man roster. The casualty in this case was injured outfielder Carl Crawford.
Crawford was officially transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day disable list on Thursday, opening up a spot for Cook on the 40-man roster. While Crawford has been seen with the club in Boston in recent days, he remains sidelined with a sprained ligament in his throwing elbow and is expected to be out until at least the All-Star break.
In five starts for Pawtucket this season, Cook went 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA, striking out 13 and handing out just 11 walks.
