The Red Sox moved 12 players to their minor league camp on Sunday morning, including top pitching prospect Casey Kelly and standout shortstop Jose Iglesias.
Iglesias was optioned to Double-A Portland, where he will begin his career with the Sox. The remaining 11 were reassigned to the minors. They include pitchers Alan Mills, Kris Johnson, Kyle Weiland, Robert Manuel and Randor Bierd; first baseman Lars Anderson; catcher Luis Exposito; shortstop Yamaico Navarro; and outfielders Ryan Kalish and Che-Hsuan Lin.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona spent the morning meeting with each player. He said it is never easy giving them the news, but it’s all part of the maturation process, particularly for the arms.
"Those pitchers need to get stretched out and it’s not going to happen here," Francona said. "Guys are going four or five innings as a starter so all they would be doing is riding a bus hoping for an inning. That's not fair to them for their season.
"For a Casey Kelly, a Ryan Kalish, it’s not really a send down. They made great impressions, now you’re ready for your season. As you get deeper into camp and guys are competing for jobs, those types of mornings are a lot more difficult."
Entering Sunday, Navarro leads the Sox in camp with 19 at-bats. Anderson is second with 18, but had yet to record a hit.
Boston now has 46 players in camp. Thirty-eight are members of the 40-man roster and eight are non-roster invitees.
