The Boston Red Sox have been fairly active since the Major League Baseball trade deadline, and those efforts continued Tuesday when the club added left-handed pitcher Alex Claudio to the organization.
The move was announced via the minor league transaction wire, which indicated Claudio had been assigned to Triple-A Worcester. Bill Koch of the Providence Journal also noted Tuesday that Claudio signed with the Red Sox as a free agent.
This minor league deal comes on the heels of the Red Sox last week acquiring outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. in a trade with the Texas Rangers and signing right-hander José De León as a free agent. Claudio, like De León, bolsters the team's organizational pitching depth, even though it's not immediately known how either hurler might eventually factor into Boston's big league plans.
Claudio signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels over the offseason but recently was released after posting a 5.51 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 41 relief appearances (32 2/3 innings). The 29-year-old struck out 8.3 batters per nine innings, his highest mark since 2014.
Claudio hardly is overpowering, relying more on inducing weak contact in the form of ground balls. He's enjoyed some success with that formula over eight major league seasons, though, posting a 3.63 ERA in 352 career appearances totaling 344 1/3 innings.
Claudio, who spent five seasons with the Texans Rangers and two with the Milwaukee Brewers before signing with the Halos in December, has been especially effective against left-handed hitters, holding them to a .212 batting average and .596 OPS in his career.
Perhaps Claudio ultimately will join the Red Sox's bullpen as an additional southpaw alongside Josh Taylor, as Darwinzon Hernandez is dealing with an injury and Austin Davis has been relatively ineffective in four appearances with Boston since coming over in a trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Red Sox enter Wednesday night's game against the Rays having lost eight of their last 10, dropping Boston to five games back of first-place Tampa Bay in the American League East.
