Red Sox Reportedly Sign Veteran Reliever To Minor League Deal

The Boston Red Sox ensured they have more pitching depth in the organization than they did prior on Monday.

The Red Sox reportedly agreed to a minor league deal with veteran reliever Kyle Barraclough, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. Barraclough is expected to report to Triple-A Worcester.

The 33-year-old right-hander last pitched in the majors in 2022 when he made eight appearances for the Los Angeles Angels. He hasn’t pitched in the big leagues this year, instead playing for the unaffiliated High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League. Barraclough made seven appearances, including two starts, with the Rockers this year, posting a 1-0 record with a 1.00 ERA to go along with 17 strikeouts in 18 innings.

Barraclough pitched exclusively out of the bullpen during his seven seasons in the big leagues. He had a strong run from 2015-17 with the Miami Marlins in which the 6-foot-3, 229-pound hurler went 14-6 with a 2.87 ERA and a 1.288 WHIP. He generated plenty of swings and misses over that span, too, striking out 219 batters in 163 innings.

Barraclough’s numbers began to dip starting in 2018 — his final campaign with the Marlins — but he still recorded a career-high 10 saves that season. After a four-year tenure with the Marlins, Barraclough went on to pitch for the Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins and Angels.

It’s unclear exactly what Barraclough’s role will be with Worcester, but adding an arm gives the Red Sox more flexibility given the state of their pitching staff. Tanner Houck has now joined Chris Sale on the injured list while the Red Sox also got a discouraging report on lefty reliever Richard Bleier a little over a week ago.

With Houck now on the shelf, the Red Sox will need a starter for Thursday’s series finale against the Minnesota Twins. It doesn’t appear it will be Barraclough since manager Alex Cora told reporters Monday that it will most likely be someone from the 40-man roster that toes the rubber.

But if Barraclough can find some of his old form as a standout reliever, he could become an option out of the bullpen for the Red Sox in the future.