Red Sox Make Roster Move Prior To Middle Game Vs. Giants

Mauricio Llovera could make his Boston Red Sox debut Saturday and it would come against his former team.

The Red Sox activated the right-handed reliever, who Boston acquired in a trade with the Giants on Wednesday, to the major league roster prior to the middle game of their three-game set with San Francisco at Oracle Park. To make room on the roster for Llovera, the Red Sox optioned Joe Jacques to Triple-A Worcester.

Llovera recorded a 1.69 ERA in five relief outings with the Giants this season after making 17 appearances for San Francisco in 2022 and posting a 4.41 ERA. The 27-year-old spent the majority of this season with Triple-A Sacramento, where he posted a 3.92 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and .211 opponent batting averages against in 17 games.

The Red Sox elected to remove Jacques from their pitching equation at the moment as they have an over abundance of lefties — Brennan Bernardino, Richard Bleier, Chris Murphy and Joely Rodríguez — in the bullpen. Jacques appeared in 14 games this season, compiling a 2-1 record to go along with a 4.46 ERA, 1.440 WHIP and one save. He last pitched a scoreless inning of relief Wednesday in a win over the Atlanta Braves.

Boston also used Jacques as an opener once with their starting rotation extremely shorthanded and down to just three healthy pitchers. It’s unclear if the Red Sox will try to use Llovera in that role. He has started one game in the big leagues in his major league career.