Red Sox Retain Infielder After Designating Him For Assignment

The Boston Red Sox were ready to say goodbye to infielder Pablo Reyes when they designated him for assignment last week.

But it didn’t end up coming to that.

Reyes cleared waivers and the Red Sox announced Monday that they outrighted the 30-year-old to Triple-A Worcester.

Reyes struggled in his second season with the Red Sox. He appeared in 21 games and made 14 starts mainly due to his defensive versatility as he played all four infield positions. But Reyes’ usually decent glove dropped off this season as he committed four errors in 11 games at third base while filling in Rafael Devers, who has dealt with his share of early-season injuries.

Reyes didn’t provide much offensively, either. He batted .183 with no home runs and five RBIs while striking out 19 times in 60 at-bats.

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The Red Sox gave Reyes’ job to Zack Short, who was traded from the New York Mets to Boston last week, but Reyes will provide organizational depth now that he’s sticking with the franchise.

“He did a good job last year,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters last week, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “This year, he never got on track, especially defensively. He made some errors and all that but offensively, you can see his swing and he controls the strike zone. He didn’t get hits but the at-bats were good. Defensively was the one where we were not disappointed, because they’re going to make errors, but he never got on track.

“He never took off this year. Let’s put it that way. But he’s still a good player. I won’t be surprised if somebody claims him or does something with him because he’s versatile. He can hit lefties.”

Reyes becomes the third member of Boston’s Opening Day roster to end up with Worcester just over a month into the season. Infielder Bobby Dalbec and relief pitcher Joely Rodríguez already made their way to the WooSox.

The Red Sox also outrighted a pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez to Worcester after designating him for assignment last week as well. Gutierrez was acquired via trade with the Milwaukee Brewers in mid-April.