Why Red Sox Promoted Hard-Throwing Reliever, DFA’d Rich Hill

Rich Hill's fourth, and possibly final, stint with the Boston Red Sox lasted just four appearances.

The Red Sox on Friday designated for assignment the 44-year-old lefty, who signed with Boston in mid-August, and called up hard-throwing reliever Luis Guerrero.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora explained the reasoning behind the decision with Boston switching out a savvy veteran for a right-handed bullpen arm with no big league experience who can throw near triple digits.

"I think it's more about Guerrero than anything else," Cora told reporters prior to the series opener against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park. "He's throwing the ball well, throwing a lot of strikes, generating swings and misses and we felt like it was time to get him here.

"With Rich, obviously, tough one. Everybody feels (the same way) about him as part of the organization. He's going to be a Red Sox for life. I think it's smart for us to start getting guys here that can contribute now and obviously in the future.''

Guerrero, who Boston selected in the 17th round of the 2021 draft out of Chipola junior college, first garnered attention in the Red Sox farm system when he made a trip to the All-Star Futures Game alongside Marcelo Mayer last season.

The 24-year-old was solid over 42 appearances with Triple-A Worcester this season, posting a 5-3 record with a 3.31 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a .198 batting average against. Guerrero's most impressive statistic is his strikeout numbers as he fanned 79 batters in 54 1/3 innings.

Guerrero has struggled with his command at times in his career but found a groove as of late. He allowed just three runs and compiled 23 strikeouts and seven walks in 13 1/3 innings in the month of August.

Guerrero certainly will bring a different approach out of the bullpen than Hill, who only tossed 3 2/3 innings with Boston before getting designated for assignment.

"He's throwing a lot of strikes now, inducing to a lot of swing and misses," Cora said of Guerrero. "Something clicked the last month, similar to (Cam) Booser last year and he found his lane. Obviously, this is different (in the big leagues) -- the third deck and the lights and TV and everything that comes with it. But we feel pretty confident that the stuff is going to play here."