Red Sox Prospect Update Suggests Incoming Prom

The Boston Red Sox are exploring every avenue to add to their bullpen.

On Tuesday, they optioned Jovani Moran to Triple-A Worcester and recalled Brennan Bernardino to the active roster. Moran struggled in each of his two major league outings this season.

One option they’ve been exploring is promoting David Sandlin to pitch out of the bullpen. Sandlin came up through the minors as a starter, but has been working in relief in Triple-A Worcester recently.

According to Tommy Cassell of Worcester T&G Sports, Worcester manager Chad Tracy said that Sandlin will work on back-to-back days for the first time this week. After that, Tracy hopes to have Sandlin be a regular member of the bullpen without predetermined appearances.

While the change doesn’t guarantee anything, in about two weeks, rosters expand to 28. If the Red Sox just wanted to see how Sandlin’s stuff looked in a single inning, they wouldn’t be insistent on having him ready to work multiple days in a row. The prospect could be an option for the 14th pitcher spot when rosters expand.

As a reliever, Sandlin has a 3.97 ERA over 22 2/3 innings in 2025. He’s struck out 25.5% of batters while walking 8.2%. Since being promoted to Triple-A, it hasn’t been as pretty. He’s allowed seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Entering Tuesday, the Red Sox bullpen has a 4.69 ERA in August. Their strikeout rate is the third-worst in baseball over that span at 18.8%.

While Sandlin isn’t guaranteed to succeed at the major league level, he could provide a shot in the arm for a struggling unit down the stretch. Justin Slaten also began a rehab assignment on Tuesday and could rejoin the group soon.