Red Sox activate newly acquired righty Mauricio Llovera, option left-handed reliever to Triple-A
The Red Sox made a roster move prior to Saturday night’s game against the Giants, activating right-hander Mauricio Llovera and optioning lefty Joe Jacques to Triple-A Worcester.
Llovera was acquired on Wednesday from Giants after he was designated for assignment by his former team. The Sox sent right-handed minor league pitcher Marques Johnson back to San Francisco to complete the deal.
The 27-year-old has split time between both the Giants and Triple-A the season. He has allowed one earned run in 5 1/3 innings in the big leagues and owns a 1.69 ERA. The righty posted a 3.97 ERA while recording 29 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings (Triple-A).
Alex Cora told reporters before the game that he plans to use his new righty in middle relief before the likes of Josh Winckowski, John Schreiber, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen.
“We’ll see where we’re at late in the game,” Cora said. “Good sinker, good slider. We’ll make sure he gets his feet wet here. We needed a righty and we got one. We feel like if he can execute what we want, he’s going to be able to get people out.”
Jacques will return to the WooSox after pitching in the bigs for about two months. The left-hander posted a 4.86 ERA (9 earned runs in 16 ⅔ innings) while striking out 13 batters. While pitching for the Red Sox, lefties hit .444 (12-for-27) with a 1.259 OPS against him while righties recorded a .652 OPS off Jacques.
Cora expects Jacques to be back with Boston again before the end of the regular season.
“He was great. Another tough decision because we’ve got good players,” Cora said. “We made a big deal out of the save in Toronto, but you can see the stuff, the angle. He’s not afraid. He’s not scared. It was a tough one but like I told him, ‘Keep working on the things you’ve been working on here.’ He’ll be ready. At one point, I do believe he’s going to be part of this again.”
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