Red Sox move on from Franklin German, reliever with upside to carve out a role in a MLB bullpen
The Red Sox made another surprising move on Monday afternoon, designating righty Franklin German for assignment. The move allowed the Red Sox to add new lefty Richard Bleier to the 40-man roster. Bleier was acquired from the Marlins for recently DFA’d reliever Matt Barnes.
Boston now has seven days to trade, waive or release German.
It’s unlikely that German will clear waivers allowing the Red Sox sneak him back into the minors.
The hard-throwing right-hander made his major league debut this past season after dominating the minors. His five game stint in the major’s didn’t go to plan, posting a 18.00 ERA with four strikeouts, 2.75 WHIP in four innings of work.
German’s final appearance of the season was his best here he tossed a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.
The former fourth-round pick of the Yankees was 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA, with 64 strikeouts, two holds, seven saves in 43 games over 49 2/3 innings in Double-A and Triple-A.
German should have trade value for a team looking for someone who protects has a relief prospect that could help a team in 2023. He was arguably the Red Sox top relief pitching prospect options last season. Which makes his DFA puzzling when other options remain on the 40-man roster.
While at the Red Sox Rookie Development Program at Fenway Park, German was asked what he learned from last season?
“It was definitely good to get out there … kind of take a punch or two and just know that, in the big leagues, you’ve got to be available every day,” He said. “Just bounce back from that no matter what. This offseason, I’ve really just been focusing on throwing strikes, commanding the zone. … Walks are going to kill you, especially in the big leagues. I mean, you saw it there my first outing. Couple of walks, couple of base hits, and before you know it there’s a four-spot. So, definitely limiting base runners, making them put the ball in play, or just being around the zone in general is the biggest thing when it comes to being a reliever in the big leagues, in my opinion.”
German should land with a club where he will get a legitimate chance to stick around on a pitching staff for 2023. With his three pitch-mix and 95-to-97 mph fastball, if German can find consistency and command on a regular basis, he will be able to carve a full-time role out in a major league bullpen.
Unfortunately it will not be with the Red Sox and the usual suspects that could have been designated for assignment stick around for the upcoming season.
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