MLB Rumors: Cubs after Goldschmidt, Braves-Pirates trade, Red Sox help ‘pen

MLB Rumors: Red Sox make two trades to upgrade bullpen depth

Hitting has not been the reason why the Boston Red Sox are at the bottom of the AL East standings. Alex Cora’s club ranks eighth in the league in team batting average and seventh in team OPS on the season thus far.

It’s been another story when it comes to pitching, though. Brayan Bello has emerged as a bonafide future star but, between injuries and a poorly constructed overall roster, they have struggled on the bump, ranking 20th in team ERA and 18th in team WHIP. To put it plainly, it’s been the thing keeping the Red Sox from being a playoff team as opposed to a middling club.

Chaim Bloom, for his faults, is working to improve that situation a little more than a month out from the deadline.

On Thursday, June 22, Boston traded for reliever Tayler Scott from the Dodgers, sending him to Triple-A Worcester. Then, on Tuesday, the club also traded for Royals minor-league reliever Andrés Nuñez. The return for Nuñez has yet to be revealed but it’s expected to be similar to the cash considerations the Red Sox sent to Los Angeles for Scott.

All told, Scott and Nuñez are far from high-end options that will immediately bolster the bullpen in Boston. In fact, you could say it’s far from that. Scott is intriguing after posting a 1.37 ERA over 19 appearances in Triple-A prior to the trade while Nuñez has struggled with an ERA north of 6.00 this season, though he flashed big time a year ago.

At the same time, though, one key area the Red Sox struggled mightily in recent years during the summer was with having options to turn to in order to be able to shake up the bullpen. Scott and Nuñez are relatively seasoned and could indeed offer that. With the additions that we’ve seen Bloom already make prior to these moves to address the bullpen, there is reason to believe these latest trades could be valuable for Boston down the stretch.