Red Sox Place Mitch Moreland On IL; Add Two New Arms To Bullpen Mix
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox placed their home run leader on the Injured List on Wednesday. Mitch Moreland will be out of the mix for the next 10 days with a lower back strain.
Moreland leads Boston with 13 homers and a .550 slugging percentage this season, and ranks second on the team in RBIs with 34. But he's been slumping over the last few weeks, hitting just .219 with one homer and five RBIs over his last 15 games.
The Red Sox also sent down reliever Travis Lakins after a rough performance on Tuesday, when the 24-year-old righty allowed two ninth-inning runs off three walks and a hit in a 7-5 loss to the Indians. Lakins was tagged with the loss on Tuesday night, and has a 6.43 ERA over four appearances with Boston this season.
With their two open roster spots, the Red Sox recalled lefty reliever Josh Taylor and right-hander Colten Brewer in hopes of bolstering their bullpen. Brewer was on Boston's Opening Day roster and has made 20 appearances in the Majors this season, touting a 5.32 ERA with 21 strikeouts and 11 walks over 22 innings.
This is the first appearance on an active Major League roster for Taylor, who was acquired by Boston from Arizona as the player to be named later for the Deven Marrero. The 26-year-old made 19 relief appearances for the PawSox this season, going 1-1 with a 2.91 ERA and 29 strikeouts. He has a 4.39 ERA over 154 Minor League appearances for the Phillies, Diamondbacks and Red Sox organizations.
