The Boston Red Sox now have more to deal with on top of being one of the worst teams in the MLB.
On Thursday they lost a starting pitcher and their starting second baseman.
Joe Kelly was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket due to his recent struggles and Dustin Pedroia landed on the 15-day disabled list because of a right hamstring strain, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe and Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.
Along with those two moves, the Red Sox also designated catcher Erik Kratz for assignment and called up outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., infielder Devin Marrero and reliever Jonathan Aro from Pawtucket.
Kelly was 2-5 with a 5.67 ERA and 1.50 WHIP before the demotion and his outing on Tuesday was perhaps the last straw. The right-hander surrendered five earned runs on eight hits and two walks in just 3 2/3 innings of work against the Baltimore Orioles.
"According to manager John Farrell, the Red Sox will start Justin Masterson in Sunday's game vs. the Rays at Tropicana Field, but the manager did not commit beyond that start," writes Cafardo.
Kelly has been erratic all season and it was speculated he could be moved to the bullpen or sent down to the minors for some time to regain his composure. Masterson, who came off the DL this week and joined the bullpen in place of Steven Wright, will return to the rotation for now.
As for Pedroia, the veteran injured his hamstring running the bases after hitting a two-run single last night. He underwent "advanced imaging" after the game, according to MLB.com, and it was determined he suffered a strain.
Manager John Farrell said he hopes Pedroia won't require more than 15 days on the DL, but it's much too early to tell if that will be the case.
"He's the heart and soul of our team, in the short description of it," Farrell told Edes. "The way he plays, what he means in the clubhouse, what he means on the field with his performance, probably having a career year to date, hopefully this is on the shorter end of the time missed.
"In other words, after the 15 days hopefully he comes back to us, but there's no projected date on his return. He'll be back as soon as he's capable."
We'll be keeping updates on Kelly and Pedroia as well as the state of the starting rotation and infield when more information is known.
