The Boston Red Sox acquired middle infielder Luis Urías from the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. Ron Schwane/Associated Press
The Red Sox made just one trade at Tuesday’s deadline and it was a minor deal. They acquired 26-year-old infielder Luis Urías in a trade with the Brewers.
Boston sent minor league pitching prospect Bradley Blalock to Milwaukee.
Urías, a right-handed hitter, has struggled this season. He batted only .145 with a .299 on-base percentage, .236 slugging percentage, .535 OPS, one homer, two doubles, five runs, five RBI, seven walks and 15 strikeouts in 20 games (68 plate appearances) for Milwaukee. He was optioned to Triple-A Nashville on June 29 and has slashed .233/.345/.379/.725 in 29 games there.
Urías has shown some power potential in the past. He slashed .249/.345/.445/.789 with 23 homers, 25 doubles, one triple with 77 runs, and 75 RBI in 150 games (570 plate appearances) for Milwaukee in 2021. He had a .239/.335/.404/.739 line with 16 homers, 17 doubles, 54 runs and 47 RBI in 119 games (472 plate appearances) last year.
He has made starts at third base, shortstop and second.
Boston made three trades over the last week. They sent Kiké Hernández back to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for a pair of pitching prospects, and acquired reliever Mauricio Llovera from the San Francisco Giants.
Why not add more pitching to an injury-ravaged roster that’s been forced to deploy bullpen games multiple nights each week? Red Sox President of Baseball Operations President Chaim Bloom reiterated several times that the organization decided to “prioritize the right things” this year, and wouldn’t “make moves just to make moves,” emphasizing that “selling out for rentals” wasn’t prudent.
“We were engaged on a lot of different players,” he said. “Obviously, it takes two to tango.”
BOSTON RED SOX pitcher Chris Sale labored a bit but posted two scoreless inning in a rehab start for Worcester against the Syracuse Mets at NBT Bank Stadium.
The lefty was yanked in the bottom of the third inning when he hit his 40-pitch limit. He was facing leadoff hitter Jose Peraza at the time, with a 2-2 count.
Sale gave up one hit, walked two and fanned three. Twenty-six of his 40 pitches were strikes. He hit the mid-90s at times and snapped off his slider with major-league movement.
Sale, a seven-time All-Star who helped Boston win the World Series in 2018, suffered a left shoulder injury on June 1.
Sale looked crisp in the first inning, delivering eight of his 11 pitches for strikes. He gave up a one-out double to Ronny Mauricio but then retired the next two hitters to get out of the jam.
But Sale walked Carlos Cortes and Luke Ritter to start the second frame. Sale then fanned Tomas Nido, got Jose Peraza to fly out and struck out Nick Meyer to end the inning.
Sale is also expected to pitch Sunday, when Worcester wraps up a six-game series against the Mets.
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