Latest news with #Slaten
Time of India
5 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
'I just don't know': Alex Cora called out for overusing bullpen after strange Red Sox injury
Alex Cora called out for overusing bullpen after strange Red Sox injury (Image via Getty) Boston Red Sox fans are starting to worry as unexpected pitching problems come to light. The team's bullpen has been used a lot this season, and now one of their key relief pitchers is hurt again. People are beginning to ask serious questions. Is manager Alex Cora overworking his bullpen, and is it starting to show in the worst possible way? Alex Cora's heavy bullpen use questioned after Justin Slaten's injury update Reliever Justin Slaten of the Boston Red Sox disclosed on Saturday, June 8, 2025, that he is once more battling an injury. According to The Boston Globe, the 27-year-old right-hander, who was nearing a comeback from the injured list, is now undergoing treatment for discomfort in his neck and right shoulder. He said the issue is challenging to describe but might have a connection to nerves. 'I could wake up tomorrow and it's gone, or maybe not,' Slaten said. 'There's no set date. It's really just day to day.' This mystery injury has raised alarms because Slaten pitched in 12 of Boston's 28 games in May. In seven of those games, he threw multiple innings. With the team's starting pitchers struggling to last five innings, Alex Cora has often had to use relievers like Slaten early and often. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Now fans and analysts are wondering if that constant workload is starting to break down the bullpen. Even though Slaten says he doesn't think the usage caused the injury, it's hard to ignore the timing. Also Read: What Alex Cora Revealed About Alex Bregman's Significant Injury And How It Changes Red Sox's Plans Justin Slaten's comments spark concern as Red Sox bullpen shows signs of burnout Justin Slaten's injury comes at a time when the Red Sox bullpen has already faced 1,115 batters this season, one of the highest numbers in the league as of mid-June. Slaten told The Boston Globe, 'We were all throwing a lot, and it flared up in that moment. I don't think it was the cause, just bad timing.' 'Unfortunately, there is not a timetable right now. We're not trying to keep anybody in the dark. I just don't know and they don't know. It truly is as day-to-day as day-to-day can be,' he further added. Presently fourth in the AL East, the Red Sox have a record of 36–36. With a 4. 03 team ERA, they are 19th in Major League Baseball. The team has also given up 71 home runs, a sign that opponents are hitting them hard. One of the few bright spots has been rookie Hunter Dobbins, who has a 3.74 ERA in 11 games. But overall, Boston's pitching has been below expectations, and fans are pointing fingers mostly at Cora's bullpen strategy.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Red Sox Get Bad News on ‘High Leverage' Relief Ace
Red Sox Get Bad News on 'High Leverage' Relief Ace originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Boston Red Sox can point to a wide array of problems to explain their disappointing, 32-36 season so far, ahead of Tuesday's matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays. Starting pitching has certainly been a major problem. Advertisement But the bullpen hasn't been great either, with a 3.58 ERA that ranks 12th in MLB, and 14 blown saves, more than any other team. Many of the bullpen's problems can be traced to overuse. The Red Sox played 28 games in May, and starting pitchers failed to make it through five innings in half of them. On the season, the Boston bullpen has faced 1,115 batters. That's sixth-most in baseball. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora (13) looks on against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fifth inning at Tropicana Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images Since May 28, the bullpen has only been more stretched because second-year reliever Justin Slaten has not pitched since then. He has been on the injured list with 'right shoulder inflammation. 'Slaten was used primarily in 'high leverage' situations, often taking the eighth inning to get the game to closer Aroldis Chapman. Advertisement In fact, 18 of Slaten's 24 appearances came in what were defined as 'high leverage' situations. But Slaten also showed himself capable of closing games, too. He recorded three saves in his first 24 appearances, though he was also charged with four blown saves. When the 2023 Rule 5 draft pick was first placed on the IL, he shrugged it off, saying that he would be back in the minimum allowable amount of time. 'Just having a little bit of fatigue right now,' Slaten said at the time. 'I don't think it's anything super serious, but kind of had some stuff nagging for a little bit now, and think it just kind of caught up to me.' But on Tuesday, manager Alex Cora delivered some difficult news about Slaten's progress — or lack of it — unfortunately contradicting Slaten's earlier optimism. Advertisement Slaten's recovery has been 'slower than we expected, let's put it that way,' Cora told the media prior to Tuesday's game at Fenway Park. 'He hasn't reacted to treatment the way we expected.' As of Tuesday, Slaten remained shut down, meaning he had not resumed even light throwing activities. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Red Sox' Justin Slaten describes shoulder injury, gives timeline for return
ATLANTA — The Red Sox bullpen took another hit Sunday, but the team is hopeful Justin Slaten's shoulder injury won't be a long-term thing. Boston placed Slaten on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 29, with right shoulder inflammation and recalled Luis Guerrero from the WooSox to take his place. Slaten hasn't pitched since Wednesday in Milwaukee. He described his IL stint, which can expire as soon as May 13, as precautionary. Advertisement 'Having a little bit of fatigue right now,' Slaten said. 'Don't think it's anything super serious but had some stuff nagging for a little bit now and it caught up to me that last little bit in Milwaukee. It's just a matter of getting ahead of it, taking care of it before something major could happen.' Slaten felt tiredness in his shoulder at different points in the last week and took notice of his velocity dropping in his outing Wednesday. His fastball, which has averaged 97 mph this year, was at 95.6 mph. The Red Sox were hopeful two days of rest would help him rebound, but the issue didn't abate. 'He has been grinding through it,' said manager Alex Cora. 'We gave him two days and yesterday he tried to play catch. He wasn't responding well and we have to protect him. Hopefully, something that he can come back right on time when the days are done. But obviously, we're gonna miss him.' As a rookie in 2024, Slaten missed more than a month in July and August with a forearm/elbow issue that he tried to pitch through. This time, he alerted team trainers to his shoulder soreness early in the process, allowing the club to get its arms around how to attack it. Slaten did not have an MRI. Advertisement 'Last year, I had some similar stuff where something had popped up but I didn't feel like it was necessarily affecting the performance,' Slaten said. 'It was more of a management thing. Eventually, it caught up and bit me in the ass so I think this is a matter of the same thing. 'Last year, I ended up missing a little over a month when we didn't think it was that serious. I think we're pretty confident this 15-day stint on the IL will give it plenty of time to calm down and I'll be fine.' With Boston's rotaton scuffling, Cora went to his bullpen early and often throughout May. Slaten, the primary setup man for closer Aroldis Chapman, pitched 13 innings over 12 games in the month, last pitching on back-to-back days Tuesday and Wednesday in losses to the Brewers. With Slaten and veteran Liam Hendriks (hernia-related issues) both now on the IL and Guerrero and Nick Burdi both called up, the group looks different than it did a week ago. Cora identified lefty Justin Wilson and righties Greg Weissert and Garrett Whitlock as eighth-inning options in Slaten's absence. Slaten has pitched well for Boston outside of a couple blow-up outings. He owns a 3.47 ERA (and 3.17 FIP) while striking out 16 batters in 23 ⅓ innings over 24 games. He had a string of 10 straight scoreless appearances dating back to May 4. More Red Sox coverage Read the original article on MassLive.
Boston Globe
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Justin Slaten goes on injured list with shoulder inflammation
Righthander Related : 'Just a matter of getting ahead of it and taking care of it before something major could happen,' Slaten said. During spring training, the Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'I told him [Saturday], I appreciate you being honest,' manager Alex Cora said. Advertisement Slaten has been the primary setup man for closer Greg Weissert and Justin Wilson will likely get much of the opportunity. So far, the Sox don't think Slaten needs an MRI. 'Just general fatigue, just get ahead of it,' he said. 'Give the shoulder a little time to calm down.' Slaten had a 3.47 earned run average over 24 appearances this season. He has allowed fewer hits per nine innings than last season but his walks are up and strikeouts down. Advertisement Change of plans The Sox were planning to give Abraham Toro for the third straight game. Toro was 2 for 4 with a run scored 'Toro's pushing the envelope,' Cora said. 'He's putting good at-bats.' As to when Campbell will play first, Cora said only that the coaches will keep working with him. Campbell started at second base and was 1 for 4. Shuffling the deck The Sox switched up utility players, calling up Nate Eaton and demoting Nick Sogard . Eaton, a righthanded hitter, hit .277 with an .810 OPS at Worcester and started games at every position except first base, catcher, and pitcher. Related : With lefthanders Tyler Anderson and Yusei Kikuchi scheduled to pitch for the Angels on Monday and Tuesday at Fenway Park, Eaton could be in the lineup. Eaton, who didn't play on Sunday, appeared in 72 games for the Royals from 2022-23 hitting .201 with a .549 OPS. He was signed as a minor league free agent in November. 'They just told me to be ready with the slate of guys we face coming up,' he said. 'Definitely nice being part of the Red Sox organization.' Sogard is a switch-hitter but the Sox wanted to get a look at Eaton. The graduate Richard Fitts graduated from Auburn recently, having completed his degree in business administration. He left school after three years to sign with the Yankees after being drafted in 2021 and finished up online. Fitts is scheduled to start Monday night in the first game of a three-game series against the Angels at Fenway Park. The Sox plan to use Hunter Dobbins for multiple innings in relief. Brayan Bello and Jarren Duran is hitless in his last 16 at-bats, dropping his OPS to .718 … The Sox are 11-6 at Truist Park since 2017, and again this weekend a good percentage of fans were rooting for the visiting team … To make room for Eaton on the 40-man roster, the Sox designated Triple A catcher Blake Sabol for assignment. He was 2 for 16 in eight games with the major league team earlier this season. Advertisement Peter Abraham can be reached at
New York Times
02-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Red Sox loss spoils Tanner Houck's start as Walker Buehler injury concern looms
TORONTO — For the second night in a row, the Boston Red Sox received a terrific performance from their starting pitcher only to watch the bullpen let a lead slip away late, resulting in another gut-punch of a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. On Thursday, Tanner Houck made his best start of the season — and perhaps his best start since the first half of last year — but a misplay from Wilyer Abreu in the eighth inning and a missed location on a curveball from reliever Justin Slaten turned a 2-1 Red Sox lead into a 4-2 loss in a matter of minutes. Advertisement The previous night, the Jays won in walk-off fashion after the Red Sox wasted a stellar season debut from Lucas Giolito, as the Jays mounted a comeback against Garrett Whitlock before Slaten took the loss in the 10th. It was a disappointing two nights for the Red Sox's normally reliable backend of the bullpen. 'That's part of baseball, right? We have two of our best relievers on the mound and it didn't happen,' manager Alex Cora said. 'I'm happy with the outing by Tanner. He did an outstanding job. But we didn't finish the game.' Over seven strong innings, Houck allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts and didn't issue a walk. He threw 86 pitches, 62 for strikes, registered 11 swings-and-misses. In the outing, he had the best velocity of his career, topping out at 97.5 mph. 'Felt better, kind of all around, especially in the delivery,' said Houck, who entered the game with a 7.58 ERA through his first six starts. 'Being a hyper-mobile guy, I need to really stay connected and in tune with the delivery to go out there and execute pitches and felt like (catcher Carlos Narváez) and I really worked well together today and stuck to the game plan all the way through.' Through the first six innings, Houck faced two batters over the minimum before running into a little trouble in the seventh. Daulton Varsho tucked a one-out, solo homer just inside the pole in left field to cut Boston's lead to 2-1. After inducing an Alejandro Kirk ground out, Houck hit Addison Barger and the Red Sox convened for a mound meeting before Houck buckled down and got Alan Roden to ground out to end the inning. He turned the game over to Slaten in the eighth, but for the second night in a row Slaten misfired. Slaten allowed a one-out single to Nathan Lukes before Abreu, a Gold Glove winning right fielder, misplayed a deep fly ball off the bat of Bo Bichette. Abreu got turned around on the play and fell down, resulting in a Bichette double that put two runners in scoring position. Advertisement 'It was a routine fly,' Abreu said through translator Carlos Villoria-Benetiz. 'It was a bad read on my part. There's not anything else I can say.' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then smashed a three-run homer off Slaten on a 3-2 curveball to flip the script on the game, turning the 2-1 lead into a 4-2 deficit. 'Super frustrating,' Slaten said. 'It's back-to-back nights where I felt like my stuff was as good as it has been in my life. I just didn't execute with two strikes. That's what it comes down to. You can't leave a slider in the middle of the plate to a good hitter like Bichette.' Outside of Alex Bregman's two-out, two-run double with the bases loaded in the fifth, the Red Sox offense was shut down once again for much of the game against Toronto starter José Berríos. Collectively, the Red Sox struck out 10 times and are now 5-13 in games where they had 10 strikeouts or more. They are 12-3 in games with fewer than 10 punch outs. The disappointing loss wasn't the only worrying development for the Red Sox as they head back to Boston following their 3-3 roadtrip. Prior to the game, Cora revealed starter Walker Buehler had not bounced back well from his start last weekend in Cleveland and had returned to Boston for testing on his shoulder. While Cora later downplayed the testing as precautionary and the injury as something the club was not overly concerned about on WEEI's pre-game radio show, it still represents a worrisome development for a pitcher who had Tommy John surgery in 2022, missing all of 2023 and the start of 2024 as he rehabbed. The results of Buehler's tests had not returned by the end of the game and Cora was uncertain if Buehler would need time on the injured list. For now, Brayan Bello was moved up to start on Friday with Garrett Crochet set to start on Sunday. Saturday's starter is to be determined. Advertisement If Buehler lands on the IL, Hunter Dobbins is likely to be recalled from Triple-A Worcester. Richard Fitts, who has been on the IL with a pectoral strain, is still only throwing on flat ground at 120 feet. If Buehler avoids an IL stint and instead is just skipped a turn in the rotation, the Red Sox may use a bullpen game on Saturday, with Sean Newcomb stretched out to start. Dobbins didn't make his scheduled start for Worcester on Wednesday, likely held back in case he's needed this weekend. Meanwhile, Kristian Campbell had been slated to start in center field on Thursday but was a late scratch with right rib discomfort. Cora said after the game Campbell is day-to-day after feeling the discomfort stretching before the game. The team decided to play it safe and keep him out of the lineup. Regardless, both developments marked areas of concern on another frustrating night for the Red Sox. (Photo of Abreu misplaying Bichette's double: Dan Hamilton / Imagn Images)
