The Red Sox formally recalled Jake Bennett from Triple-A Worcester on Friday and will send him straight into the middle of the American League race. Bennett is scheduled to start against the visiting Astros on Friday night in his major league debut.
The move fills the roster spot created when utilityman Nate Eaton was optioned after the previous game, and it gives Boston a look at one of the organization’s fastest-rising arms. Bennett entered the season ranked by Baseball America and MLB.com as the club’s No. 6 prospect after the Red Sox acquired him from the Nationals in an offseason trade that sent right-hander Luis Perales the other way.
He earned the promotion by throwing 21 innings over five starts for Worcester with a 0.86 ERA. In that span, Bennett struck out 20.3% of the hitters he faced, walked 3.8% and produced a 58.9% ground-ball rate. He sits at 93 mph with his fastball and works with six pitches: a four-seamer, changeup, cutter, sinker, curveball and slider. He was added to a 40-man roster for the first time in November and is in the first of three minor league option years.
Bennett’s arrival comes as Boston keeps patching together a rotation that has been hit hard by injuries. Garrett Crochet was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, Sonny Gray is out with a hamstring strain and Johan Oviedo with a flexor strain. Patrick Sandoval, Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck are still working back from earlier injuries, while Tyler Uberstine is on the minor league injured list because of shoulder discomfort.
For now, the Red Sox have Ranger Suarez, Brayan Bello, Connelly Early and Payton Tolle in the rotation, and Bennett’s first test will come against an Astros lineup that offers no easing-in period. Boston’s internal answer to the injury pileup is a prospect with a 60-grade command profile and a broad mix that has already carried him from Worcester to a debut start under the lights at Fenway.
The question after Friday is whether Bennett can turn a temporary opening into a lasting place in the rotation. If he can match the control and ground-ball profile that got him here, the Red Sox may have found more than an emergency fill-in.
