With their place in the postseason secure and their main starting pitchers ready to go, the Red Sox are calling in reinforcements to help get them through the final game of the regular season.
Veteran right-hander Jose De Leon was called up by the Red Sox on Sunday and will get the ball for Game 162. He will match up against Detroit’s Chris Paddack, who will look to help give the Tigers a chance to clinch the AL Central title.
To clear space on the active roster the Red Sox optioned left-hander Chris Murphy to Triple-A. The club already had a vacancy on the 40-man, so no additional moves were needed to bring up De Leon.
With his promotion De Leon will be appearing in his seventh MLB season, and Sunday will mark his first big league appearance since 2023. This year the 33-year-old has spent the entire season with Triple-A Worcester, posting a 6.93 ERA with 89 strikeouts over 75.1 innings.
His job for today? Pitch as deep into the game as possible.
While the Red Sox know they’ll start the playoffs on the road in the AL Wild Card round, the specifics won’t be determined until after Sunday’s games. Boston can clinch the second Wild Card spot and the AL’s No. 5 seed with a win or a Guardians loss, in which case the Red Sox would open against whichever of the Yankees or Blue Jays finishes as the top Wild Card team.
The Blue Jays can clinch the AL East with a win, while the Yankees can take the division title with a win and a Blue Jays loss.
If the Red Sox lose Sunday and the Guardians win, Boston would fall to the third Wild Card spot and the No. 6 seed, setting up a date with Cleveland in the first round.
Red Sox lineup
Jarren Duran LF
Trevor Story SS
Masataka Yoshida DH
Ceddanne Rafaela CF
Wilyer Abreu RF
Nathaniel Lowe 1B
Connor Wong C
David Hamilton 2B
Nick Sogard 3B
Jose De Leon P
How to watch
When: 3:05 p.m.
Where: Fenway Park, Boston
Broadcast info: NESN, WEEI 93.7 FM, WCCM 1490 AM (Spanish), WESX 1230 AM (Spanish)
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