Home MLB Red Sox manager Alex Cora announces roster decisions; one bullpen spot remains open

Red Sox manager Alex Cora announces roster decisions; one bullpen spot remains open

MLB · March 26, 2025 · Comments off

The Red Sox bullpen is taking shape with two more pitchers informed they’ve made the Opening Day roster.

Right-handed relievers Zack Kelly and Greg Weissert will make the team, Alex Cora told reporters in Monterrey, Mexico, on Tuesday afternoon.

Kelly and Weissert will join Aroldis Chapman, Liam Hendriks, Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock, and Justin Wilson on the Opening Day roster. There is one more bullpen spot remaining to be filled; the team could go internally with either lefty Brennan Bernardino or righty Cooper Criswell. The team could also be scouring the waiver wire looking to scoop up a reliever that opted out of their deal in hopes of landing a Major League job.

Kelly finished the 2024 season with a 3.97 ERA in 49 outings (56 2/3 innings). He was dominant at times last season, but also struggled after the All-Star break and again in September. The righty saw his ERA jump from 2.58 to 3.97 in the final month of the Sox’ campaign.

“It was pretty frustrating,” Kelly said to MassLive in February. “Just because on Aug. 31 you’re sitting there with a two and a half ERA. And then all of a sudden you blink and you’re barely under a 4.00. And so, that’s how it is as a reliever. It was kind of a sour taste.”

Kelly took that “sour taste” and turned it into a motivator during this past offseason.

“I know I can compete, and I was happy with the year I had,” Kelly said. “I also had that motivation because I got my (expletive) kicked the last week of the season. So it was a really good mixture of both of those. I was able to parlay that into a really good offseason.”

This spring, Kelly pitched his way into the mix to win a spot in the Red Sox bullpen, allowing just two runs on four hits and walking one while striking out eight in 7 2/3 Grapefruit League frames.

Weissert experienced a fluctuating first season in Boston, alternating between the Red Sox and WooSox. He began the season with a strong start, registering a 1.96 ERA in his first 24 appearances. In his next 21 outings, he posted an ERA north of 6.00 and was sent down to Worcester to level set. The WooSox asked Weissert to move from the right side of the mound to the left side before he was recalled back to Boston. The righty didn’t allow an earned run in his final 17 outings (16 2/3 innings) last season.

Overall, Weissert had a promising camp outside of one outing where he was shellacked on the mound, giving up six runs while recording just two outs against the Orioles on March 17. Outside of that rough outing against Baltimore, he didn’t allow a run in seven of his eight outings. He only surrendered two hits in seven of those Grapefruit League appearances.

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