The Red Sox have added another arm, acquiring righthanded reliever Mauricio Llovera from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Marques Johnson, a prospect who pitched for Single-A Salem. The Red Sox made room for Llovera on their 40-man roster by moving reliever Kaleb Ort to the 60-day injured list.
This trade comes amid the Red Sox’ reported desire to add another righthanded reliever. It’s not yet clear whether Llovera satisfies that need, but he will almost certainly have the opportunity to prove himself. He is out of minor league options, meaning he has to stay with the Red Sox unless he gets designated for assignment or moves to the IL..
Llovera’s acquisition provides Boston with a fresh arm in the bullpen. Adding him, along with Triple-A relievers Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman in Tuesday’s Kike Hernandez trade, gives the Red Sox additional security and depth. But who is Llovera, and what does he have to offer?
Llovera was on a hot streak in the majors before the Red Sox acquired him.
Llovera had big league experience prior to this season, but struggled. He tallied a 9.45 ERA in six games with the Phillies in 2021 and a 4.41 ERA in 17 games with the Giants last year. He fared well in Triple-A posting a 3.92 ERA through 20⅔ innings for the Sacramento River Cats to start the season.
On July 6, the Giants gave Llovera a second chance, and he made the most out of it. In five games, Llovera notched a 1.69 ERA and 1.125 WHIP with 5 strikeouts in 5⅓ innings pitched.
The only reason he’s no longer with the Giants is not because of his production, but roster constraints. They had to make room on their 26-man roster for the return of Luke Jackson, whosuffered a back injury. Llovera was the odd man out, and since he was out of minor league options, the Giants had no choice but to DFA him.
In 2023 he’s relied on two pitches.
Llovera’s pitch of choicethis season has been his slider, but not by a large margin. He throws it 51.4 percent of the time, according to Statcast.
He also possesses a sinker, which he throws 48.6 percent of the time. It reaches about 95 miles per hour, which Baseball Savant puts in the 78th percentile in fastball velocity.
He has never pitched in the American League East.
Llovera has appeared in 29 career MLB games, none of which came against an AL East opponent, as he has spent his entire career in the National League.