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Red Sox 6-foot-7, 275-pound call-up ‘opened’ Fenway Park this morning; ‘I couldn’t wait’
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- Red Sox 6-foot-7, 275-pound call-up ‘opened’ Fenway Park this morning; ‘I couldn’t wait’
BOSTON — Left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rivera arrived at Fenway Park on Wednesday hours before the time that the Red Sox told him to report.
“I was super early here,” Rivera said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “They told me to be here around noon and I got here around 9:30.”
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The staff joked with him about his punctuality.
“Like they say, I opened the ballpark,” Rivera said.
Rivera, a 22-year-old native of Puerto Rico, is a candidate to start Thursday’s game against the Yankees , manager Alex Cora said. The Red Sox promoted him from Triple-A Worcester and optioned Jack Anderson.
The southpaw stands at 6-foot-7, 275 pounds. His fastball has reached 98 mph this season.
“Hard thrower. He’s been under the radar the last few years,” Cora said. “He’s a kid from back home that he loves the game.”
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He began the year at Double-A Portland where he allowed just one run, six hits and three walks while striking out 16 in 10 innings over two starts. Boston promoted him to Worcester on Sunday. Less than 48 hours later, around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, he learned he was headed to the majors.
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“I was there only to throw like a bullpen and then I was here,” Rivera said.
Rivera has held opponents to a .175 batting average in 28 outings (21 starts) at Low-A, High-A and Double-A since Boston signed him in June 2024 after the Athletics surprisingly released him.
“Obviously it was a very emotional journey for me,” Rivera said. “At the end of the day, it was very unexpected for me to be here and that’s why I’m so happy, so appreciative of this moment for me and for my family as well.”
And that’s why he arrived here so early this morning.
“The emotions,” Rivera said. “That’s a dream come true and something that I was dreaming of since I was a little kid. So thank God I’m here, and I couldn’t wait to be here in this clubhouse.”
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He said his dad, Eduardo, was the first person he called when he was promoted to Worcester and again when he was promoted to Boston. His dad — who had a big impact on his baseball career and took him to his games as a kid — is flying in from Puerto Rico for Wednesday night’s game.
“I can’t wait to see him in a couple hours,” Rivera said. “He’s going to be here. So I’m very excited to share this moment with him.”
His wife and brother will also be in attendance. Rivera also has some unexpected guests coming to support him.
“There is also a family that I met in Puerto Rico because of a dog so they’re also coming here,” Rivera said.
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Rivera elaborated.
“He’s a bat dog back (with) the team where I play in Winter League in Puerto Rico,” Rivera said. “We got close to the hosting family and every time I’m very stressed or whatnot, the dog ... will calm me down. So for them to be here is very nice.”
Rivera relies heavily on his four-seam fastball.
“I’m always attacking the hitter. I also let the catcher dictate what we’re gonna throw,” he said. “If we see that the batter is behind, we just go ahead and attack him with a fastball. If we see that he’s swinging a lot, we just try to attack him with the splitter or any other breaking pitch.”
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He watched Red Sox-Yankees games growing up. Now he might have a chance to start against them Thursday.
“It’s very exciting,” he said. “Since I was a little kid, I used to watch their games, the Red Sox and the Yankees. My favorite position player is David Ortiz and then the other side you have players like Derek Jeter , Alex Rodriguez . So for me to be here is very exciting.”
Rivera is available as a long reliever out of the bullpen Wednesday.
“Where we have right now, pitching wise, he can give his innings in the bullpen or we can use him as a situational lefty so we’ll see how it plays out,” Cora said.
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