Boston Red Sox Place Key Reliever on Injured List with Shoulder Injury
Hard throwing right-hander Tyron Guerrero has been a revelation for the Red Sox bullpen in 2026.
Video Transcript
What's up everyone?
Zach Coe here for Roundtable.
Ahead of Tuesday night's game against the Seattle Mariners, the Red Sox bullpen took a pretty big hit as they announced that right-handed reliever Tayron Guerrero was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
This move comes just a couple days after the bullpen finally started to get a little bit healthier with the return of Garrett Whitlock, who missed just over two weeks with right elbow inflammation.
Guerrero now joins fellow high-leverage arm Justin Slayton on the shelf.
After spending the 2025 season with the Chiba Lotte Mari- Marines of Japan's Nippon Professional League, Guerrero signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox ahead of the 2026 season.
And in his first Major League action since 2019, he has been a complete revelation for this Red Sox bullpen, posting a 326 ERA in 38 and two-thirds innings.
His big problem in his first three seasons in the big leagues was control.
He was walking 5.7 batters per nine innings, and he's really got that under control to go with his electric 100-plus mile-an-hour sinker.
He's walking only 1.6 batters per 9 in 2026, which is the 10th lowest rate among relievers with at least 30 innings pitched.
After posting a 216 ERA in his first 24 appearances of the season, he struggled lately, allowing eight earned runs in his last 13 and two-thirds innings of work, good for a 5.12 ERA.
It seems to me like this is just a classic case of the long Major League season wearing on a guy.
And similar to the injuries to Whitlock and Slayton, I wouldn't expect the concern here to be super high for Guerrero.
Chad Tracy hasn't met with the media since this move was made official, but it's likely that they're just looking to get the 35-year-old some rest and stocked up for the final, call it, 10 to 15 games of the regular season heading into the playoffs.
To take Guerrero's place on the active roster, the team recalled right-hander Wyatt Olds from Triple A.
