Red Sox add 13 non-roster invitees to 2020 Spring Training roster

January 24th, 2020

BOSTON, MA -- The Boston Red Sox have added 13 non-roster invitees to the team’s 2020 Spring Training roster: catcher Roldani Baldwin; outfielders Rusney Castillo and Jarren Duran; infielders Chad De La Guerra, Marco Hernández, Tommy Joseph, and Josh Ockimey; right-handed pitchers Trevor Hildenberger, Tanner Houck, and Bryan Mata; and left-handed pitchers Brian Johnson, Daniel McGrath, and Bobby Poyner.

Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the announcement.

The Red Sox have now invited 21 players to Major League Spring Training camp as non-roster invitees.

Roldani Baldwin, C –  Baldwin, 23, suffered a broken ankle in spring training and spent the entire 2019 season on the injured list, appearing in five rehabilitation games with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Red Sox and three with Short-A Lowell. A right-handed hitter, he was named a 2017 South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star with Single-A Greenville and a 2018 Carolina League mid-season All-Star with High-A Salem. In 357 career minor league games, Baldwin has hit .268 (353-for-1,318) with 33 home runs. The Dominican native has thrown out 89 of 269 (33.1%) attempted base stealers, including 24 of 53 (45.3%) with Salem in 2018.

Rusney Castillo, OF – Castillo, 32, spent the entire 2019 season with Triple-A Pawtucket. He appeared in a career-high 120 games and batted .278 (128-for-460) with 17 home runs, 64 RBI, and nine outfield assists, making 82 starts in right field and 24 in center field. A right-handed hitter, Castillo earned International League mid-season and post-season All-Star honors following the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He has hit .325 (160-for-492) with an .843 OPS against left-handed pitching for the PawSox since being signed by Boston in August 2014. The Cuban native appeared in 99 major league games from 2014-16, making his first Opening Day roster in 2016.

Chad De La Guerra, INF – De La Guerra, 27, attended Major League Spring Training camp with the Red Sox in 2018 and 2019 as a non-roster invitee. The left-handed hitter spent all of last season with Triple-A Pawtucket and appeared in 61 games, hitting 13 home runs and recording career bests in batting average (.288), slugging percentage (.540), and OPS (.901). He made 30 starts at shortstop, 14 at second base, and 12 at third base. Selected by the Red Sox in the 17th round of the 2015 June Draft, De La Guerra has hit .265 (395-for-1,492) in 397 minor league games, earning mid-season All-Star selections in 2017 (Carolina League) and in 2015 (New York-Penn League).

Jarren Duran, OF – Duran, 23, spent the 2019 season with Salem and Portland and was named the organization’s Minor League Base Runner of the Year. Between the two clubs, the left-handed batter hit a combined .303 (157-for-519) with 24 doubles, eight triples, and 46 stolen bases. Following the regular season, Duran played in 24 games for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League and was selected to the Fall Stars Game, batting .267 (24-for-90) with nine RBI and seven stolen bases. Selected by Boston in the seventh round of the 2018 June Draft, Duran has hit .322 (258-for-802) with 38 doubles, 19 triples, eight home runs, 73 RBI, and 70 steals in 199 minor league games.

Marco Hernández, INF – Hernández, 27, played in 61 games over three stints with Boston in 2019, after missing most of 2017 and all of 2018 recovering from left shoulder surgery. Earlier this month, he earned the Comeback Player of the Year Award from the Boston Baseball Writers. The Dominican native hit .250 (37-for-148) with two home runs and 11 RBI last season, appearing defensively at second base (48 games, 29 starts) and shortstop (two games). Originally signed by the Cubs as an international free agent in 2009, Hernández made his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2016 and has hit .265 (68-for-257) with three home runs in 122 major league games.

Trevor Hildenberger, RHP – Hildenberger, 29, made at least 20 appearances for the Twins in each of the last three seasons, including a career-high 73 in 2018. Selected by Minnesota in the 22nd round of the 2014 June Draft, the right-hander is 9-11 with a 5.35 ERA (78 ER/131.1 IP) in 132 major league relief appearances during his career, having made the Twins’ Opening Day roster in 2018 and 2019. He split the 2019 season between Minnesota (22 games) and Triple-A Rochester (14 games), also making three rehab appearances with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Twins. In 141 career minor league outings—all in relief—he has posted a 1.90 ERA (41 ER/194.2 IP).

Tanner Houck, RHP – Houck, 23, split the 2019 season between Portland and Pawtucket and was named an Eastern League mid-season All-Star. The right-hander made 33 appearances (17 starts) and went 8-6 with a 4.01 ERA (48 ER/107.2 IP), and in his final 16 appearances for Pawtucket he posted a 3.24 ERA (9 ER/25.0 IP) with a .209 opponent batting average. Following the regular season, he made six starts for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League, going 3-2 with a 3.47 ERA (9 ER/23.1 IP), and joined C.J. Chatham and Bobby Dalbec on Team USA in the WBSC Premier12 tournament. Selected by Boston in the first round of the 2017 June Draft, Houck is 15-20 with a 4.08 ERA (113 ER/249.0 IP) in 66 career minor league appearances (50 starts).

Tommy Joseph, 1B – Joseph, 28, began the 2019 season with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization before signing with the Red Sox as a minor league free agent on August 1. After batting .274 (54-for-197) with nine home runs in 55 games for the LG Twins, he played in two injury rehabilitation games with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Red Sox and then spent the remainder of the season with Double-A Portland. Originally selected by the Giants in the second round of the 2009 June Draft, the right-handed hitter’s lone major league experience came from 2016-17 with the Phillies, when he played in 249 games and hit .247 (200-for-810) with 43 home runs.

Brian Johnson, LHP – Johnson, 29, made his second consecutive Opening Day roster with the Red Sox in 2019 but missed a majority of the season due to a pair of stints on the injured list. He posted a 6.02 ERA (27 ER/40.1 IP) in 21 appearances (7 starts), including a 3.68 ERA (3 ER/7.1 IP) in September. Selected by Boston in the first round of the 2012 June Draft, Johnson is 7-9 with a 4.74 ERA (90 ER/171.0 IP) in 65 career appearances (26 starts) since making his major league debut in 2015. Following the 2018 season, Johnson was the recipient of the Boston Baseball Writers’ annual Unsung Hero Award for his contributions to the World Series Championship club.

Bryan Mata, RHP – Mata, 20, made 21 starts between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland in 2019, going 7-7 with a 3.43 ERA (40 ER/105.0 IP). The right-hander posted a 1.75 ERA (10 ER/51.1 IP) and held opponents to a .201 batting average in 10 starts with Salem, before finishing the final two months of the season with Portland. Following the regular season, he appeared in eight games for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League and did not allow a run in five of his eight appearances, while holding opponents to a .156 batting average. Signed by Boston as an international free agent in 2016, Mata has appeared in 69 minor league games (all starts) and is 22-20 with a 3.40 ERA (119 ER/315.0 IP), 307 strikeouts, and a .242 opponent batting average.

Daniel McGrath, LHP – McGrath, 25, spent most of 2019 with Double-A Portland, also making his Triple-A debut with Pawtucket. The left-hander posted the lowest ERA (1.98) among qualifying Red Sox minor leaguers, going 7-1 with a .199 opponent batting average and a 1.09 WHIP in 29 outings (16 starts). From June 16-July 31, he pitched 41.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run between Portland and Pawtucket. Signed by Boston out of the Australian Baseball League in 2013, McGrath has spent the last seven seasons in the Red Sox organization, going 35-35 with a 3.62 ERA (258 ER/641.0 IP) in 166 appearances (107 starts).

Josh Ockimey, 1B – Ockimey, 24, spent the entire 2019 season with Triple-A Pawtucket and hit a career-high 25 home runs, second most among Red Sox minor leaguers. The left-handed hitter led Boston’s farm system with 82 walks, batting .204 (77-for-377) with an .811 OPS. Selected by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2014 June Draft, Ockimey has recorded a .360 on-base percentage in 579 career minor league games, including marks of .367 in 2016, .385 in 2017, .356 in 2018, and .353 in 2019. He has increased his slugging percentage from each season to the next, most recently from .455 in 2018 to .459 in 2019.

Bobby Poyner, LHP – Poyner made 13 relief appearances over three stints with Boston in 2019. The 27-year-old left-hander also pitched in 43 games for Pawtucket, posting a 3.77 ERA (24 ER/57.1 IP) with 26 scoreless outings. Selected by the Red Sox in the 14th round of the 2014 June Draft, Poyner made his major league debut in 2018 and has gone 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA (17 ER/34.0 IP) in 33 career appearances with the club. He has held major league left-handed hitters to a .184 batting average (7-for-38), zero home runs, three walks, and 10 strikeouts. Last September, lefties were 0-for-10 with one walk and three strikeouts against Poyner.

BOSTON RED SOX NON-ROSTER INVITEES (21)

PITCHERS (10): R.J. Alvarez, Trevor Hildenberger, Tanner Houck, Brian Johnson, Mike Kickham, Robinson Leyer, Bryan Mata, Daniel McGrath, Bobby Poyner, Domingo Tapia

CATCHERS (2): Roldani Baldwin, Jett Bandy

INFIELDERS (6): Chad De La Guerra, Marco Hernández, Tommy Joseph, Nick Longhi, Josh Ockimey, Jantzen Witte

OUTFIELDERS (3): John Andreoli, Rusney Castillo, Jarren Duran

BOSTON RED SOX 40-MAN ROSTER (40)

PITCHERS (24): Yoan Aybar, Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Colten Brewer, Austin Brice, Nathan Eovaldi, Matt Hall, Kyle Hart, Heath Hembree, Darwinzon Hernandez, Chris Mazza, Josh Osich, Martín Pérez, David Price, Denyi Reyes, Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Sale, Mike Shawaryn, Jeffrey Springs, Josh Taylor, Hector Velázquez, Marcus Walden, Ryan Weber, Brandon Workman

CATCHERS (2): Kevin Plawecki, Christian Vázquez

INFIELDERS (9): Jonathan Arauz, Xander Bogaerts, C.J. Chatham, Michael Chavis, Bobby Dalbec, Rafael Devers, Tzu-Wei Lin, Dustin Pedroia, José Peraza

OUTFIELDERS (5): Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., J.D. Martinez, Marcus Wilson