The Twins have claimed reliever Austin Davis off waivers from the Red Sox, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Davis had been designated for assignment on Sunday.
The 29-year-old left-hander spent some time with the Phillies and Pirates to begin his career. The Red Sox acquired him from the Bucs in a July 2021 trade that sent Michael Chavis to Pittsburgh. After the trade, Davis put up a 4.86 ERA in 16 2/3 innings, along with a 22.7% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 47.1% ground ball rate. This year, he has a 5.47 ERA through 54 1/3 innings, striking out 24% of batters but walking 11.4% of them.
Boston decided to shake up their struggling bullpen recently, with Davis among those to get the cut. The Twins had an open spot on their 40-man roster and used it to pick him up. Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 tomorrow, which should make it easy for Davis to fit in there. He will join Caleb Thielbar and Jovani Moran as lefty options out of Minnesota’s bullpen. Because he has joined the club’s 40-man roster prior to tonight’s 11:59pm ET postseason eligibility deadline, he will have the chance to earn a spot on the club’s playoff team. That will likely involve him having improved results in his new uniform, in addition to the Twins gaining ground in the Wild Card race, where they are currently three games behind the Blue Jays for the last spot.
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