Red Sox Promote Jedixson Paez, Designate Brett Harris

The Red Sox announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Jedixson Paez from Triple-A Worcester. He’ll start tonight’s game in what will be his Red Sox debut. Infielder Brett Harris was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Boston also reinstated utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the 60-day injured list. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, they recalled injured left-hander Eduardo Rivera and placed him on the major league 60-day IL.

Paez, 22, signed as a teenager out of his native Venezuela at the beginning of the 2021 international free agent signing period. He actually made his major league debut with another club earlier this season, however; the White Sox selected Paez in last December’s Rule 5 Draft. He wound up breaking camp with the club but was cut loose after only three innings. Paez then cleared waivers and was returned to the Red Sox.

Because he’d been a Rule 5 pick, Paez did not need to be immediately added back to the 40-man roster. However, he’s pitched his way there with a nice showing for Boston’s top two affiliates. In a combined 61 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, Paez has a 4.11 earned run average, 30.8% strikeout rate and microscopic 2.9% walk rate. He’s been on a roll lately, working to a 3.24 ERA with a 25-to-2 K/BB ratio across his past 16 2/3 frames.

The Sox had been managing Paez’s workload throughout the season, generally limiting him to four innings per appearance, but he ramped up in August and has made a pair of five-inning starts in the past month — including five near-perfect innings against the Yankees’ Triple-A club on Aug. 25. Paez allowed a solo home run in that start but didn’t permit any other baserunners to reach. He punched out eight of the 16 batters he faced.

Paez ranks 15th among Red Sox farmhands at FanGraphs. He’s 21st at MLB.com and 22nd at Baseball America. He draws praise for plus command — as one can glean from his tiny minor league walk rate — but also generates skepticism due to his lack of size and velocity. Paez is listed at 6’1″ and 170 pounds. His four-seamer is sitting 92.8 mph in Triple-A this season and tops out around 94 mph. That average fastball velocity will probably dip a bit as he more frequently works outings longer than the two- to four-inning stints that have populated his 2026 game log. His changeup is regarded as his best pitch and only above-average offering, but Paez also mixes in a cutter, slider and sinker.

As for the 28-year-old Harris, he only appeared in one game with Boston after coming over from the A’s in a July 1 trade that sent minor league righty Ben Hansen back to the Athletics. The Sox were looking to add some depth to a banged-up infield and pounced on Harris after he’d been designated for assignment over in West Sacramento.

Harris has played in parts of three major league seasons but hasn’t hit much. He’s a .192/.307/.286 hitter in 216 trips to the plate. The Gonzaga product has drawn walks at a stout 11.6% clip in his limited big league time and has a roughly league-average strikeout rate, but he’s also posted bottom-of-the-scale marks for exit velocity and hard-hit rate.

Although Harris hasn’t hit much in the majors, he’s a career .284/.382/.451 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons — a total of 1026 plate appearances. That includes a .293/.405/.459 slash in 310 plate appearances this season. He’s a right-handed hitter who’s spent the vast majority of his career at third base but has experience at all four infield positions (albeit only 52 innings at shortstop).

The Red Sox will now place Harris on waivers. It’s possible another club will pick him up as a depth option, though he wouldn’t be postseason-eligible with a new club and will be out of minor league options next year.