NEW YORK — The Red Sox placed top reliever Chris Martin on the 15-day injured list Friday because of a sore elbow. They recalled Cam Booser to take his spot despite the lefty struggling recently at Triple-A Worcester.
Boston optioned Booser back there June 24. He allowed five runs (all earned) on nine hits in 2 ⅓ innings over two outings.
“He actually got hit pretty hard down there but we knew he was going to be back,” manager Alex Cora said before Boston’s game against the Yankees on Friday. “Scouting reports come into play and the right matchups. ... We’ll find good matchups for him. He’s good against lefties and righties and he’s going to help us.”
The 32-year-old Booser has a 3.21 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 33 strikeouts and six walks in 26 outings (28 innings) with Boston this season.
Boston chose the lefty against a Yankees team with a lot of left-handed hitters. The Sox have four righties — Naoyuki Uwasawa, Brad Keller, Cooper Criswell and Isaiah Campbell — on the 40-man at Worcester.
“We’ll mix and match,” Cora said. “We’ve got some capable guys. Obviously there’s a few guys down today. But they (the Yankees) have a different lineup now. They’ve got a bunch of lefties. So I think Bernie (Brennan Bernardino), Booz and (Bailey) Horn have a chance to be big in the series.”
The Red Sox might stick with the three left-handed relievers throughout next week at home when they play three games against the Athletics and three games against the Royals before the All-Star Break.
“We’ll go series by series,” Cora said. “We’ve got them (the Yankees). They have a bunch of lefties now. We’ve got Oakland who has got a bunch of lefties. And then Kansas City, too. I think it changes after the All-Star Break but hopefully by that time we’re healthy again.”
Cora is hopeful Martin’s injury is minor.
“We’ll know more over the course of the weekend,” Cora said. “He didn’t feel great after the last one. Kind of felt sluggish and felt some pain. We feel like this is something minor. But obviously where we’re at in the season with the day off on Monday and the All-Star Break, it doesn’t make sense to push him out there and we lose him for a longer period of time. So that’s the move.”