Pat Light Rejoins Red Sox; Rodriguez Demoted

The struggling Red Sox pitching staff will look for help from fireball pitcher, Pat Light.

If– before the season– you had Steven Wright, Sandy Leon, and Travis Shaw as core Red Sox players for the 2016 season, you’re lying. Ditto with Bryce Brentz, Heath Hembree and (to some extent) even Jackie Bradley Jr. Today, a new “Light” shines on the Red Sox roster. (Or, because no other pictures were available, he’s sort of just peeking over at the mess the Red Sox have made…)

Anyway, to help the beleaguered pitching staff, general manager Dave Dombrowski has called up reliever Pat Light to the Red Sox roster. Light pitched at Triple-A Pawtucket, used exclusively as closer or late reliever after being converted from starter in 2014. During Light’s time with the Red Sox in April (his Major League debut), he contributed only one inning on the mound, surrendering two runs on two hits.

Pat Light is a different breed of pitcher that the Red Sox do not have on the active roster. Light’s fastball touches the low-100 MPH range; during his time in Boston in April, he hit 101 MPH multiple times. Light, unlike several of the Red Sox pitchers who have been called up, has three decent pitches; aside from his explosive fastball, he has a heavy, mid-90’s sinker and a nasty splitter. Unfortunately, he has had issues with walks (after walking nine batters in his first 14+ innings), but has seemingly corrected them.

Light was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft. The 6’5”, 220 right-handed 25-year-old is a New Jersey native who attended Monmouth University (NJ). During his four seasons in the Red Sox minor league system, Light has pitched 286 innings, posting a 4.41 ERA and striking out 236 hitters. Today, Light will operate out of the bullpen at least for the remainder of the Tampa Bay Rays series (which concludes tomorrow afternoon).

In a corresponding move, the Red Sox have sent pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez down to Triple-A Pawtucket. Rodriguez was absolutely pummeled by the Rays last night; he surrendered 11 hits in just 2+ innings, giving up nine runs.

Frustration began to mount during the game, as the Sox lost their fourth game out of their last five. While Rodriguez was on the mound, he was scolded by 2B Dustin Pedroia; Pedroia apparently did not like Rodriguez’ negative body language, Rodriguez was removed from the game quickly after. After the game, Pedroia refused to address the conflict before heading into a team meeting to vocalize their opinions. Red Sox manager John Farrell spoke with the team after the players-only portion of the meeting concluded. Could the Red Sox be sinking further into disarray?

Next: Mike Miller Debuts with Boston Red sox

Keep it locked here at Chowder and Champions for continued Red Sox coverage.