Red Sox MiLB Notes: WooSox on the road in Iowa for the first time team history, veteran starter released from Triple-A, Payton Tolle back on mound for second start

The Red Sox made a minor roster move this week by releasing right-handed pitcher Robert Stock, according to the MLB transactions log.

Boston signed Stock to a minor league deal before the 2025 season, marking his second stint with the club. He first pitched for the Sox during the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season, where he logged a 4.73 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. He allowed seven runs on 16 hits with 14 strikeouts and 10 walks.

Stock had two brief cups of coffee with the Red Sox this season, recording a 10.13 ERA with four walks and one strikeout.

While with the WooSox this season, he pitched in 19 games, making 15 starts, going 5-4 with a 3.92 ERA in 85 innings. The Red Sox have begun to let go of some veteran pitchers on the WooSox roster as the club promotes their younger pitchers from Double-A Portland. 

Boston also released righty Wyatt Mills last week.

Worcester is on the road playing in Iowa for the first time in team history, beginning a six-game series with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate at Principal Park in Des Moines, IA.

The WooSox will not utilize right-handed pitcher Cooper Criswell in the starting rotation this week. Instead, Worcester will go with their younger pitching prospects, with Criswell serving in a long relief role.

The pitching probables for the WooSox are as follows for this week:

Tuesday: RHP Tyler Uberstine (2-3, 3.36 ERA)

Wednesday: LHP Kyle Harrison (3-2, 3.96)  

Thursday: LHP Connelly Early (1-0, 2.08)   

Friday: RHP Richard Fitts (2-1, 4.00)   

Saturday: LHP Payton Tolle (0-1, 9.00)

Sunday: RHP Tyler Uberstine (2-3, 3.36 ERA)

Uberstine is emerging as a player to watch in the Sox’ system who could be considered for a big league promotion. While with the WooSox, Uberstine has primarily been used as a starter, making eight starts and appearing in 12 games. He is 2-3 with a 3.36 ERA and one hold in 56 1/3 innings. The righty has 64 strikeouts to 19 walks and a 1.31 WHIP. He piggybacked in his last outing on August 7; he struck out eight and walked two in four innings of work.

Uberstine split time between the Sea Dogs and WooSox this season, and the strikeouts have been piling up.

“He was pretty much sitting at 95 (mph) against St. Paul,” Worcester skipper Chad Tracy said. “So the velocity’s kicking, and when he’s throwing 95 and he drops that breaking ball in there and a good changeup, like, it’s pretty darn effective, and it’s pretty intriguing.”

He’s faced adversity while in the Sox’ system, undergoing Tommy John in 2023, and has been back on the mound since 2024. Uberstine is now just one step away from the bigs and could help Boston out of the bullpen.

Tolle will make his second start for the WooSox this week after a rough Triple-A debut on Sunday at Polar Park. He allowed six runs (five earned) over five innings. His line was slightly deceiving because his issues were in the first inning of the outing. Tolle gave up a grand slam and a solo blast in the first inning. He settled down from his disastrous first inning and was saddled with the loss.

“[After] all the crap that happened there, I settled in a lot better,” Tolle told Worcester Telegram & Gazette. “Then finally in that fifth inning, I got to where we were on the offensive side of pitching, which was good.”

The 6-foot-6 and 250-pound southpaw is the Red Sox' top prospect in the system.

WOOSOX PLAYERS TO WATCH

- Kristian Campbell had his 15-game hitting streak snapped on Thursday, going 0-for-3 with a hit by pitch. It was the longest on the WooSox this season and the second longest in club history. He has hits in 16 of his last 19 games and has hit .353 over that span.

- Alex Hoppe has recorded six straight scoreless outings over his last eight innings pitched with eight strikeouts and two saves.

- Bryan Mata has not allowed an earned run in his last seven relief appearances, covering 11 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts.

- Vaughn Grissom is hitting .297 (33-for-111) with seven doubles, seven homers, 22 RBI, and 23 runs scored over his last 29 games. Despite that recent offensive tear, the Red Sox continue to overlook the versatile infielder for a big league promotion.

OTHER ROSTER NOTES

Boston demoted David Hamilton back to Triple-A Worcester in order to carry a third catcher on the roster.

The Red Sox activated catcher Ali Sánchez, who they claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays last week, due to the uncertainty around Carlos Narváez’s sore knee.

“Taking care of Narvy is important, understanding where he’s at physically,” Alex Cora said. “It makes sense. We’ll see how it goes... He’s playing, but let’s see how he reacts to it, and we’ll go from there.”

Jovani Morán is back in the big leagues after he was recalled from the WooSox. Boston added the lefty to their bullpen and optioned Chris Murphy back to Worcester.

Morán came over in a deal this winter from the Twins for catcher/infielder Mickey Gasper. 

The last time the southpaw pitched in the bigs was on Aug. 5, 2023, and he has been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

“It feels great. It feels amazing. It’s been very emotional,” Morán said. “Last night, I almost couldn’t sleep, thinking about the opportunity to be on the mound and do my job.”

Morán was with Worcester for about six weeks and during that time had a 3.44 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. He also struck out 26 (and walked just three) in 18 1/3 frames.

Marcelo Mayer was playing catch on Monday as he tried to get back on the field. He has been dealing with a sprained right wrist he suffered last month.

Right-handed reliever Nick Burdi was designated for assignment.

'I LOVED IT'

Alex Bregman returned to Houston for the first time, but this time wearing a Red Sox uniform. Prior to the game, the Astros played a video tribute on the Jumbotron for the former two-time World Series champion, receiving a standing ovation from the fans who passionately cheered for him over the last nine years.

“It feels great to be back,” Bregman said. “We landed last night and immediately went to Whataburger so I could get back into the Texas swing of things. It’s awesome. So many great memories, so much love for the people here in Houston—the fans, my teammates, the coaches, and this entire organization. Just an amazing time here."

As he stepped into the batter's box facing his former team for the first time, Bregman tipped his helmet to acknowledge the Astros fan base. He then belted a homer on the third pitch he saw in the at-bat from Cristian Javier. The crowd quickly turned their cheers into boos as he was rounding the bases.

“It was great. I loved it. I loved it,” Bregman said after the game. “I was hoping they would.”

The Red Sox dropped the series opener with the Astros, 7-6, one week after Boston swept them in three games at home last week.

The 31-year-old Bregman came to Boston prior to spring training, signing a three-year, $120 million deal that includes opt-outs after each of the first two years of his deal.

Bregman, who went 2-for-4 in the first game of the series, loved that Astros fans booed him following the first-inning blast.

“Just because it’s two good teams getting after it,” Bregman said. “They want to win. You know what I mean? Like both teams want to win really badly. It’s fun. It’s good. It’s good for the game.”

His first-inning home run gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. It traveled 350 feet into the Crawford Boxes in left field, something Bregman has done many times over the course of his career as a member of the Astros.

Bregman drilled an 80.8 mph sweeper from Javier, who had been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

“Just pumped up, just fired up,” Bregman said. “Every time you hit a homer in the big leagues, it’s pretty special. But to be able to do it first at-bat back here was pretty cool. Pretty cool moment I’ll never forget.”

The 2025 All-Star noted after the game that the video tribute from the Astros was a “great moment” and he loved that he was able to go deep against his former team, especially in his first at-bat back in Houston.

Boston came up short, losing the series opener, but despite that, Bregman praised the efforts from his Sox’ teammates to try and rally late in the game.

“I thought it was a really good day,” Bregman told MassLive’s Christopher Smith after the game. “Just tomorrow we’ve got to get the win.”

Bregman’s former teammate Carlos Correa got an even bigger ovation after he knocked in a run with an RBI single in the third inning off Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet.

“Let me tell you, I was a very happy man walking down the tunnel again,” Correa said. “I walked it for the past three years, and obviously, I was on the visiting side, but coming here as part of the home team, it’s a special feeling. It takes me back to when I was 20 years old and I took that walk, and my dream was accomplished of becoming a big league player. But now we have new goals, and we’re going to try to accomplish them.”

Correa waived his no-trade clause at the trade deadline, and the Twins shipped him back to the Astros. Prior to his time in Minnesota, Correa spent eight seasons in Houston.

Bregman had nothing but positive things to say about his time in Houston, where he arguably was their best third baseman in franchise history. Based on the fan reaction during his tribute video and ahead of his first at-bat, he’s one of the most important players in Astros team history.

“A lot of good memories, but winning is special, and to be able to go to the playoffs eight years in a row and make it to the ALCS seven in a row, four World Series, and two world championships is special,” he said. “I’ll be forever grateful to this organization.”

WORST START WITH BOSTON

Crochet experienced his worst start as a member of the Red Sox on Monday night. He lasted just four innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He also allowed a homer and saw his ERA rise slightly to 2.48 on the year.

“Obviously my worst one since I’ve worn the Red Sox uniform,” Crochet said. “So it’s tough. Not like there’s a good time for it ever, but it’s tough to come right now, for sure. We’ve got a lot of goals as a team right now.”

With the loss, the Sox lefty dropped to 13-5 through 2 starts and altered his approach against the Astros lineup. He typically has featured his fastball the first time through the order, but, because of the Astros' “aggressive tendencies,” which he noticed while prepping for his start, he decided to mix in secondary pitches.

“Typically I save that for the second time through,” Crochet said. “But it was working pretty well. And the second time through the order, then I went with my typical approach, which is spin. But I’d already done it so much throughout the game already that they were able to just be a little bit closer to pitches. They weren’t exactly hammering all of them, but it was just foul balls that ultimately forced me to come back in the zone.”

His velocity on his fastball topped out at 98.8 mph and averaged 96.9 mph, according to Baseball Savant. It was a slight increase from his 96.2 mph average velocity on his fastball.

“I felt like as a whole though, even the spin, the four-seams in general, I was executing well,” he said. “I kind of pegged this lineup for a team that I didn’t have to use the four-seam on—just knowing their aggression. But then after I got to two strikes, it was just a continued battle from their side.”

In the fourth, Chas McCormick banged a two-run homer off the back wall beyond the Crawford Boxes in left field.

The southpaw said he struggled with putting away hitters and getting them to be aggressive and put the ball in play early on in counts.

“First time through the order, I felt like I was in control,” he said. “Second time through the order, they made really good adjustments. Kind of just continue to watch the video and look back at it and see what it was.”

The Red Sox are not 65-55 and have dropped three consecutive games for the first time since late June. They dropped six in a row as the club was searching for their new identity as a team following the Rafael Devers trade on Father’s Day.

TWO SOX PLAYERS RANKED IN TOP 50

On Monday afternoon, ESPN published their top 50 MLB players right now, and Boston had two players ranked: Crochet (No. 10) and Bregman (No. 49).

"If Skubal doesn’t win the AL Cy Young Award this year, Crochet will," they wrote of Crochet. “He has been what the Red Sox had hoped for when they moved aggressively to trade for him last winter. Imagine how different the baseball landscape would look to the Orioles, who had the prospect power to win the Crochet bidding last winter, if they had landed an ace.”