Since July 1, the Boston Red Sox bullpen has thrown 158.2 innings, the eighth-most in baseball in that stretch. Thanks to the Red Sox’ historic month of July, particular strain was placed on the high-leverage arms of Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock, Tyron Guerrero, and Aroldis Chapman. That may have led to both Slaten and Whitlock being placed on the injured list with right elbow injuries this weekend. In an effort to reduce some of the workload being placed on their bullpen, which is among the best in baseball, the Red Sox have used the final spot in their bullpen as a ‘revolving door’ of sorts, shuffling through Triple-A relief arms on a near-daily basis since the 13-inning marathon game against the Chicago White Sox over two weeks ago.
The bullpen reshuffling continued ahead of Monday night’s series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks as the team recalled right-handed reliever Wyatt Olds from Worcester.
About Olds
The 27-year-old right-hander was selected by the Red Sox in the seventh round of the 2021 MLB Draft, signing for $265,000. In 39 relief appearances spanning 50.2 innings for Worcester in 2026, Olds has posted a 5.33 ERA. Despite the rough ERA, Olds has held opponents to a .205 batting average, a fielding-independent pitching (FIP) of 4.36, and an expected ERA of 3.91, suggesting he may have been the victim of some poor luck in his outings.
Opponents have hit him hard when they’ve made contact, as the 27-year-old has posted a 47.8 percent hard-hit rate with an average exit velocity of 89.9 percent, both of which rank in the bottom 25 percent of Triple-A arms, contributing to a home runs allowed per nine innings of 1.24.
Wyatt Olds struck out the side in the ninth for the WooSox on Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/0xUoQ83FyX
— Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) June 11, 2026
While he has struggled with hard-hit balls, he features fantastic strikeout stuff. His 34.4 percent whiff rate and 28.8 percent chase rate have led to a 33.2 percent strikeout rate, ranking him in the 88th percentile among Triple-A relievers. Though control can be a problem at times, as Olds has walked 12.7 percent of the batters he’s faced.
Reliever Raymond Burgos was optioned back to Triple-A to make room on the Red Sox active roster for Olds.
About Burgos
It’s another short stint in Boston for the 27-year-old Burgos, who heads back to Worcester a little over 24 hours after being recalled ahead of Sunday’s loss in Pittsburgh. Burgos has served an important role during his three appearances in Boston: after entering Sunday’s series finale in Pittsburgh in relief of starter Patrick Sandoval in the fifth inning, Burgos returned to the mound after a rain delay of over two and a half hours to close out the final two innings of the loss, saving the Boston bullpen ahead of Monday’s scheduled bullpen day.
Overall, Burgos has allowed three earned runs on four hits, while covering 10 innings over three appearances, primarily in a mop-up role. He’ll now head back to Worcester and await his next big league chance.
Up next for Boston
After a disappointing seven-game road trip that saw them go 2-5 in Toronto and Pittsburgh, the Red Sox return home to Fenway Park for a six-game homestand against two National League West opponents that gets underway Monday night as they welcome the Arizona Diamondbacks to town. Lefty reliever Alec Gamboa (0-0, 1.59 ERA) will serve as the opener for Brayan Bello, while rookie left-hander Mitch Bratt (1-1, 3.74 ERA) will get the start for the D-Backs. First pitch from Fenway is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.