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The Red Sox are poised to select the contract of infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton ahead of their game against Atlanta tomorrow, according to a report from Chris Henrique of Boston Sports Journal. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo adds that the Red Sox are expected to recall right-hander Luis Guerrero tomorrow. The club’s 40-man and active rosters are both at capacity, meaning additional corresponding moves will be necessary to complete those transactions before tomorrow’s game.
Eaton, 28, made his big league debut with the Royals back in 2022 and posted solid numbers for the club across 44 games with a .264/.331/.387 slash line in 122 trips to the plate. The performance was enough to earn him a role on the 2023 club, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to maintain the previous year’s league average production in year two. HIs slash line collapsed to just .075/.125/.075 in 56 plate appearances, and that was all she wrote for Eaton’s big league career until now. He spent all of last year at Triple-A Omaha with the Royals but didn’t get called up to the majors, and this past offseason he signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. He’s hitting a solid but unspectacular .277/.364/.446 (117 wRC+) in 225 plate appearances for Triple-A Worcester so far this year.
It’s not the most exciting profile, and it certainly won’t sate Red Sox fans who have been calling for the promotion of star outfield prospect Roman Anthony since Opening Day. With that said, Cotillo made the observation in the aftermath of today’s reporting regarding Eaton that Boston is likely to face a number of left-handed starting pitchers in the near future during series against the Angels and Yankees; given that the Red Sox have previously cited Anthony’s work against left-handed pitching as one area where they hope to see growth from the budding star, it’s not hard to see why the club might prefer an extra right-handed bat in the mix rather than bringing another lefty bat like Anthony into the fold, at least in the short term.
Turning back to Eaton, the 28-year-old offers another right-handed bat for a heavily left-handed Red Sox lineup and can bring versatility to the table. He’s played all three outfield spots and third base in the majors, with additional cameos at both second base and shortstop during his time with the WooSox. He’s also a threat on the basepaths, having swiped 27 bags in 31 attempts for Triple-A Omaha last year. It’s unclear what the corresponding move for Eaton’s addition to the roster will wind up being, and as such it’s hard to predict where exactly the Red Sox plan to use him in the coming days. If an outfielder like Rob Refsnyder or Ceddanne Rafaela is headed for the injured list, it would make sense for Eaton to get most of his reps on the grass. Meanwhile, if he subs in for a player like Nick Sogard or Abraham Toro, perhaps he’ll see most of his time bouncing around the infield.
As for Guerrero, Cotillo notes that the right-hander is not yet eligible to be recalled back to the big league roster unless it’s to replace an injured player, which suggests at least one member of Boston’s pitching staff is headed to the injured list. Whoever he may end up replacing, Guerrero has long looked ready for an extended opportunity in the majors. Since making his big league debut in 2024, the right-hander has pitched to a 0.59 ERA with a 2.42 FIP and a 22.8% strikeout rate. Those are excellent numbers, but they’ve come in just a 15 1/3 inning sample size in the majors with less encouraging results at Triple-A. Even so, given his success in short bursts at the big league level there’s little harm in giving Guerrero a longer look given the recent struggles of more established arms like the recently-injured Liam Hendriks.
