3 things to know about Mauricio Llovera, the newest Red Sox reliever
The Boston Red Sox traded for reliever Mauricio Llovera on Wednesday, adding right-handed depth to their bullpen.
The Red Sox have made another move.
Red Sox
On Wednesday, Boston received right-handed reliever Mauricio Llovera from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Marques Johnson, a pitcher who last played for Single-A Salem. The Red Sox made room for Llovera on their 40-man roster by moving reliever Kaleb Ort to the 60-day injured list.
This trade comes amid the Red Sox’ reported desire to add another right-handed reliever. It’s not yet clear whether Llovera satisfies that need, but he will almost certainly have the opportunity to prove himself as the answer. He is out of minor-league options, meaning he has to stay with the Red Sox unless he gets designated for assignment or moves to the IL. Fans will be seeing him in action very soon.
Llovera’s acquisition provides Boston with a fresh arm in a bullpen that has been asked to carry the Red Sox’ pitching staff over the past few weeks. Adding him, along with Triple-A relievers Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman in Tuesday’s Kike Hernandez trade, gives the Red Sox additional security and depth with an unpredictable bullpen. But who is Llovera, and what does he have to offer? If Llovera’s most recent stretch in the major leagues foretells his future, he could be a very valuable reliever.
Llovera was on a hot streak in the majors before the Red Sox acquired him.
Llovera had big-league experience prior to this season, but they were mostly experiences he’d like to forget. He tallied a 9.45 ERA in six games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2021 and a 4.41 ERA in 17 games with the Giants last year. Triple-A seemed like the most comfortable league for Llovera leading up to the season, and he earned a decent 3.92 ERA through 20.2 innings for the Sacramento River Cats to start the season.
On July 6, the Giants gave Llovera a second chance, and he made the absolute most out of it. In the five games he played in MLB this season, Llovera notched a scalding 1.69 ERA and 1.125 WHIP with 5 strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched.
The only reason he’s no longer with the Giants is not because of his production, but roster constraints. They had to make room on their 26-man roster for the return of Luke Jackson, who had suffered a back injury. Llovera was the odd man out, and because he had no minor league options left, the Giants had no choice but to DFA him.
Not all of Llovera’s numbers predict a Cy Young-caliber season, such as his 4.97 FIP (fielding-independent pitching). But his recent run shows promise nonetheless, and he’ll be valuable to the Red Sox if he shows even a glimpse of what he did over his past five games.
He relies on two pitches.
Llovera’s pitch of choice in the major leagues has been his slider, but not by a large margin. He throws it 51.4 percent of the time, according to Statcast, and it’s earned him 13 strikeouts since 2022. It travels at a velocity of around 83 miles per hour and opponents have been held to just a .182 against it in 2022.
He also possesses a sinker, which he throws 48.6 percent of the time. It reaches about 95 miles per hour, which Baseball Savant puts in the 78th percentile in fastball velocity. Opponents batted just .111 against it this season and .258 last year, which has earned him 12 strikeouts in the past two seasons. It also seems to be his preferred closing pitch, as it has a putaway percentage of 22.5 percent last year and 30 percent this year. That’s almost double that of his slider, which reached its peak last season at 17.4%.
He has never pitched in the American League East.
Llovera has appeared in 29 career MLB games. None of these games has ever come against an AL East opponent.
This is not necessarily a surprise. Llovera spent his entire career up to this point with the Phillies and Giants, both of whom are National League teams. It does mean, however, that Llovera will be facing brand new opponents in the toughest division in baseball.
But Llovera isn’t the first Red Sox reliever to face this challenge. Brennan Bernardino never faced an AL East opponent before arriving in Boston, and he has since become a mainstay in the Red Sox’ bullpen. It’s a challenge, of course, but it’s one Llovera will accept. The Red Sox seem to think he will too. They wouldn’t have traded for him and given him a roster spot otherwise.
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