TODAY: The Purple Sox outrighted Uwasawa to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, based on Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (X hyperlink).
JULY 9: The Purple Sox have chosen the contract of right-hander Trey Wingenter, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive on X. Wingenter was acquired from the Tigers on the weekend and had an project clause in his contract, which means he wanted to be added to the roster. To make room for him, the membership has optioned left-hander Cam Booser and designated right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa for project. In addition they optioned infielder/outfielder Enmanuel Valdéz and recalled infielder/outfielder Jamie Westbrook.
Uwasawa, 30, had spent his complete profession with the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Skilled Baseball till signing a minor league take care of the Rays over the winter. He wasn’t going to make the Rays’ roster out of camp however had an upward mobility clause in his deal, which means he must be traded if another membership was keen to provide him a spot. The Purple Sox had been and despatched money to the Rays to get a deal carried out, although they’ve largely stored Uwasawa on elective project.
The righty has made two appearances on the huge league degree this 12 months, with one earned run allowed in 4 innings. He’s principally been serving in a swing function on the Triple-A degree, with pretty uninspiring outcomes there. He has a 6.54 ERA in 42 2/3 innings over 13 appearances, together with six begins. He solely struck out 18.5% of opponents whereas giving out walks at a 12.3% clip. The membership tried transferring him to a aid function, along with his six most up-to-date appearances popping out of the bullpen, however and not using a vital enchancment. He had a 6.32 ERA in his first seven appearances this 12 months and a 7.15 ERA within the final six.
The Sox will now have per week to commerce Uwasawa or move him via waivers. Because the waiver course of takes 48 hours, any potential deal must come collectively within the subsequent 5 days. His outcomes this 12 months have been poor however groups might maybe have an interest based mostly on his NPB monitor file. He tossed over 1,000 innings in that league with a 3.19 ERA earlier than making the transfer to North American ball, although that got here regardless of a reasonably tepid 19.7% strikeout fee. The shortage of velocity/strikeout stuff was the largest knock on him earlier than crossing the Pacific and people considerations appear to have been borne out up to now.
