Red Sox Designated Hard-Throwing Relief Pitcher For Assignment

The Boston Red Sox performed some early-offseason house cleaning on Thursday.

Boston designated relief pitcher Luis Guerrero for assignment. The move brings the 40-man roster to 40 after reinstating Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Hunter Dobbins, Josh Winckowski, Patrick Sandoval, Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer and Vaughn Grissom from the 60-day injured list.

The Red Sox also moved Guerrero from the 60-day IL before Thursday’s deadline. He last pitched in the majors on June 27, but the 25-year-old returned from an elbow injury in late August and finished the season in Triple-A Worcester.

A 17th-round pick in 2021, Guerrero has registered a 3.22 ERA and 11.7 K/9 ratio during his minor league career. He made an impressive big league arrival last year, allowing one unearned run over 10 September innings with Boston.

Guerrero wasn’t as sharp this season, allowing eight runs in 17 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts and an alarming 14 walks. The right-hander surrendered two runs in back-to-back outings before getting sidelined.

Guerrero may nevertheless represent an intriguing reclamation project for another organization. He’s thrown his fastball at an average velocity of 96.9 mph, and his slider yielded a .160 batting average and .240 slugging percentage in 2025.

The Red Sox have seven days to trade, waive or release Guerrero. Boston has already parted ways with pitchers Isaiah Campbell and Jose De Leon after getting eliminated in the American League Wild Card Series by the New York Yankees.