BOSTON — The Red Sox promoted veteran reliever Nick Burdi from Triple-A Worcester before their game against the Atlanta Braves on Friday.
The 32-year-old righty, who pitched for the Yankees last year, posted a 0.54 ERA (16 ⅔ innings, one run) in 13 outings for the WooSox to begin this season. He allowed just nine hits and five walks while striking out 25.
The Red Sox sent righty Cooper Criswell back to Worcester. Burdi was not on the 40-man roster. And so to make room on the 40-man, Boston transferred righty Kutter Crawford (right patellar tendinopathy) to the 60-day IL.
Burdi inked his minor league deal with Boston on the first day of spring training (Feb. 12). It didn’t include an invitation to big league camp despite pitching well in limited time for New York last year (9 ⅔ innings, two runs) and logging 31 major league outings from 2018-24 with the Pirates, Cubs and Yankees.
He spent the whole camp on the minor league side, except for pitching in one Grapefruit League game March 17, which happened to be vs. these Braves. He retired all five Atlanta batters he faced on 18 pitches (13 strikes).
Burdi throws in the upper-90s. He has a sinker, sweeper, four-seam fastball and changeup. He works up and down in the zone as well to both sides of the plate. He missed significant time in 2024 while on the 60-day IL (right hip inflammation).
Criswell was up for one day, spending Wednesday with the team in Detroit after taking Tanner Houck’s place on the roster when Houck hit the IL with a right flexor pronator strain. Criswell owns a 10.38 ERA in three early-season MLB outings this year but has been great for the WooSox, pitching to a a 1.99 ERA in 22 ⅔ innings, mostly as a starter.
The Crawford part of the equation is a paper move. The righty, who continues to throw live batting practice sessions against hitters in Fort Myers, is not going to be ready to be activated in the next couple weeks, so the Sox can move him to the 60-day IL and open up a 40-man roster spot for Burdi. The move doesn’t impact Crawford’s return timeline at all. He should still be back at some point in June.
