He's baaaaaaack by Jared Carrabis
Red Sox call up LHP Alan Embree


Personally, I was surprised when the Red Sox called up lefty Fabio Castro prior to Tuesday's middle-game against Toronto instead of Alan Embree.

Castro didn't throw a single pitch for the Red Sox before being sent back down to the Pawtucket Red Sox in favor of Embree. Embree, who is now 40-years-old, has been very patient with the Red Sox. The left-hander informed the team that if he was not added to the 25-man roster by Friday, then he would opt out his contract with the Red Sox in hopes of making it back to the big leagues elsewhere.

Embree last pitched for the Red Sox on July 18, 2005. To that point, Embree had appeared in 43 games for the Red Sox that season, pitching his way to a 1-4 record, 2 blown saves and a 7.65 ERA. The left-hander struck out 30 batters in 37.2 innings, while allowing eight long balls, before the Red Sox decided to part ways with him.

On July 30, Embree traded his red socks for pinstripes, and after a horrible season with Boston, no one seemed to care.

The lefty reliever spent 24 games with the Yankees, a season with the San Diego Padres, two seasons with the Oakland A's and was last employed by the Colorado Rockies this past season.

Since departing from Boston, Embree has pitched his way to a 5.11 ERA between the four major league clubs he has come out of the bullpen for.

Appearing in eight games for the Pawtucket Red Sox in 2010, Embree pitched well. The lefty accumulated an ERA of 3.68, but did not allow a hit and issued just one walk to the fourteen left-handed batters that he faced.

No matter what Embree brings to the table, he can't be much worse than what we've been seeing. After all, he will always be remembered as the man who was on the mound when the Red Sox completed the greatest comeback in the history of the game. No matter what he provides to this Red Sox bullpen, his legacy is cemented here in Red Sox Nation.

It's also worth noting that he could be gone as early as this coming Saturday. When Daisuke Matsuzaka re-joins the Red Sox rotation in Baltimore, the Red Sox will have to decide which lefty reliever they want to keep in the bullpen: Embree, or Scott Schoeneweis.

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on April 28, 2010

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