Reinforcements are on the way for the Boston Red Sox pitching staff.
Barring any setbacks, Chris Sale, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck will be activated from the injured list in the near future. Reliever John Schreiber is expected to be reinstated from the IL on Tuesday.
Those are key additions, but Boston is still prioritizing pitching ahead of the 2023 MLB trade deadline. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom confirmed as much in a recent interview, and on Tuesday, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the Red Sox are "likely" to add an arm sometime in the next week.
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"The two most pedigreed AL East teams, New York and Boston, aren't ignoring the fact that they're in last place in their division -- but because they are in New York and Boston, they're not punting, either," Passan wrote Wednesday. "New York needs a bat and Boston an arm, and both are likely to get them in the coming week."
A previous report stated the Red Sox are looking to trade for a back-of-the-rotation piece and a seventh-inning right-handed reliever. If that's the case, they will have no shortage of options.
While bolstering the pitching staff, Bloom could approach the deadline similarly to last season when he added and subtracted pieces simultaneously. Boston has several trade chips at its disposal including veteran outfielder Adam Duvall, who reportedly has drawn interest from the Atlanta Braves.
The MLB trade deadline is set for 6 p.m. ET on Aug. 1.