When Ryan Hanigan carried an overstuffed equipment bag into the Red Sox clubhouse on Sunday morning, he had no idea what the team’s plans were for him.
The Red Sox were not going to carry three catchers, so somebody had to be taken off the roster to activate Hanigan off the disabled list. That was Christian Vazquez, who was optioned to Triple A Pawtucket after a 12-5 victory against the Texas Rangers on Monday.
Hanigan will be activated Tuesday and share the position with Sandy Leon.
Leon was 4 for 5 with three doubles on Monday. He is 20 of 40 in 15 games with nine extra-base hits and nine RBIs.
Hanigan and Leon were out of options and given the paucity of catching in the majors, were almost sure to be claimed off waivers if designated for assignment. By optioning Vazquez, the Red Sox maintain their depth.
Vazquez has hit .226 with a .583 OPS. Some regular at-bats at Pawtucket should serve him well.
“From the performance of Sandy in combination with organizational depth, felt like this was the move to make,’’ manager John Farrell said.
Hanigan played in eight games and had 31 plate appearances during his injury rehabilitation assignment, going 5 of 25. He has been on the disabled list since June 5 with a strained neck.
O’Sullivan to start
The Red Sox will start Sean O’Sullivan against Tampa Bay on Friday and use Clay Buchholz out of the bullpen, at least though the All-Star break.
“We’ve leaned on a few guys in the bullpen of late,’’ Farrell said. “Clay would give us the ability to include him in the bullpen sooner that it would be with Sully.’’
O’Sullivan started Sunday against the Angels and allowed two runs on four hits and three walks over five-plus innings. Buchholz started on Saturday and gave up six runs — three earned — on seven hits and one walk over 4? innings.
The Kelly plan
Joe Kelly’s path to return to the majors as a relief pitcher starts on Wednesday in Manchester, N.H.
The righthander, who is on the minor league disabled list with a groin strain, is scheduled to start a rehab assignment with Double A Portland for its game against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats that day.
From there, Kelly would pitch for Single A Lowell on Saturday against Connecticut at LeLacheur Park.
Kelly would then rejoin Pawtucket on July 14 out of the International League All-Star break. Ideally the Sox would want Kelly to pitch in relief several times for the Paw Sox, including on back-to-back days, before being recalled.
Kelly has not pitched in relief since 2013 when he was with the Cardinals. In 30 appearances out of the bullpen, Kelly has a 3.25 earned run average and 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
That hints at the possibility of success. But Kelly also has put 75 runners on base via hits, walks or hit by pitches over 52? innings of relief.
Whether it’s as a starter or reliever, inconsistency has been an issue for Kelly. But the Sox are trying to get some value out of the so-far failed trade with St. Louis in 2013.
Swihart progressing
Blake Swihart, who has been on the disabled list since June 5 with a badly sprained left ankle, was on the field before the game taking fly balls in left field.
“Today was the first day to just begin some easy work in the outfield,’’ Farrell said. “He’s not ready for a lot of change of direction. This was more just to see the ball in the air, start to get the feel of the ground underneath him.’’
Swihart was initially in a cast and then a walking boot.
“This is a very slow process early on even though we feel like he’s ahead of schedule with this,’’ Farrell said.
Swihart is taking full swings from the left side, but only hitting balls off a tee from the right side. Pivoting off his left foot remains painful.
Climbing the charts
David Ortiz had two more doubles. That gave him 1,159 career extra-base hits, enough for sole possession of 12th on the all-time list. Ortiz had been tied with Carl Yastrzemski. Ortiz is likely not catching Albert Pujols, who has 1,185 and counting.
Ortiz’s 618 doubles are seven away from passing Hank Aaron for 10th in history. Big Papi has 319 doubles at Fenway Park, tied with Ted Williams for second. Yaz has the most with 382.
Stars coming out
The All-Star teams will be announced Tuesday night. In the last voting update made public, Ortiz, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. were in line to be selected as starters by the fans. Steven Wright also had a good chance of making the team and perhaps Craig Kimbrel, too . . . Chris Young, who strained his right hamstring June 23, has not yet started any activity beyond range-of-motion exercises. He will be out for an extended period, perhaps into August . . . Hanley Ramirez has 17 doubles in 296 at-bats. He had 12 doubles in 401 at-bats last season . . . Dustin Pedroia’s home run in the seventh inning, his first since May 31, gave him 500 career extra-base hits . . . Lefthander Brian Johnson, who left Pawtucket in May to deal with anxiety issues, returned to the mound in the Gulf Coast League. Johnson pitched three innings in Sarasota, Fla. He allowed two runs on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. It was Johnson’s first game action since May 14 . . . The Red Sox are 14-6 against AL West teams, 11-3 at Fenway.
Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.
