With the Red Sox looking to shore up the fifth spot in their rotation, lefthander Roenis Elias will be called up from Triple A Pawtucket on Friday to start against his former team, the Seattle Mariners.
Red Sox manager John Farrell said the decision was as much about matching up with the lefthanded Mariners’ power hitters as it was about choosing from the arms at his disposal.
“When we looked at Seattle and the matchups, we felt like a lefthanded starter has proven to maybe negate some of their lefthanded power — [Robinson] Cano, [Kyle] Seager, particularly,’’ Farrell said. “So this is as much a matchup as the guys that are available to us.’’
Roenis, who came to the Sox along with reliever Carson Smith in an offseason deal for Wade Mile and Jonathan Aro, has made one appearance with the big club, allowing three runs in 1? innings of mop-up duty in Houston April 23.
But he has been solid in 10 appearances (nine starts) with the PawSox this season, going 4-3 with a 3.54 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 61 innings.
In his last five outings, he’s 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 40 strikeouts.
“Roenis’s last four or five starts have been very good,’’ Farrell said. “Much more consistent. Felt like maybe it’s time to take a look at him, particularly in this matchup.’’
Coming into Tuesday’s games, the Sox led the majors with 369 runs scored, but the pitching staff’s 4.22 ERA was 19th in baseball and the worst in the AL East. Farrell said it’s a problem the organization has tried to address from within.
“You can never not have good pitching and look to contend,’’ Farrell said. “So we’ve got a couple spots with our club that we’ve got to look to continue to improve with the guys that are here in our uniform and we’re still getting a couple guys on track.
“The fifth spot, as we know, as we’re talking about with different names attached to it, we’ll get that right.’’
Tough road back
The major symptoms that have lingered since Brock Holt went on the disabled list May 19 with a mild concussion have started to subside. But the outfielder is still dealing with some of the effects and his return is uncertain.
“There’s still some dizziness at times, maybe a general fogginess that he feels and certainly some headaches that are there,’’ Farrell said.
“So we’re working towards getting closer to a rehab assignment, but no exact date for that yet.’’
Brock visited Dr. Michael Collins at the University of Pittsburgh last week and came away feeling positive after going through a series of impact testing.
“Considering the battery of tests that Brock has gone through — and that includes MRIs, that includes scans of all kinds — [Collins] feels like we’re on the right path,’’ Farrell said. “Yet these take on a life of their on in terms of time frame and recovery and complete resolving of the symptoms.’’
Home, sweet home
The Sox’ series opener against the Orioles marked the start of a run of 19 home games over the next 25 games. And with the bulk of those games coming against some of the top teams in the American League, the home-field advantage will be crucial.
The Sox are 14-6 at Fenway since April 29, and they’ve put up at least 10 hits in 18 of 24 home games since April 20. At the start of play Tuesday, they led the majors in runs (199), batting average (.301), on-base percentage (.373), and doubles (93) at home.
“We’ve got a stretch nearly a monthlong here where we’ve got a good majority of games here, where our guys have really embraced the environment and the atmosphere that’s been here,’’ Farrell said.
Catching up
Blake Swihart, a little over a week since going on the disabled list with a sprained left ankle, had his hard cast removed and is now in a walking boot. He’ll be able to go through some treatment, Farrell said, but it will be minimal.
“There’s no range-of-motion-work being done yet,’’ Farrell said. “So he’s still in those early stages of that immobilization.’’
Catcher Ryan Hanigan, who went on the disabled list at the same time because of a strained neck, has regained full range of motion and will begin light baseball activity.
“Whether or not at the 15-day mark he returns to us, that remains to be seen at this point,’’ Farrell said.
Paying respects
In the wake of the tragic mass shooting in Orlando, the flags at Fenway hung at half-staff. Behind home plate, a rainbow flag flew along with the American flag. Before the game, the Sox took a moment of silence to remember the victims. Also, proceeds from the day’s 50/50 raffle were earmarked for the Florida Disaster Fund to aid the victims and their families and asked those interested in contributing to go to FloridaDisasterFund.org for information on how to make a donation . . . The race for the American League’s three All-Star outfield spots is tight with less than 200,000 votes separating four players for the third and final spot. Jackie Bradley Jr. is fairly firmly set as the No.?2 vote-getter behind the Angels’ Mike Trout. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts and designated hitter David Ortiz both have healthy leads at their position, while Dustin Pedroia is fourth among second basemen . . . The Orioles placed righthander Vance Worley on the 15-day disabled list because of a right groin strain and called up righthander Odrisamer Despaignefrom Triple A Norfolk.
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.
