Red Sox receive pitcher Bastardo from Blue Jays

It is a reunion of sorts for Venezuelan pitcher Angel Bastardo and the Boston Red Sox.

Bastardo was an international signing of the Sox back in 2018. The righty pitcher made it to Double-A Portland in 2023 and pitched in several games in 2024 until Tommy John surgery shut down his season.

Likely thinking he would need a full year to rehab from surgery, the Red Sox left him off the 40 man roster.

This allowed the Toronto Blue Jays to claim Bastardo in the Rule 5 draft.

The Rule 5 draft allows teams to select unprotected players from other teams to put on their own roster. While Toronto was able to keep Bastardo on the IL for the 2025 season, he would need to stay on the drafting team's active 26-man MLB roster for 90 days.

Instead of keeping Bastardo on their active roster, they opted to designate the 24 year old pitcher for assignment. Any team claiming Bastardo would have to follow the same Rule 5 draft obligations and place him on their 26 man roster.

With Bastardo clearing waivers and being returned to Boston, he has a chance to pick up where he left off in Portland before he was injured.

He ranked 28th on MLB.com's Red Sox prospect ranking during the 2024 season.

Bastardo threw 7 1/2 innings during Spring Training while allowing four runs on five hits. In two years in Double-A, he started in 13 games and posted a 5.28 ERA while striking out a total of 63 batters.