Hunter

Dobbins

Dobbins has been shipped back to the minors following Friday’s spot start against the White Sox to make room for veteran reliever Liam Hendriks. The 25-year-old righty has allowed four runs — three earned — with an 11/2 K/BB ratio across 11 innings (two starts) this season at the highest level. There isn’t room for him at the highest level with Brayan Bello (shoulder) potentially back next week from the injured list, but he’s shown enough in these outings to earn another shot.

While understanding it was against the White Sox, Dobbins was impressive here. He forced a swing-and-miss with all five of his pitches and had a tremendous approach against hitters from both sides of the plate. His four seam fastball tied everything together and he wasn’t afraid to challenge hitters with it. Then, against lefties, his splitter command was excellent low in the zone and he showed a curveball too. Against righties, he showed two distinct slider shapes and they combined to force six swings and misses. Again, it’s hard to get too excited after a start against the White Sox, but this repertoire and stuff look legit. If he remains in the rotation, his next start is scheduled to come against the Mariners at home.

Dobbins will be making the start Friday against the White Sox. The 25-year-old will be facing the worst team in the sport, which is good, but isn’t exactly known for his dominant stuff, which makes it a little more risky in terms of streaming.

Cora also added that there’s a “good chance” Brayan Bello (shoulder) and Liam Hendriks (elbow), who are both making minor league rehab appearances on Wednesday for Double-A Portland, return next week. Dobbins is intriguing for fantasy purposes, especially after striking out five batters and allowing two runs over five frames to pick up a win over the Cardinals in his major-league debut back on April 6. There’s some streaming appeal here for fantasy managers against a White Sox lineup that isn’t very threatening.

The right-hander punched out five opposing hitters on the night while issuing a pair of walks. The damage done against him came in the form of an RBI double by Brendan Donovan in the first inning and an RBI single by Masyn Winn in the fourth. The Red Sox staked him to a huge early lead, so all Dobbins needed to do was keep the train on the tracks to earn a victory in this one. He’ll head back to Triple-A Worcester after this start, where he’ll continue to hone his craft until he’s called upon once more.

Dobbins will likely be the 27th player for the Red Sox in their doubleheader against the Cardinals, but that’s not confirmed. The 25-year-old isn’t a good option for fantasy, but a chance to make his MLB debut is fun.

Dobbins was shipped to minors camp earlier this week and will open the year as extra depth in the upper minors. The 25-year-old righty was added to Boston’s 40-man roster last November.