A.J. Pierzynski DFA'ed by Red Sox
— -- The Boston Red Sox on Wednesday continued their youth movement, designating struggling catcher A.J. Pierzynski for assignment and promoting prospect Christian Vazquez to take his place.
Red Sox manager John Farrell confirmed the move in an interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI, saying the 23-year-old Vazquez will make his major league debut Wednesday night against the Chicago White Sox and bat ninth.
Farrell said the move didn't represent the Red Sox waving the white flag on the season, but said the team is "turning the page in terms of investing in young players."
The 37-year-old Pierzynski, who signed with the Red Sox before the season, is having perhaps the worst year of his career. He is hitting .254 with a .286 on-base percentage and four home runs. He had been even worse over the past month or so. Since June 1, Pierzynski was hitting .194 (18 for 93) with no homers and four RBIs and three extra base hits. In 100 plate appearances over 27 games during that span, he had just four walks.
Vazquez was batting .279 with a .336 on-base percentage in 66 games for Triple-A Pawtucket this season. He's the fifth rookie position player -- along with Brock Holt, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts -- likely to see significant time going forward for the Red Sox.
All five were in Wednesday's Red Sox lineup, marking the first time since 1987 that as many as five rookie position players started the same game for Boston, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The Red Sox went into the season with two 37-year-old catchers (Pierzynski and David Ross), becoming just the third team in major league history to enter a season with two catchers 37 or older.
