Red Sox acquire pitcher Joely Rodriguez and second baseman Hoy Park

The Boston Red Sox acquired two new players to their roster for the 2023 Major League Baseball season on Wednesday. They signed relief pitcher Joely Rodriguez of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to a one-year deal worth $2 million, and acquired second baseman Hoy Park of Seoul, South Korea in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In return, the Pirates are receiving minor-league left handed pitcher Inmer Lobo of Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

Joely Rodriguez

Rodriguez, who like Lobo is a southpaw, is joining his fifth MLB team. He has previously played for the Philadelphia Phillies (2016, 2017), the Texas Rangers (2020, 2021), the New York Yankees (2021), and the New York Mets (2022). Rodriguez spent the 2018 and 2019 baseball seasons with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan.

In 2022, Rodriguez pitched in 55 games, and had a record of two wins and four losses, with an earned run average of 4.47. His wins came in a 7-3 Mets win over the Pirates on September 18, and in a 7-5 Mets win over the Milwaukee Brewers on September 20. Rodriguez also pitched 50 1/3 innings, and gave up 42 hits, 25 earned runs, and 26 walks. He also had nine holds, 57 strikeouts, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.35.

In his career, Rodriguez has one save. It came while with the Texas Rangers in a 5-3 Rangers win over the Oakland Athletics on June 23, 2021.

Hoy Park

Park is joining his third Major League Baseball team. He shared his rookie season of 2021 with the New York Yankees, and Pirates, before playing 23 games last season with the Bucs. In 60 plate appearances and 51 at bats with the Pirates in 2022, Park batted .216 with two home runs and six runs batted in. Park’s home runs came in a 4-3 Pirates win over the San Francisco Giants on June 19, and in a 4-3 Pirates loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on June 24. Park also scored seven runs, and had 11 hits, two doubles, one stolen base, four walks, 19 total bases, two sacrifice bunts, two sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .276, and a slugging percentage of .373.