Red Sox Place Sandy Leon on Paternity List and DFA Pitcher in Roster Shuffle

On Friday, the Boston Red Sox made a flurry of roster moves ahead of their three-game series against the Houston Astros. Most notably, they placed Sandy Leon on paternity leave and designated right-handed pitcher Chandler Shepherd for assignment.

Some Sox moves before the three-game series with the Astros: https://t.co/W6FWkuBeAJ
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) May 17, 2019

The Red Sox called up Oscar Hernandez to take Leon's place for the time being. He'll serve as the No. 2 catcher behind Christian Vazquez. Hernandez is likely nothing more than an emergency option for this weekend's series with Houston, as he has a .111/.216/.178 line through 16 games in Portland and Pawtucket this season.

A good read on Oscar Hernandez for #RedSox fans looking for more info on the catcher. Last year he was a “difference maker” a couple of times for the @PawSox https://t.co/GORB6vUSno
— Tanner Rebelo (@TannerRebelo) May 17, 2019

Shepherd had decent success in 2018, posting a 3.89 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 129.2 innings. 2019 has been far less kind to him, as he has a 10.01 ERA through eight appearances. He never cracked the big league roster despite being a member of the 40-man roster, and will likely never get that chance after getting DFA'd.

Chandler Shepherd was designated for assignment today. The former Kentucky product had struggled this season going 0-5 with a 10.01 era but had been doing well the previous couple seasons #HerdtheFlock pic.twitter.com/92c3OHxUfz
— Toothless Aggression (@TA_CawHawkey) May 17, 2019

This won't be the end of Boston's moves, as Leon will be back soon, as well as Brock Holt and David Price. The Red Sox should hopefully be back to speed by the time they start their series against the Toronto Blue Jays.