The Red Sox announced the signing of veteran Steve Pearce after Thursday’s game. The infielder/outfielder made his debut with the Pirates in 2007. When he comes to the plate for Sox on Friday he’ll have appeared in games with all five American League East teams over his 12-year career. Pearce also played briefly with the Astros in 2012.
Pearce, who’s in the final year of a two-year, $13 million deal with the Blue Jays, has slashed .291 AVG/.349 OBP/.519 SLG in 26 games this season after going .252/.319/.438 in 92 games of 2017. Last season Pearce became just the third player in major league history with two walk-off grand slams in the same season, joining the Philadelphia Athletics Cy Williams in 1926 and the Mariners Jim Presley in 1986.
In return for sending Pearce and some cash to Boston, the Red Sox parted with minor league infielder Santiago Espinal.
A righty batter, Pearce owns an .868 OPS this season with 10 of his 23 hits going for extra bases. Facing lefty pitching this season, Pearce is 15-for-49 (.306) with a career .494 slugging percentage and an .840 OPS vs lefties. He’s appeared defensively in 304 games an outfielder and in 225 career games at first base.
Pearce, who grew up and still spends the off-season in Lakeland, Florida, played two years (2004–2005) of NCAA baseball at the University of South Carolina where he led the Gamecocks in batting average, home runs and RBI both years and hit 42 home runs in his two seasons, becoming the first player in school history to reach the 40-homer plateau that quickly.
With the Red Sox Pearce will wear No. 25. For room on the roster the club optioned infielder Tzu-Wei Lin back to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Welcome Steve Pearce to Red Sox Nation. He’s on Twitter at @WayneTwentyOcho.