Though the Red Sox have thrived since trading away Rafael Devers in June, they haven’t had much to show for the deal in terms of the players they acquired making meaningful contributions in Boston.

The team is hoping that will change this week, as left-hander Kyle Harrison reportedly is due to make his Red Sox debut.

Tommy Cassell of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported Tuesday that Harrison is being called up to Boston. MassLive’s Christopher Smith added shortly thereafter that Harrison is likely to make his Red Sox debut on Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians.

After Tuesday’s game — an 11-7 win over the Guardians — manager Alex Cora said that Brennan Bernardino will serve as the opener on Wednesday.

Brennan Bernardino will open tomorrow for the Red Sox, they say.

Dustin May also will figure in out of the bullpen. He is good for up to 40 pitches, Alex Cora said.

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) September 3, 2025

When rosters expanded on Monday, the Red Sox called up pitcher Zack Kelly and catcher Ali Sanchez. Kelly, who has a 5.56 ERA and 1.456 WHIP in 17 appearances for Boston this season, could be the choice to send back down to Worcester to make room for Harrison on Wednesday.

A 24-year-old lefty, Harrison does have big league experience, having made 39 appearances (35 starts) with San Francisco since 2023. He’s just 9-9 with a 4.59 ERA and 1.297 WHIP in those outings. Since joining the Red Sox organization, he’s pitched for Triple-A Worcester, going 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.561 WHIP in his 11 starts.

Walks have been an issue, with Harrison issuing 26 free passes in his 49.1 innings of work, limiting him to a 1.85 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also hasn’t been able to go too deep into games, averaging just over 4.1 innings per start.

Yet Harrison has been solid for Worcester after a shaky adjustment period, when he allowed 11 earned runs over 13 innings (7.62 ERA) in his first three starts. Since then, he’s allowed just nine earned runs over 36.1 innings (2.23 ERA) over his last nine starts.

Cora and the Red Sox have been monitoring that progress, with the manager telling the media in mid-August that Harrison was part of the team’s potential solutions to issues with the rotation.

Since then, the team released veteran starter Walker Buehler and promoted top pitching prospect Payton Tolle, who electrified Fenway Park last Friday night — albeit in what turned out to be a painful loss to the Pirates.

Given his ample major league experience, Harrison does not qualify as a prospect. Nevertheless, the Red Sox are hoping for another positive injection of youth to the rotation as they continue their push toward a postseason berth.

As for the rest of the return for Devers, Jordan Hicks has a 6.38 ERA and 1.800 WHIP in 20 relief appearances. The Red Sox traded the outfielder acquired in the Devers trade (James Tibbs III) as part of the package to acquire Dustin May (1-4, 5.68 ERA in five starts), while 20-year-old Jose Bello has been pitching for Single-A Salem since being acquired.

When Harrison joins the Red Sox, he’ll do so in the midst of a heated playoff race in the AL East. Boston enters Tuesday tied with the Yankees for the top wild-card spot in the American League, while both teams also sit just 2.5 games behind Toronto in the AL East.

While facing a big-league team is never “easy,” Harrison shouldn’t have the roughest welcome back to the majors against the Guardians, who own an MLB-worst .223 team batting average and 29th-ranked .660 team OPS. Those numbers are even worse against lefties, with the team batting just .219 with a .631 against southpaws.