On Saturday the Red Sox activated Justin Slaten from the injured list, and optioned fellow right-hander Jack Anderson back to Triple-A Worcester.

Slaten missed over a month with an oblique strain. He owns a 0.00 ERA through four games this season (most recently April 4), with only one unearned run allowed on two hits, two walks, and five strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

“Another back-end piece that can just lengthen the bullpen out, so it’s big to have him back,” interim manager Chad Tracy said Saturday afternoon, before the day’s game was rained out and postponed to a split doubleheader on Friday, July 17.

The Red Sox selected Slaten in the December 2023 Rule 5 Draft. He was an integral member of the ‘24 bullpen, pitching to a 2.93 ERA over 44 games, with 58 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings in his rookie season.

Slaten struggled slightly last season, and missed time due to injuries. He posted a 4.24 ERA over 36 outings, with a diminished strikeout rate and higher walk rate than the previous season.

The Red Sox have pitched combined shutouts in two of their last three games. They’ve allowed three earned runs or fewer in 10 of their last 13 games dating back to April 25, a span in which their 2.79 ERA ranks second-best in the American League, behind this weekend’s opponents, the Tampa Bay Rays (1.40).

“I think everybody knows, when Slaten’s healthy and in there, between him, (Garrett) Whitlock and (Aroldis Chapman), we’re going to rely on those guys at the back end of the bullpen, right?” Tracy said. “It’s like adding an extra guy into a lineup … When you add Slaten into the bullpen, it kind of slides some really good arms, maybe back a little earlier in the game.”

“So having that, especially on a day where you look up and all three of them are available, you shorten the game, or you feel like you can,” Tracy added. “Doesn’t mean they’re invincible, but you feel like you can make it really, really difficult on a team for the last nine outs.”

Red Sox injury updates

Left-hander Ranger Suarez (hamstring) is playing catch. The Red Sox continue to keep him off the IL, but they want him to throw a side session, likely Sunday, before deciding if he can start a game.

Left-hander Garrett Crochet (shoulder) hasn’t progressed to mound work yet, but is playing catch past 100 feet. After his catch session on Friday, he told Tracy he felt “good to great.”

Right-hander Kutter Crawford (elbow) played catch Saturday. He hasn’t pitched since the end of 2024. A right knee injury and ruptured sheath in his right wrist cost him the 2025 season. He made one rehab start for Triple-A Worcester in mid-April, before the Red Sox shut him down with elbow soreness.

No change on utility-man Romy Gonzalez (shoulder), first baseman Triston Casas (ribs), or lefty Patrick Sandoval (biceps/elbow). Gonzalez and Casas began the season on the injured list, but the latter was progressing well before he suffered a left abdominal strain in mid-April.

Like Crawford, Sandoval was pulled off his rehab assignment last month, due to left biceps soreness.