Boston demoted Mark Melancon to Triple-A after he went 0-2 with a 49.50 ERA in four appearances to begin the season, allowing 11 runs in two innings while opponents knocked him around to the tune of a .667 batting average and five homers.
It was about as bad as any big leaguer has ever pitched, but since the demotion Melancon has been brilliant for Pawtucket.
He’s yet to allow a run in 10 appearances at Triple-A and along with the 0.00 ERA he has 18 strikeouts versus zero walks in 10 innings.
Melancon has already spent nearly four weeks in the minors and considering how badly the Red Sox could use some bullpen help he’s seemingly made a pretty convincing argument for a return to Boston. Once there it’ll take him the rest of the season to bring that bloated ERA down into respectability, but it’d be tough for Melancon to pitch much better at Triple-A.
