Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Red Sox roster expands to 32 players; Rich Hill a candidate for sixth starter spot

BOSTON -- The Red Sox on Tuesday recalled pitchers Jonathan Aro and Matt Barnes from Triple-A Pawtucket and selected Rich Hill from the PawSox roster, adding him to the 40-man roster and promoting him to Boston.

The Sox will not expand their September roster any further, interim manager Torey Lovullo said. The Sox already had added catcher Sandy Leon, infielder-outfielder Allen Craig, infielder Deven Marrero, pitcher Ryan Cook and pitcher Noe Ramirez.

The Sox now have 32 players on the active major-league roster. Barnes, who had been shut down with what was termed minor elbow discomfort, was recalled after pitching an inning Monday in Pawtucket’s season finale.

After giving him two starts in mid-August in which he allowed 11 runs over 10 1/3 innings, the Sox will use Barnes out of the bullpen, Lovullo said.

"A lot of us are unsure about what he will be best at, whether it's a starter or reliever," Lovullo said. "Those are discussions that are ongoing and we talk about that as a group very often. He was stretched out as a starter, came here as as a starter the last time, but I think the elbow discomfort has made us pull back from that."

Hill, who signed with the Sox as a minor-league free agent in August after pitching in Triple-A for the Washington Nationals, went 3-2 with a 2.78 ERA in five starts for the PawSox.

The 35-year-old left-hander is a candidate to be part of a six-man rotation the rest of the way, Lovullo said, as the Sox try to lighten the workload of rookies Eduardo Rodriguez and Henry Owens.

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