Enmanuel Valdez

The Red Sox optioned Valdez to Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.

Westbrook is up to take the place of Enmanuel Valdez with the Red Sox optioning Valdez to Triple-A as the corresponding transaction. Westbrook will serve as a utility option while with Boston in this go-around, and isn't worth fantasy consideration.

It's a little surprising to see Valdez head to the minors now, as he's swung the bat well since the start of June with a slash of .290/.380/.577 in that month, and he's 5-for-11 in his limited action in July. Regardless, he'll return to the minors with Jamie Westbrook taking his place on the roster.

Houck lost his command after a brief rain delay interrupted his start tonight, but he still would have gotten through four scoreless if Enmanuel Valdez hadn't botched a double play ball, resulting in no outs. At the same time, it wasn't Valdez's fault that Houck walked three in the inning. On the night, just 33 of his 68 pitches were strikes. It was a second straight rough outing, though at least this one didn't take a toll on his ERA, which is still fifth in the AL at 2.68.