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BOSTON — With their pitching depth decimated, the Red Sox are turning to a young arm who will be making the jump straight from Double-A to the big leagues when he debuts.

Boston will call up left-handed pitching prospect Eduardo Rivera ahead of Wednesday’s game, sources confirmed late Tuesday. Righty Jack Anderson will be optioned to Triple-A Worcester to clear a spot on the active roster. The Red Sox will also need to clear a 40-man roster to select Rivera and can do so by moving an injured player (like Triston Casas or Kutter Crawford) to the 60-day injured list.

It’s unclear whether Rivera will start or relieve in the majors. The 22-year-old dominated in two starts for Double-A Portland to start the year (1 earned run and 16 strikeouts in 10 innings) and was promoted to Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday but didn’t pitch. He last threw Thursday in Altoona, striking out nine in 5 ⅔ innings.

The Red Sox are in something of a fire drill when it comes to their pitching staff just three-plus weeks into the season. With Sonny Gray (hamstring strain) on the injured list, the club will need someone to make a start in the coming days. For now, Ranger Suárez (Wednesday) and Brayan Bello (Thursday) are set to start the next two games with Gray’s spot set to come around Saturday in Baltimore. Pitching prospect Payton Tolle seems like the most likely candidate to take Gray’s rotation spot but has not pitched in nine days. The pool of depth starters is limited with Johan Oviedo (flexor strain) and Tyler Uberstine (shoulder inflammation) sidelined and Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval both shut down after recent setbacks while on rehab assignments.

The Red Sox signed Rivera, 22, as a minor league free agent in 2024. He’s a former Athletics prospect who was a 10th-round pick in 2021 and released three years later. SoxProspects ranks Rivera as the No. 33 prospect in Boston’s system. Standing 6-foot-7, the Puerto Rico native had a strong season in 2025, logging a 2.48 ERA in 87 innings across two levels (High-A and Double-A). Rivera, who has struggled with a high walk rate as a minor leaguer, pitched for Puerto Rico in this year’s World Baseball Classic.

Anderson, a 26-year-old rookie, has made three multi-inning appearances since making his big league debut Wednesday in Minneapolis. He owns a 3.38 ERA with six strikeouts in eight innings, but allowed a run and four hits across two innings during Tuesday’s loss to the Yankees.

When Rivera pitches, he’ll be the fifth Red Sox pitcher to make his major league debut this season, joining Anderson, Tyler Samaniego, Uberstine and Ryan Watson. The Rivera-for-Anderson swap is the second pitching-related roster move of the last 48 hours for the Red Sox, who recalled Samaniego and placed Gray on the 15-day injured list before Tuesday’s game.

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BOSTON — Jarren Duran sat twice over the weekend as the Red Sox faced back-to-back tough lefties in Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez. On Monday, Duran is once again on the bench despite the Yankees starting the right-handed Luis Gil.

With Roman Anthony (left field) and Masataka Yoshida (designated hitter) both starting against Gil, Duran is the odd man out for the first meeting between Boston and New York this season. Elsewhere, the Red Sox lineup is as expected with second baseman Marcelo Mayer, third baseman Caleb Durbin and catcher Carlos Narváez starting. Willson Contreras is again hitting second behind the leadoff man, Anthony, while Yoshida is hitting third.

In the eyes of manager Alex Cora, who has rotated through his five outfield/DH types so far this season, the decision was about getting Yoshida — who is hitting .440 (11-for-25) with three doubles and five RBIs since April 5 — in the lineup.

“Masa’s swinging the bat well. He’s taking his walks and he’s putting good at-bats. It was his turn to play.”

Duran went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in Monday’s win and Cora chose to pinch-hit light-hitting utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa for him (to attempt to bunt) in the seventh inning. Duran’s average is down to .164 and he has a 28.4% strikeout rate so far this season.

“He’s chasing pitches,” Cora said. “Early on, he was taking his walks. Now, he’s chasing. We’ve got to make sure we swing at the right ones.”

The Red Sox, who split a four-game series against Detroit, won Monday. They are 9-13 so far this season and trail the first-place Yankees by four games. Boston made an expected roster move before the game, placing starter Sonny Gray on the injured list with a right hamstring strain and recalling lefty Tyler Samaniego from Triple-A Worcester.

First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m. ET and the game will air on NESN+ — not NESN — because of Game 2 of the Bruins-Sabres playoff series. Connelly Early will start for the Red Sox.

NEW YORK YANKEES (13-9) vs. BOSTON RED SOX (9-13) · FENWAY PARK · BOSTON, MA · GAME 23

FIRST PITCH: 6:45 p.m. ET

TV CHANNEL: NESN+, TBS

RADIO: WEEI 93.7 FM

PITCHING PROBABLES: RHP Luis Gil (0-1, 7.00 ERA) vs. LHP Connelly Early (1-0, 2.29 ERA)

RED SOX LINEUP:

1. Roman Anthony LF
2. Willson Contreras 1B
3. Masataka Yoshida DH
4. Wilyer Abreu RF
5. Trevor Story SS
6. Ceddanne Rafaela CF
7. Marcelo Mayer 2B
8. Caleb Durbin 3B
9. Carlos Narváez C

YANKEES LINEUP:

1. Amed Rosario 3B
2. Aaron Judge RF
3. Ben Rice 1B
4. Giancarlo Stanton DH
5. Cody Bellinger CF
6. Randal Grichuk LF
7. Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2B
8. José Caballero SS
9. Austin Wells C

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