Red Sox Acquire Lucas Sims

12:46pm: The teams announced a one-for-one swap of Sims for Porter. Boston designated left hander Brandon Walter for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot.

12:43pm: MassLive’s Chris Cotillo tweets that minor league pitcher Ovis Porter could be in the Sims deal, which the New York Post’s Joel Sherman confirms (on X).

12:39pm: The Reds are trading reliever Lucas Sims to the Red Sox, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). The right-hander is an impending free agent who has a 3.57 ERA across 43 appearances this season.

Sims spent parts of seven seasons in Cincinnati. A former first-round pick by the Braves, the Georgia native struggled in Atlanta before going to the Reds at the 2018 deadline in the Adam Duvall trade. Cincinnati quickly moved Sims to the bullpen, where he’s been a bit volatile but flashed high-leverage upside.

After a strong showing during the abbreviated 2020 schedule, Sims flashed huge swing-and-miss potential in ’21. He lost most of the next season to injuries that culminated in season-ending back surgery. Sims rebounded to turn in 61 innings of 3.10 ERA ball a year ago. He carries a 3.57 mark through 35 1/3 frames this season.

Sims has fanned an above-average 26% of batters faced. His 11.3% swinging strike percentage is solid but down a few points from last year’s excellent 14.3% clip. The 30-year-old righty has been a bit homer-prone this year — strangely much more so on the road than at Cincinnati’s hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park — and has always had wobbly control. He’s walking 13% of batters faced this season after handing out free passes at a 15.1% clip a year ago.

More to come.