Red Sox outright Caleb Hamilton to Triple-A Worcester after catcher clears waivers

Red Sox catcher Caleb Hamilton has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Worcester, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

Hamilton and reliever Jake Reed were both designated for assignment on Tuesday so that the Red Sox could create space on their 40-man roster for the additions of Chris Murphy, Brandon Walter, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and David Hamilton. Those five prospects needed to be added in order to receive protection from next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

While Reed was claimed by the Dodgers on Friday, Hamilton cleared waivers and was sent outright to Worcester. The 27-year-old backstop did not have the ability to refuse the assignment since he only made his major-league debut for the Twins this past July.

Minnesota originally selected Hamilton in the 23rd-round of the 2016 amateur draft out of Oregon State University. The Washington state native spent parts of seven seasons in the minor-leagues before finally breaking in with the Twins over the summer.

In 22 games with Minnesota, the right-handed hitting Hamilton went just 1-for-18 (.056) at the plate with one home run, one RBI, five runs scored, four walks, and 14 strikeouts. The 6-foot, 185-pounder appeared in six games as a first baseman in addition to 11 games at catcher.

At the Triple-A level this year, Reed batted .233/.367/.442 with 10 doubles, 11 homers, 43 runs driven in, 34 runs scored, one stolen base, 43 walks, and 67 strikeouts across 62 games (251 plate appearances) with the St. Paul Saints. He also threw out six of 32 base stealers from behind the plate.

While catcher has served as his primary position in pro ball, Hamilton came up as a utility player of sorts in college and has past experience at every defensive position in both the infield and outfield.

It is unclear when the Twins removed Hamilton from their 40-man roster, but the Red Sox claimed him off waivers from Minnesota on October 11. His run on Boston’s 40-man roster lasted a little more than a month.

Hamilton, who turns 28 in February, should now provide the Sox with upper-minors catching depth in Worcester alongside Ronaldo Hernandez and Kole Cottam, among others.