Brandon Phillips may be the Red Sox’s latest attempt at an answer for their second-base situation.
Boston signed the 36-year-old second baseman to a minor league deal on Wednesday afternoon, the team announced.
Though The Athletic reported this signing has no connection to Dustin Pedroia’s DL stint — the veteran is not expected to return from a left knee injury until the end of July — Phillips, an All-Star in 2010, ’11 and ’13, could be used as insurance.
Eduardo Nunez is currently manning second for Boston and struggling at the plate. The former Yankee is slashing .253/.284/.350 over 68 games.
Phillips’ recent history suggests he’d be an improvement over Nunez, though not by all that much. Over stints with the Braves and Angels last season, he had a .735 OPS and had gone unsigned in free agency until now.
“It’s something about dat color RED,” Phillips wrote on Instagram.
As for Pedroia, the 34-year-old has only played three games this year and is on the DL indefinitely with a knee injury.