The Red Sox are placing right-hander Jordan Hicks on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder injury, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. Southpaw Chris Murphy will be recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take Hicks’ spot in Boston’s bullpen.

Hicks came to the Red Sox alongside Kyle Harrison, Jose Bello and the since-traded (for Dustin May) James Tibbs III in the June blockbuster sending Rafael Devers to the Giants. The veteran righty is in the second season of a four-year, $44MM deal signed with San Francisco in the 2023-24 offseason. The Giants tried Hicks as a starter both last year and this season, but he hasn’t held up in that role. The Sox have been using him in the bullpen, and the results through his first two-plus months have been nightmarish.

In 18 2/3 innings with the Red Sox, Hicks has been crushed for 17 runs (8.20 ERA) on 25 hits and a dozen walks. He’s also plunked four batters and tossed six wild pitches — all while striking out a career-worst 15.5% of his opponents. Manager Alex Cora has still used Hicks in plenty of leverage spots, and the organization was surely hopeful that he could return to his prior standing as a coveted, flamethrowing setup man.

Perhaps that’ll still be the case down the road. The Red Sox have Hicks signed through 2027, and he’ll earn $12MM in each of the next two seasons. It’s important for them to try to get the righty sorted out, but for the time being, he’ll be down for the next two weeks at the very least. This will be the eighth IL stint for Hicks since he landed on the IL in 2019 for a UCL tear and required Tommy John surgery — and the third shoulder-related IL stint dating back to Aug. 2024.

More to come.