Boston Red Sox found a gem with Josh Winckowski in the bullpen
Going into the 2023 season, one of the biggest questions for the Boston Red Sox was going to be their pitching as a whole.
We really were putting a heavy emphasis on the starting rotation with guys like Chris Sale, James Paxton and others having a ton of question marks.
Chaim Bloom put an emphasis on the bullpen in the off-season, acquiring back of the bullpen help in Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen.
The only other big question was wondering who would be the mid relievers if the starters couldn’t last through five or six innings. One name that has certainly surprised a lot of people has been Josh Winckowski.
Winckowski made his Major League debut with the Red Sox in 2022. While only having a 5-7 record with a 5.89 ERA, there were flashes of good outings and ability to get outs in key situations.
For 2023 so far, the 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher has been making his appearance out of the bullpen. Based on the results, it looks like the Red Sox pitcher could be a gem for their bullpen going forward.
Boston Red Sox getting a multi-inning reliever in Josh Winckowski
A big part of the MLB game today is having a guy or two that can give you multiple innings out of the bullpen. For the Red Sox, it looks like that guy can be Winckowski.
He started games for the Red Sox in 2022. So you know that he has the physical ability to pitch up to 5-6 innings on a given night. He’s made upward of 20 starts in a season when he was in the Minors. So having a guy like Winckowski in the bullpen will bode well for a team that need everything to go right, pitching-wise.
Although it is only a small sample size, so far; the Boston Red Sox have to like what they’ve seen out of Winckowski.
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In five games out of the bullpen, the tall right-handed throwing Winckowski have eight strikeouts in nine innings and a 1.00 ERA.
The good thing about Winckowski this year so far has been his location. He’s hitting his spots more frequently than he did last season. The fastball looks like it has some extra life on it and the off-speed is down in the zone and sharp. Those factor into the production he has put up for the Red Sox thus far, which has been positive all around.
The bottom line with the Boston Red Sox and Josh Winckowski
So far so good for Winckowski in his first full season with the Boston Red Sox. Now the question is: can he keep up this level of productivity?
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Now who knows what happens when the likes of Brayan Bello and James Paxton return. But I’m willing to bet that Winckowski stays in the bullpen as a key arm. Maybe a guy like Ryan Brasier gets DFA’d in that situation? I’m not entirely sure.
But what I will say is that if he keeps performing, keep trotting him out there in key situations. Plain and simple!