Tag: 2023 season

Red Sox’ Brayan Bello provides update on sore forearm: ‘I feel much better right now’

On Friday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced that Brayan Bello had been shut down from throwing through the weekend due to what he described as forearm soreness.

On Saturday, Bello provided an update on how he was feeling when speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers.

Bello first began experiencing tightness in his forearm after throwing a bullpen session at the Fenway South complex at the beginning of the week. The right-hander did not describe it as being painful.

“I didn’t feel any pain,” Bello said (through translator Carlos Villoria Benitez). “I just felt tight and I really didn’t want to force it.”

After showing signs of promise in his big-league debut last season, Bello came into camp this spring competing for a spot in Boston’s Opening Day starting rotation. Like Cora, the 23-year-old expressed confidence that he will be able to resume his throwing program in the coming days.

“I feel very anxious. I just want the moment to come,” said Bello. “I feel better right now that I can throw. So let’s wait until Monday.”

Though Bello did say he is feeling better, he also noted that the tightness he felt in his forearm was unlike anything he had experienced before. With that being said, though, the young hurler is not worried about it and is instead looking forward to getting back on the mound.

“I feel much better right now,” he said. “We’re working really hard to get ready.”

Since the Red Sox figure to roll with a five-man starting rotation out of spring training next month, Bello is competing with six other potential starters (Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Nick Pivetta, James Paxton, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck) for five spots in total.

With that in mind, it would likely be beneficial for Bello if he is able to resume throwing on Monday and does not risk falling further behind the competition. The discomfort he felt may have something to do with the amount of breaking balls he threw in that bullpen session.

“It was right after I was throwing a lot of breaking pitches,” Bello said. “It was the next day when I felt a little bit tight. So it probably was that.”

(Picture of Brayan Bello: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox bring back outfielder Marcus Wilson on minor-league deal

The Red Sox have signed free agent outfielder Marcus Wilson to a minor-league contract, per the club’s transactions log on MLB.com.

This will mark Wilson’s second stint with the Red Sox organization. The former second-round draft pick was originally acquired from the Diamondbacks in the April 2019 trade that sent catcher Blake Swihart to Arizona.

After splitting the remainder of the 2019 minor-league season between (then) High-A Salem and Double-A Portland, Wilson was added to Boston’s 40-man roster that November in order to receive protection from the Rule 5 Draft. Despite being on the Sox’ 40-man roster for the entirety of the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, the California native was a limited participant at the club’s alternate training site in Pawtucket.

Wilson broke camp with Triple-A Worcester the following spring. The right-handed hitter batted .242/.370/.452 with 10 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs, 30 RBIs, 34 runs scored, 10 stolen bases, 41 walks, and 88 strikeouts over 64 games (265 plate appearances) for the WooSox before somewhat surprisingly being designated for assignment at the end of July.

The Mariners quickly claimed Wilson off waivers in early August, and he spent the rest of the 2021 season with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, Wash. That October, however, Wilson was again designated for assignment. He cleared waivers this time around and was outrighted off Seattle’s 40-man roster.

As such, Wilson returned to Tacoma for the start of the 2022 season. He slashed .209/.336/.469 with 11 doubles, two triples, 12 homers, 34 runs driven in, 33 runs scored, eight stolen bases, 35 walks, and 82 strikeouts in 59 games (238 plate appearances) for the Rainiers before getting called up by the Mariners for the first time last June.

In what was his major-league debut, Wilson went 1-for-5 with one run scored, one walk, and four strikeouts across three games for Seattle. He was then optioned back to Tacoma on July 7, but was designated for assignment at the end of the month. The 26-year-old once again cleared waivers and closed out the 2022 campaign in Tacoma before electing for minor-league free agency in October.

Wilson, who turns 27 in August, should provide the Red Sox with some upper-minors outfield depth this season. It has yet to be determined if he will start the year in Portland or Worcester, though he could be behind other experienced outfielders like Raimel Tapia, Greg Allen, and Narciso Crook on the club’s organizational depth chart.

For his career at the Triple-A level, Wilson is a lifetime .230/.355/.441 hitter with 30 home runs, 99 RBIs, and 29 stolen bases over 194 games (792 plate appearances). In 74 career games at Double-A, he is a lifetime .225/.324/.425 hitter with 10 home runs, 29 RBIs, and nine stolen bases across 278 trips to the plate. The 6-foot-2, 198-pounder also has past experience at all three outfield positions, so he can be considered versatile in that regard.

(Picture of Marcus Wilson: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Jorge Alfaro not yet at camp due to visa issues

Jorge Alfaro has yet to report to Red Sox camp in Fort Myers. The veteran catcher is currently dealing with visa issues, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) on Friday.

Alfaro was signed to a minor-league contract last month. The deal came with an invite to spring training as well as a $2 million salary if the 29-year-old backstop cracks Boston’s big-league roster this season.

“He’s not here yet,” Cora said at JetBlue Park. “But we found a few things defensively that we can help him to get better. He has a cannon and obviously, he’s a good athlete. He hits the ball hard.”

Last season with the Padres, Alfaro batted .246/.285/.383 with 14 doubles, seven home runs, 40 RBIs, 25 runs scored, one stolen base, 11 walks, and 98 strikeouts over 274 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter also averaged 89.4 mph on the balls he put in play while ranking in the 97th percentile of all major-leaguers in max exit velocity (115.2 mph), per Baseball Savant.

Alfaro spent his winter in the Dominican Republic playing for the Tigres del Licey. He appeared in just six regular season LIDOM games for Licey but turned it up a notch afterwards by posting a 1.105 OPS in the round-robin portion of the playoffs and hitting .421 (8-for-19) with two home runs in the championship series that he was named MVP of.

“He had a great winter down there in the Dominican Republic,” said Cora. “Just hoping that he gets here.”

Alfaro is now slated to play for his native Colombia in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. As such, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound backstop will have a limited amount of time to work with Jason Varitek and other members of the Red Sox coaching staff before Opening Day arrives next month.

“He’s going to the tournament, too,” Cora said in reference to the WBC. “It’s kind of like a small window for him to work with Jason, which is very important. But he should be OK.”

Once he does arrive at the Fenway South complex, Alfaro figures to compete with Connor Wong — who also hits from the right side of the plate — for a spot on Boston’s Opening Day roster as the No. 2 catcher behind the left-handed hitting Reese McGuire. For what it’s worth, Alfaro and McGuire are both out of minor-league options while Wong has one remaining.

If Alfaro fails to break camp with the Red Sox and accepts his assignment to Triple-A Worcester, he will have the ability to opt out of his deal and return to free agency if he is not called up by June 1 or July 1 at the latest.

(Picture of Jorge Alfaro: Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Nick Pivetta on the mend following recent bout with COVID-19

Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta is on the mend following a recent bout with COVID-19, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

As was first reported by Jamie Gatlin of Beyond the Monster from the back fields of Fenway South on Friday morning, Pivetta “left workouts earlier today with a trainer. He threw a pitch and then crouched down before a trainer came over.”

After that, Pivetta “did not join the other 12 pitchers in his assigned group for pitchers’ fielding practice,” per Cotillo. He was, however, present for Corey Kluber’s bullpen session.

When speaking with reporters (including Cotillo) on Friday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that Pivetta had COVID-19 “not too long ago” and that he is “just building back.”

Pivetta, who has been seen wearing a mask around the team’s complex in Fort Myers recently, is still expected to be ready for Opening Day next month. The 30-year-old hurler is also slated to pitch for Team Canada in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

While Pivetta’s status for Opening Day is not yet in question, his bout with COVID-19 could put him behind other pitchers at camp who are also competing for a spot in Boston’s starting rotation. In addition to Pivetta, fellow righty Brayan Bello has been shut down from throwing for the next few days due to forearm soreness.

Pivetta is coming off a 2022 season in which he led the Red Sox in both games started (33) and innings pitched (179 2/3). He went 10-12 with a 4.56 ERA and 4.42 FIP while recording 175 strikeouts to 73 walks.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Brayan Bello shut down from throwing due to right forearm soreness

The Red Sox have shut down Brayan Bello from throwing after the right-hander experienced forearm soreness following his last bullpen session, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) at JetBlue Park on Friday.

Bello is not scheduled to undergo any imaging at this time. The Red Sox are optimistic that the 23-year-old will be able to resume his program at the Fenway South complex on Monday after taking the weekend off from throwing.

“Nothing to alarm, but obviously, he’s so important to the organization,” Cora said. “He’s important for what we’re trying to accomplish. He’ll be back on his throwing program on Monday.”

Bello informed Cora that the soreness he has experiencing is something that popped up recently and not before he reported to camp earlier this month.

“I talked to him in one of those eye-to-eye, heart-to-hearts,” said Cora. “I was like, ‘Did this happen here or did this happen before?’ He threw a lot of breaking balls in that one, working on stuff. It was kind of a different bullpen for him and he felt it. We’re very confident that Monday he’s back on his throwing program and we’ll go from there.”

Bello, who turns 24 in May, made his major-league debut last July. In 13 appearances (11 starts) for Boston, the Dominican-born hurler posted a 4.71 ERA and 2.94 FIP with 55 strikeouts to 27 walks over 57 1/3 innings of work. That includes a 2.59 ERA (2.70 FIP) in his final six starts (31 1/3 innings) of the season.

Although he has graduated from his prospect status, Bello is still considered to be the Red Sox’ top young pitching talent. As long as the soreness in his forearm does not linger, the righty has a strong chance of making Boston’s Opening Day starting rotation out of spring training.

(Picture of Brayan Bello: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ James Paxton on exercising player option: ‘I’m trying to establish myself back in the big-leagues and I felt like this was the place for me to do it’

Back on November 7, the Red Sox elected to decline James Paxton’s two-year, $26 million team option. Two days later, the left-hander somewhat surprisingly exercised his $4 million player option to return to the club for the 2023 season.

As MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith wrote on Thursday, Paxton might have received more than $4 million in free agency if he chose to hit the open market this winter. Fellow southpaw Matthew Boyd, for instance, got $10 million from the Tigers in December after pitching just 13 1/3 innings of relief for the Mariners in 2022.

Paxton, like Boyd, has been hindered by injury issues in recent years. Rather than taking his chances as a free agent, though, the 34-year-old opted for familiarity by remaining with Boston.

“I haven’t pitched healthy in like three years,” Paxton told reporters (including Smith) at JetBlue Park on Thursday. “I’m comfortable here. They know me. I know them. And I’m trying to establish myself back in the big-leagues and I felt like this was the place for me to do it.”

The Red Sox originally signed Paxton to a one-year, $6 million contract in December 2021. The deal came with a two-year, $26 million club option ($13 million per year) as well as a one-year, $4 million player option if the former was rejected.

Having undergone Tommy John surgery while with the Mariners in April 2021, Paxton was initially optimistic that he would be able to return to the mound before the All-Star break last season. He was shut down from throwing for a few weeks in early May due to posterior elbow soreness, but he was able to begin a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on August 18.

Just two batters into his start for the FCL Red Sox, however, Paxton was forced to exit due to left lat (latissimus dorsi muscle on the back) tightness. He was later diagnosed with a Grade 2 lat tear, which ended his 2022 season before it really even started.

“It was hard,” said Paxton. “I really wanted to make it out there last year. I had just started feeling really good with the elbow and started letting it rip a little bit and the lat wasn’t quite ready for that so it gave out on me. But I got myself in the best shape I could this year and ready to compete.”

Paxton threw eight bullpen sessions this offseason and threw his first of the spring before speaking with the media on Thursday. The Red Sox came into camp with seven different starters (Paxton, Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta, Corey Kluber, Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello, and Tanner Houck) vying for five rotation spots, so Paxton certainly has his work cut out for him these next few weeks.

“I’m going to do what I do,” he said. “Then we’ll see where it all shakes out in the end. But I’m not going to worry about it. I’m just going to go out there and pitch and have a good time and get ready to compete.”

Since debuting for the Mariners in 2013, Paxton has started all 137 games he has pitched in. The Red Sox have not yet approached the lefty about coming out of the bullpen, but it does not seem as though he is totally against that idea.

“I like starting. I’ve made starts my whole career,” Paxton said. “Obviously if that’s the conversation they want to have, we’ll have it.”

(Picture of James Paxton: Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images)

Red Sox sign Yu Chang to one-year deal, place Trevor Story on 60-day injured list

The Red Sox have signed free agent infielder Yu Chang to a one-year major-league contract for the 2023 season, the club announced earlier Thursday morning. In order to make room for Chang on the 40-man roster, shortstop Trevor Story was placed on the 60-day injured list due to right elbow ulnar collateral ligament repair.

Chang, 27, will earn $850,000 with the Red Sox this season and will have the chance to make more via performance bonuses, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

This will mark Chang’s second stint with Boston. The Red Sox originally claimed the versatile right-handed hitter off waivers from the Rays last September. He appeared in 11 games for the club down the stretch, batting .150 (3-for-20) with two doubles, one RBI, three runs scored, five walks, and seven strikeouts over 26 trips to the plate.

Chang was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn $900,000 in arbitration this year, but he was instead non-tendered by Boston in November, which allowed him to become a free agent in the first place. Fast forward three months, and the Red Sox are now bringing Chang back at a slightly lower price.

With Story sidelined for the foreseeable future after undergoing right elbow surgery in January and Adalberto Mondesi’s status for Opening Day in question as he continues to recover from a torn ACL in his left knee, the Red Sox found themselves in need of some middle infield depth as the start of the season approaches. They wound up turning to a familiar face to complement the likes of Enrique Hernandez and Christian Arroyo on the big-league roster.

Chang will not report to Red Sox camp in Fort Myers until mid-March, as he is slated to play for Team Chinese Taipei in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Once he does join the team, though, the Taiwan native will likely have an inside track to making Boston’s Opening Day roster out of spring training since he has prior major-league experience. The same cannot be said for other infielders on the 40-man roster, like prospects David Hamilton, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Enmanuel Valdez.

A former international signing of the Guardians out of Taitung in 2013, Chang was regarded as one of the top prospects in Cleveland’s farm system prior to making his debut as a 23-year-old in June 2019. He spent parts of four seasons with the Guardians before being traded to the Pirates last May. After a little more than month in Pittsburgh, he was claimed off waivers by the Rays, though his stint in Tampa Bay did not last too long, either.

For his big-league career, Chang is a lifetime .213/.279/.360 hitter with 22 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs, 61 runs driven in, 60 runs scored, one stolen base, 40 walks, and 154 strikeouts in 196 games (538 plate appearances) between the Guardians, Pirates, Rays, and Red Sox.

Defensively, Chang has past experience at all four infield positions. With Boston last year, the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder logged 32 innings at shortstop, 23 innings at second base, and seven innings at first base.

Chang, who turns 28 in July, becomes the eighth free agent the Red Sox have added on a major-league contract this offseason. He joins Kenley Jansen, Corey Kluber, Chris Martin, Joely Rodriguez, Justin Turner, Adam Duvall, and Masataka Yoshida.

(Picture of Yu Chang: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox sign left-hander Cam Booser to minor-league deal

The Red Sox have signed free agent left-hander Cam Booser to a minor-league contract, per the club’s transactions log on MLB.com.

Booser, 30, spent the first half of the 2022 season in the Diamondbacks organization after signing a minors pact with Arizona last February. The lefty posted a 6.48 ERA and 6.60 FIP with 30 strikeouts to 22 walks in 19 relief appearances (25 innings) for Double-A Amarillo before being released by the Sod Poodles in July.

Less than a month after getting cut loose by the Diamondbacks, Booser latched on with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League. He appeared in 13 games for Lancaster down the stretch and pitched to a 4.63 ERA with 15 strikeouts to six walks over 11 2/3 innings of work.

A native of the Seattle-area, Booser has had an interesting journey in professional baseball. He originally attended the esteemed Oregon State University, but he underwent Tommy John surgery after his freshman year and missed the entirety of his sophomore season as a result.

After transferring to Central Arizona College as a junior, Booser was passed over in the 2013 amateur draft. He then signed with the Twins as an undrafted free agent and made his pro debut in the Gulf Coast League that August. Booser did not graduate past the rookie-ball level until the onset of the 2015 campaign.

In 32 appearances for Class-A Cedar Rapids that year, Booser forged a 3.72 ERA and 3.57 xFIP to go along with 64 strikeouts to 40 walks across 46 2/3 innings of relief. He was named a Midwest League All-Star for his efforts, but that success did not carry over into 2016. Booser instead struggled to an 8.53 ERA (6.24 FIP) in 21 total outings (25 1/3 innings) between Cedar Rapids and High-A Fort Myers.

The following June, Booser was handed down a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a drug of abuse for the second time (he was previously suspended for testing positive for marijuana in 2015). Over the course of the 2017 season, Booser pitched in just three games. He elected to retire from baseball that November.

“I needed a break,” Booser told The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan back in April. “I needed, for my own mental side, to get away and figure out who I was off the field.”

And so Booser returned home to join a carpenters union. He worked construction around northwest Washington state and gave baseball lessons on the side.

In late 2020, Booser got the itch to pitch again and began throwing off a mound at a local facility. He started to work with current Mets pitching coordinator and former Driveline Baseball instructor Kyle Rogers before landing a contract with the Chicago Dogs of the independent American Association in July 2021.

Booser impressed with Chicago (1.93 ERA in 21 1/3 innings) and leveraged his performance there into a minor-league deal with the Diamondbacks as soon as he was officially released by the Twins last winter. During his time with Arizona’s Double-A affiliate, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound southpaw sat in the high-90s and topped out at 100 mph with his four-seam fastball. He also works with a low-90s cutter and mid-80s slider.

Booser, who turns 31 in May, has been assigned to Double-A Portland. He should provide Sea Dogs manager Chad Epperson with another left-handed relief option to complement the likes of Skylar Arias and Brendan Cellucci, among others.

(Picture of Cam Booser: John E. Moore III/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Brendan Cellucci ended his 2022 season on a strong note

The Red Sox have a number of intriguing left-handed pitching prospects within their farm system. Brendan Cellucci is among them.

Cellucci, now 24, was originally selected by Boston in the 12th round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Tulane University. The Philadelphia-area native signed with the club for $345,000 and made his professional debut for short-season Lowell later that summer.

What would have been Cellucci’s first full season in pro ball was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He then spent the entirety of the 2021 minor-league campaign with High-A Greenville and also pitched for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.

After taking part in the Red Sox’ Winter Warm-Up minicamp last January, Cellucci returned to Greenville for the start of the 2022 season. The left-hander began the year in the Drive’s bullpen, but he struggled to the tune of an 11.70 ERA over nine relief appearances (10 innings pitched) out of the gate.

Three days following another tough showing against the Rome Braves at Fluor Field on May 8, Cellucci did something he had not done since pitching on Cape Cod in 2019: he started a game. On May 11, Cellucci served as an opener for Greenville and struck out four of the six batters he faced over two scoreless, no-hit frames on the road against the Asheville Tourists.

For the next month, Cellucci continued to open games for the Drive every three to four days. In 10 starts from May 11-June 12, he produced a 1.83 ERA and .141 batting average against to go along with 30 strikeouts to 14 walks across 19 2/3 total innings of work.

Though he found success in an opening role, Cellucci returned to the Greenville bullpen in mid-June. The results (such as a 7.04 ERA in his next 13 outings) were not pretty at first, but the lefty was able to settle down a bit following a five-run blowup against Rome on August 3.

Against that same Braves team four days later, Cellucci worked a scoreless seventh inning. He then proceeded to keep the opposition off the scoreboard in eight of his next 10 appearances, putting up a 1.06 ERA and .155 batting average against with 22 strikeouts to six walks over 17 innings pitched altogether.

On September 16, Cellucci earned a late-season promotion to Double-A Portland. He appeared in two games for the Sea Dogs down the stretch and did not surrender run while recording three punchouts and zero walks in 2 1/3 frames of relief.

All told, it was an up-and-down season for Cellucci. Between Greenville and Portland, he wound up posting a 4.34 ERA and 4.64 FIP with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 85:44 over 45 total appearances (10 starts) spanning 64 1/3 innings. Opponents hit .238/.374/.340 with six home runs in 290 plate appearances against him.

According to FanGraphs, 30 minor-league pitchers in the Red Sox organization accrued at least 60 innings on the mound last year. Among them, Cellucci ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.89), 30th in walks per nine innings (6.16), fourth in strikeout rate (29.3 percent), 30th in walk rate (15.2 percent), 11th in batting average against, 26th in WHIP (1.55), seventh in line-drive rate (18.4 percent), ninth in groundball rate (48 percent), ninth in swinging-strike rate (13 percent), 14th in ERA, 18th in xFIP (4.61), and 20th in FIP.

Cellucci could have been added to Boston’s 40-man roster at the end of the season in order to receive protection from the Rule 5 Draft. The Red Sox, however, left Cellucci unprotected and he unsurprisingly did not get scooped up by another team on the final day of the Winter Meetings in December.

While he is not considered to be one of the top relief prospects in Boston’s farm system, Cellucci does have potential. His strikeout numbers are indicative of that, though his struggles to command the strike zone at times do lead to some concerns surrounding his long-term outlook.

Per his SoxProspects.com scouting report, Cellucci is a three-pitch pitcher who possesses a max-effort, over the top delivery. The 6-foot-4, 211-pound southpaw operates with a 91-93 mph fastball that tops out at 95 mph (and has topped out at 97 mph in the past), an 88-90 mph cutter, and an 82-88 mph slider.

Cellucci, who turns 25 in June, is projected to return to Portland for the upcoming 2023 season. He will once again be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft next winter, but will presumably look to make strides with the Sea Dogs in the meantime.

(Picture of Brendan Cellucci: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Former Red Sox right-hander Michael Wacha agrees to deal with Padres, per report

Former Red Sox starter Michael Wacha has agreed to a deal with the Padres, as was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

According to the Associated Press, the contract, which is still pending a physical, is believed to be for multiple years and similar in structure to the three-year deal San Diego gave fellow right-hander Nick Martinez back in November.

Rosenthal further reports that Wacha could earn more than $24 million over four years with the Padres. The deal includes player and team options and its structure lowers the average annual value for luxury tax purposes.

Wacha, 31, is now slated to join his fifth team in the last five years after originally signing a one-year, $7 million pact with Boston at the conclusion of the 2021 campaign. The former 2012 first-round draft pick out of Texas A&M first broke in with the Cardinals in 2013 and has also pitched for the Mets and Rays.

In 23 starts for the Red Sox last season, Wacha posted a 3.32 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with 104 strikeouts to 31 walks over 127 1/3 innings of work. While the veteran hurler put up solid surface-level numbers, he produced a less-than-desirable 4.14 FIP and 20.2 percent strikeout rate. The righty also ranked in the 27th percentile of all big-league pitchers in expected batting average (.254), the 13th percentile in expected slugging percentage (.446), the 14th percentile in barrel rate (9.6 percent), and the 12th percentile in whiff rate (20.7 percent), per Baseball Savant.

Though Wacha led all Red Sox pitchers in Baseball-Reference’s Wins Above Replacement metric (3.3 bWAR) in 2022, he did miss time with injuries. From May 5-20 he was sidelined with left intercostal irritation. From July 5-August 14, he was sidelined with right shoulder inflammation.

Taking those factors into consideration, it does not appear as though the Red Sox made a strong effort to bring Wacha back in free agency despite publicly expressing interest in a reunion. With other starters such as Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta, Corey Kluber, Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, James Paxton, and Tanner Houck already on the roster, Wacha would have only added to Boston’s starting pitching surplus.

In agreeing to a deal with the Padres, Wacha will join a rotation mix in San Diego that includes the likes of Martinez, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, Seth Lugo, and Adrian Morejon, among others.

Wacha, who turns 32 in July, is the second member of the 2022 Red Sox to leave Boston for San Diego as a free agent this winter. Back in December, as you may recall, Xander Bogaerts inked a monstrous 11-year, $280 million contract with the Friars.

(Picture of Michael Wacha: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)