Tag: retired

Former Red Sox first baseman Josh Ockimey retires from baseball, joins organization’s pro scouting department

Former Red Sox minor-leaguer Josh Ockimey has retired from baseball, per the first baseman’s Instagram account.

“f there was one word that could summarize this entire message it would be THANKFUL!” Ockimey wrote on Tuesday. “Throughout this past offseason, I’ve made the decision to step away and retire from the sport I love dearly and played for the majority of my life. I am immensely grateful for everyone who has came into my life throughout this journey. To my family who supported and believed in me from my first little league at bat, to my last professional at bat. To every coach who’s helped me in my journey, and every teammate who I have been truly blessed to have played with and have turned life long friends, there is no way I can fully express how much it means to me to have had your mentorship, love, support, guidance and friendship.

“This game has given me so much, and I am very thankful for every moment!” he continued. “At last, a personal thank you to the Red Sox and my hometown team, the Phillies, for allowing me to not only start, but also live my dream through my career. Excited to see what this next chapter with @maryhribar in life brings us!”

Ockimey, 27, was originally selected by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2014 amateur draft out of Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania native spent the first seven seasons of his professional career with Boston, topping out as the No. 10 prospect in the organization in 2017, per Baseball America’s rankings.

Known for his power, Ockimey spent the entirety of the 2021 campaign with Triple-A Worcester. The left-handed hitting slugger batted .225/.358/.416 with 11 doubles, 15 home runs, 45 RBIs, 35 runs scored, 62 walks, and 117 strikeouts over 98 games (360 plate appearances) for the WooSox. He also became a fan favorite at Polar Park and was named the first-ever recipient of the club’s “Heart of the Heart” award for community service before becoming a free agent that November.

In the midst of the MLB lockout, Ockimey inked a minor-league deal with his hometown Phillies last March. He wound up splitting the 2022 campaign between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley and slashed .230/367/.423 with 21 doubles, two triples, 17 homers, 55 RBIs, 63 runs scored, three stolen bases, 84 walks, and 134 strikeouts in 118 games (483 plate appearances) between the two affiliates.

All told, Ockimey finishes his professional career as a lifetime .236/.361/.427 hitter with 113 home runs and 412 runs driven in across 795 games (3,196 plate appearances) spanning six different minor-league levels. The only position the 6-foot-1, 238-pounder played on the field was first base.

While his playing days may now be behind him, Ockimey is not done with baseball. As stated in his Instagram bio, he has returned to the Red Sox organization as an associate professional scout. Other former Boston minor-leaguers, such as Kyri Washington and Josh Tobias, have followed a similar path in recent years.

(Picture of Josh Ockimey: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

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Former Red Sox Cy Young winner Rick Porcello retires from baseball

Former Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello has officially announced his retirement from baseball.

Porcello, who last pitched in 2020 and turns 34 later this month, made the announcement in a conversation with WEEI’s Rob Bradford at David Ortiz’s charity golf tournament in Florida over the weekend.

“This is Rick Porcello,” he said during an appearance on the Bradfo Sho Podcast. “I want to tell all the listeners I’m retired. Thank you for all the great memories, and thanks for everything.”

The Red Sox originally acquired Porcello from the Tigers in a December 2014 trade that sent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to Detroit. Boston signed the right-hander to a four-year, $82.5 million contract extension (that did not take effect until 2016) before the start of the 2015 season.

In his debut season with the Sox, Porcello struggled to the tune of a 4.92 ERA and 4.13 FIP over 28 starts (172 innings). The following year, he broke out by going 22-4 with a 3.15 ERA and 3.40 FIP across 33 starts (223 innings) en route to beating out former teammate Justin Verlander for the 2016 American League Cy Young Award.

After surpassing the 200-inning plateau again in 2017, Porcello played a key role in helping the Red Sox win a World Series in 2018. He led the club in innings pitched during the regular season (191 1/3) and produced a 5.32 ERA in five appearances (three starts) during the postseason.

Porcello’s final season in Boston was one to forget (5.52 ERA in 32 starts). Still, the reliable righty forged a 4.43 ERA and respectable 4.13 FIP to go along with 852 strikeouts to 211 walks over 159 starts (964 innings) in five seasons with the Red Sox. Only three pitchers (Max Scherzer, Verlander, and Zack Greinke) accrued more innings than Porcello during that four-year stretch.

Coming off a disappointing end to his time with the Sox, Porcello inked a one-year, $10 million deal with the Mets in Dec. 2019. As the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the length of the 2020 major-league season to just 60 games, Porcello yielded a 5.64 ERA and 3.33 FIP in 12 starts (59 innings) for New York. He became a free agent again that winter and went unsigned.

“There was a lot of personal stuff I probably don’t want to get into, but I think the bottom line was that I was very fortunate to have the years I had in the big leagues,” Porcello told Bradford. “I think COVID lent some perspective on my life. I wanted to be with my family. I wanted to get back into that type of lifestyle and be around them because every year that you’re gone is another year where your parents are getting older, and your brothers are getting older. I think COVID impacts a lot of people like that.”

When asked if he garnered interest from teams following the abbreviated 2020 campaign, Porcello responded: “There was some interest but I had two (expletive) years back-to-back so not that much interest.”

Originally selected by the Tigers with the 27th overall pick of the 2007 amateur draft out of Seton Hall Preparatory School in New Jersey, Porcello debuted with Detroit less than two years later. He retires having gone 150-125 with a 4.40 ERA and 1,561 strikeouts in 12 seasons between the Tigers, Red Sox, and Mets.

Shortly after Porcello made his announcement official, the Red Sox made sure to wish him well on social media.

“A Cy Young Winner & World Series Champ,” the club’s official Twitter account tweeted on Monday. “Congrats on a great career and best of luck in retirement, Rick.”

(Picture of Rick Porcello: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Former Red Sox outfielder Tate Matheny announces retirement

Former Red Sox minor-league outfielder Tate Matheny announced his retirement from the game of baseball on Monday afternoon. He made the announcement through a heartfelt statement on Instagram.

The son of former major-league catcher and current Royals manager Mike Matheny, Tate was selected by the Sox in the fourth round of the 2015 amateur draft out of Missouri State University. After signing with Boston that summer, the St. Louis native made his pro debut for the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League.

By the end of the 2019 season, Matheny had made it as far as the Triple-A level. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put Minor League Baseball on hold in 2020, but the right-handed hitter was able to work his way back into the fold in 2021.

Between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester last year, Matheny batted .242/.323/.450 (107 wRC+) with 16 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs, 39 RBIs, 36 runs scored, nine stolen bases, 29 walks, and 92 strikeouts over 78 games (269 plate appearances) while seeing time at all three outfield positions. He perhaps most notably robbed Buffalo Bisons shortstop Kevin Smith of a home run when Chris Sale was making a rehab start for the WooSox at Polar Park in late July.

Matheny, who turned 28 earlier this month, became a minor-league free agent at the conclusion of the 2021 campaign. It took some time, but he ultimately decided to hang up the cleats after spending all seven years of his professional career with the Red Sox organization.

“I don’t know how to even start this post I just have so much to be thankful for,” Matheny wrote in part on Instagram earlier Monday. “This game has brought me so many gifts. The friends I’ve met, the lessons I’ve learned, have come from this game but it’s time to say goodbye.”

As for what he has planned next, Matheny wrote: ” I am nothing but grateful for what this game has given me! I can’t wait for the next chapter in our lives!”

For his minor-league career, which spanned 562 games and 2,239 plate appearances across five different levels, Matheny slashed .250/.311/.368 to go along with 502 total hits, 104 doubles, 19 triples, 32 homers, 243 RBIs, 285 runs scored, 87 stolen bases, 168 walks, and 604 strikeouts.

In terms of personal accolades, the 6-foot, 180 pounder was named the Red Sox’ Minor League Base Runner of the Year in 2017. He was also recognized by Baseball America as the top defensive outfielder in Boston’s farm system entering the 2018, 2019, and 2020 seasons.

While it is unclear what Matheny has in store for this next phase of his life, it should be interesting to see if he follows in his father’s footsteps by pursuing a career in coaching.

Regardless of that, we at Blogging the Red Sox wish Matheny and his family the best moving forward.

(Picture of Tate Matheny: Katie Morrison/MassLive)

Newly retired Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia underwent partial knee replacement in December

More than 12 months before announcing his retirement from baseball on Monday after spending 17 years with the Red Sox, Dustin Pedroia was preparing for the 2020 regular season.

The longtime second baseman was limited to just six games in 2019 and had undergone a successful left knee joint preservation procedure — his third knee surgery since October 2017 — that August in Colorado.

“Last January, going into [the 2020 season],  I was still working out, still trying to get ready to come back and play. And I woke up one morning and my knee was huge,” Pedroia told reporters via Zoom earlier Monday. “I went and saw the doctors and it looked like an explosion went off in there. So, I was told that I needed to get a partial knee replacement.”

Given the logistics that go into a procedure of that magnitude, it took quite a bit of time for Pedroia — with the Red Sox helping him research which doctor would be best to perform the operation — to set something up.

“By the time that that happened, by the time I was going to have that surgery, the pandemic hit,” the 37-year-old continued. “That set everything back a lot. So, it got to a point where finally surgeries opened back up. And in December, I had a partial knee replacement.”

Pedroia spent the entirety of 2020 (spring training, summer camp, regular season) away from the Red Sox and instead spent time with his family at home in Arizona.

“I’m glad none of you guys got a chance to see me. I wasn’t in a good place,” he said. “I grinded every day just to be able to play with my kids and just live a normal life. My knee was bad, and I’m a young guy.

It took approximately a week after the surgery for Pedroia to be able to walk with no pain in his knee, but he is still dealing with the repercussions from the operation now.

“In December, I had the surgery, and a week later, I could tell that I could walk without pain,” said the four-time All-Star. “I can basically do everything now except run. I can’t run anymore, which is fine. I don’t need to run. Once I had the surgery, nobody has played with a partial knee replacement because of the fear of it breaks and the rest of my life would be severely impacted by it.”

With this in mind, Pedroia’s playing career effectively came to an end, which at the time was frustrating considering the fact that the former American League MVP had put together back-to-back solid campaigns in his age-32 and -33 seasons in 2016 and 2017.

“I think the hardest part was I felt like I was in my prime and understanding how to play the game as I got older,” Pedroia stated. “2016 was one of my best years, and the first month of ’17 I was rolling right along and one play kind of derailed a lot of that and threw all of us in a pattern we were trying to find a way to get out of.”

That one play, of course, would be when former Orioles infielder Manny Machado slid into Pedroia’s left knee during the eighth inning of a game in Baltimore on April 21, 2017.

Pedroia still managed to play 105 games in 2017 despite that play, but offseason surgery that winter all but marked the end of his playing career despite several valiant efforts to return.

“After all of our trainers and doctors and everybody… We saw everybody and we did it together and we heard the news that it wasn’t possible to play with this,” he said. “So, when the cards are stacked against you, I tried — we all tried to do everything possible to continue to play. And I’m proud of that and I’m proud of the way that our trainers helped me and the doctors and everybody.”

As hard as he tried to come back from injury by playing in three games in 2018 and six in 2019, Pedroia reached a point where his body could not keep up any longer, and that came when he underwent partial knee replacement late last year.

“But it wasn’t physically possible for me to continue to play baseball with a partial knee replacement,” said Pedroia. “So once I got that done, I knew. And the team has been great at leading me in the right directions on things to do and how to get better. And just to be better for my everyday life. Because I’m only 37 years old and I’ve got a long way to go.”

(Picture of Dustin Pedroia: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)