Red Sox Steven Wright now offers some pitching options
By Rick McNair
The Boston Red Sox have Steven Wright hopefully returning to 2016 pitching form. What options does that present for the righty knuckleballer to the team?
Can you extract a positive from a negative? In baseball does examining a loss yield some information that may be beneficial as the season moves forward? The Boston Red Sox lost to Baltimore 7-4 Friday night and the score was disappointing, but a returning Steven Wright was not.
The almost lost career of Wright has been well documented with injuries and personal issues, but one important aspect is if the 32-year-old knuckleballer is in reasonable positive performance mode the Red Sox will have a fine swing-man, spot starter, or a pitcher who could slide into the rotation as others fail due to performance or injury.
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The box score was nothing special: 4.2, IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, and 68 pitches. But that pitch count can show that Wright is more than capable for extended duty. And for those of us who lived through the Tim Wakefield years, we are all aware that you can live and die a baseball death with the knuckleball.
This was Wright’s second game since returning to the fold. His other effort was also in a team loss to the Oakland Athletics and Wright had more rust than a 1939 Packard lost in an Iowa cornfield. That outing had 2.1 innings and 49 pitches and two earned runs.
Will Wright be the Wright of 2016?
If that Wright materializes or even a close facsimile the Red Sox staff will get a boost comparable to the daily output of Red Bull. With Hector Velazquez sidelined, Wright has assumed the mantle of an ultra-long reliever. When Hector recovers from his mysterious “back injury” Wright could become available for rotation duties.
Drew Pomeranz – also recovering from injury – has not exactly brought back visions of a latter-day Sandy Koufax. A few more starts stinking up the ballyard and Pomeranz may be a rotation exclusion. The specter of injury is forever hovering over the Red Sox staff with David Price having a malady Du Jour and Eduardo Rodriguez with illustrious history nicks and dents.
Even if the rotation suddenly and collectively becomes lights out a healthy and productive Wright offers options for president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, to participate in his favorite pastime – trading players.
Long-term, as in 2019, Wright offers a shield for the loss of Pomeranz who will be a free agent. I doubt the Red Sox will open their wallet any further and re-sign the enigmatic lefty. Wright is far cheaper and may be more productive.
Next: Red Sox potential bullpen trade targets
The loss provided a glimpse and a positive one on just how Wright is progressing. In may have been a loss in the books but could be a huge positive down the road.