Red Sox: The Ryan Weber experiment has come to its conclusion
Red Sox invest in Ryan Weber for 2020
The Red Sox were dealt several blows to their starting rotation ahead of the 2020 season and it felt like there weren’t man options to repair it. We all know the story by now, David Price was traded to LA, Rick Porcello left in free agency, and Chris Sale needed Tommy John. This left Ron Roenicke with plenty of holes in his pitching staff and not a lot of arms to fill them. During spring training Ryan Weber began to stand out from the crowd of pitchers trying to earn a job, he would continue that separation in summer camp.
Going into this season there were a few of us here at BSI that were on the Weber War Wagon and were ready to anoint him as one of Boston’s starters. However, this was back when he’d be maybe the four or five man in the rotation. After Eduardo Rodriguez went down with COVID and eventually Myocarditis, he received a massive promotion.
After his last start, Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke was asked about other options instead of Weber, and he defended his pitcher, sort of. The skipper pointed out that there weren’t any other arms that he could go to and Weber was it, that sentiment didn’t last long.
Being the third man in the lineup after Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez hasn’t quite worked out for the righty and it looks as if his time with the Red Sox main roster is over for now.
Red Sox option Ryan Weber to Pawtucket
Weber took the mound last night against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park and let’s just say things didn’t go well. Now don’t get me wrong, they weren’t disastrous either. Yeah, he served up a meaty bomb to Cavan Biggio in the first at-bat of the game, but he would eventually settle in. I’m also using that term pretty loosely as settling in for Weber would equate to 3.0IP/5H/2R/2BB/3K, again, not great but not a blow-up.
If last night were the only subpar performance then I think he’d still be in the rotation but the problem lies with the fact that he hasn’t been good, at all. Through his three starts this season, Weber owns an 0-2 record and a 9.90 ERA with 9 walks, 3 strikeouts, all through only 10 innings pitched. He’s also served up five homers in that time while earning a massive 2.40 WHIP. To say the regular season has been a disappointment would be an understatement.
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Earlier today it was announced by the Red Sox that Weber would be optioned back down to Pawtucket where he’ll re-join the player pool. There’s always the possibility that he’ll regain the confidence that we saw during the pre-season but at this point, it may be too late in the season to take that risk again.
The Red Sox are on a bit of a hot streak, and by that, I mean that they’ve won two games in a row. In a normal season that wouldn’t mean anything but with only 60 games to work with in 2020, two games could mean going home early and October baseball. Boston is currently sitting in fourth place in the AL East at 5-8 but are within striking distance of both the third-place Rays (6-8) and second-place Orioles (6-7).
Next. Verdugo blasts the Green Monster with pair of homers. dark
The Red Sox will finish up their series with the Blue Jays tomorrow afternoon and if all goes well, they could be rolling into a four-game series with the Rays that can salvage their season. As much as Weber dazzled earlier this year, he just couldn’t get it done when the pitches mattered the most. Like I said before, there’s always that chance that he can rebound while in Pawtucket and make it back to Boston. With the way this pitching staff is on thin ice right now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back at Fenway before the year is done.