Boston Red Sox Prospects: Who will make their MLB debut in 2022?
By Hunter Noll
Red Sox starting pitching prospect Josh Winckowski
Josh Winckowski was traded to the Red Sox from the New York Mets as part of the trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals. That sounds confusing, but it all tracks.
Winckowski comes with his strengths and weaknesses. He isn’t much of a strikeout pitcher (101 strikeouts in 112 innings last season). The 33 walks showed decent enough command though. The right-handed pitcher works to contact, and posted a .241 BAA and 1.23 WHIP in 2021. However, he was able to keep a solid ERA of 3.94 between Double-A and Triple-A.
It was just two starts (12 innings), but Winckowski’s numbers in Triple-A were promising. He lowered his season numbers thanks to a 2.25 ERA, .122 BAA, and 0.67 WHIP.
The 23-year-old (turns 24 on June 28) already has a lot of experience, with five seasons in the minors. In that time, he’s thrown 375 innings and has a strong 3.53 ERA.
There are some concerns with him when it comes to the Majors. His fastball can sit in the mid-90s but doesn’t miss a lot of bats. Luckily he has good command on the pitch though, and that helps him to keep contact pretty weak. But without that swing-and-miss ability there’s always the fear that he will run into trouble in the Majors.
The good news here is that Winckowski also has a slider and a changeup and both have more strikeout potential. Still nothing crazy, but he has enough to keep hitters guessing and make outs when needed.
The biggest thing when it comes to Winckowski is that he’s on the 40-man roster already. It makes sense too. He’s a proven talent. Always producing in the minors, even without the strikeout working for him. That shows just how smart of a pitcher he is – and that will always translate to any level.
With him already on the 40-man it just feels like a matter of time. Maybe he won’t start the year with Boston (remember only 12 innings in Triple-A), but he’s not far off. They’ll let him work in Worcester for a bit. Then whenever they need a spot start or even someone that they can throw in their bullpen for a bit to eat a chunk of innings, they’ll call him up.
Expect 2022 to be a season where you see Winckowski get the promotion/demotion treatment quite a bit. It’s not a bad thing. I’m not saying he’ll get demoted because he’s pitching bad. But once he gets some extra work in Triple-A, they’ll probably start using him as a swingman. Someone that can fill in when needed, then take the trip back to Worcester to wait in the wings once again.
With that in mind, Josh Winckowski’s temperature rating is absolutely “burning hot”. He’ll be in Boston in 2022, it’s just a matter of when (and for how long and how many times)?