Who is stepping up in this week’s Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch?
We’ve got some action when it comes to the Major League squad in the Boston Red Sox prospect watch this week. That’s something new.
Boston has been much better as of late. The trio of Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts has been unstoppable. Trevor Story is turning things around. Christian Vazquez is suddenly hitting over .300. Jackie Bradley Jr. has been really solid, and Franchy Cordero has taken advantage of his second chance.
That’s not it though. We actually got to see a prospect get the call up to the Majors. The Red Sox had a double-header on Saturday. And in game two, Josh Winckowski made his Major League debuting, getting the start.
The right-handed pitcher struggled. He gave up four runs on six hits and three walks (striking out three), in three innings. This isn’t the end for the pitcher though. I know a lot of people love to overreact to a couple outings (or in this case just one). And it’s even worse when it’s a situation like this.
Winckowski is back in the minors now, so he doesn’t have a chance at redemption for a little bit. And people get to stew on that bad outing.
But Winckowski really isn’t that type of pitcher. Yes, he’s not going to strike out a ton of batters. He’s also not going to walk many batters either though. So that was certainly an anomaly. Weak-hit balls and staying in the strike zone. That’s his usual game.
Don’t let a single bad appearance turn you sour against Winckowski. He deserves a lot more than that. Now the question is, which prospect is next to get their chance?
Meanwhile in the minors, we have quite a few big time prospects out. Some missed a few games this week. While others (like Triston Casas and Marcelo Mayer) didn’t play at all. So who stepped up in their absence?