Former Yankees reliever talks about being traded to the Red Sox this offseason
A lot of the attention from the Red Sox and Yankees trade of Alex Verdugo has been on Richard Fitts. One of the other pitchers acquired in the trade was reliever Greg Weissert.
On Wednesday when camp opened up, Weissert offered his thoughts on going from pinstripes to Fenway Park.
“I was pretty surprised,” Weissert said, via MassLive’s Chris Smith. “It caught me a little off guard. I was just sitting at home on my couch late one night, 9:30 or something like that. And the call came in and they let me know I was going to be traded. It was pretty crazy because I had been with the Yankees my whole career. So to be with a new team is definitely different but it’s exciting.”
The 28-year-old righty had a 2.90 ERA in 38 outings for Triple-A Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season before putting up a 4.05 ERA in 17 outings for New York this season.
Weissert offers a five-pitch mix while on the mound, a tail-heavy sinker, sweeper, four-seamer, changeup and cutter.
His slider is considered his best pitch, throwing the pitch that lands in the low-80’s with excellent break, according to Baseball America. He also throws slider which looks more like a sweeper, while mixing in his other pitches.
“Mostly sinkers and sliders and just trying to play them off each other,” he said.
Weissert is looking forward to being on the other side of the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry and facing his old team this coming season.
“It will be fun. I’m excited to get out there against the Yankees and get going,” he said.
