New hard-throwing Red Sox pitching prospect tosses five scoreless innings over his first two appearances
New Red Sox hard-throwing right-hander Danny Kirwin made his professional debut with the organization last week.
After signing with the Red Sox on April 24, he was assigned to Low-A Salem.
Kirwin made his debut four days later, tossing two innings in which he gave up one run (earned) off two hits while striking out one hitter. Five days later, Kirwin was the first reliever summoned out of the bullpen and went three scoreless and hitless frames with three strikeouts.
The righty looked strong during his outing, where he only threw 27 pitches, 19 for strikes.
Over the two games, he has a 1.80 ERA with four strikeouts and no walks over five innings.
Kirwin possesses a four-seam heater that has topped out at 98 mph and regularly sits between 92 and 94 mph. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound also throws a cutter, a sweeper/slider mix, a sinker, and a changeup to go along with his four-seam heater.
His fastball was the reason he was noticed after his manager for the Oakland Ballers, a Pioneer League team, posted a video on X of him throwing his swing and miss stuff. His fastball topped out at 97.7 mph in the viral video.
Kirwin trained at Tread Athletics, where the Red Sox also watched him throw during the offseason. New Red Sox director of pitching, Justin Willard, has a relationship with one of the trainers at Tread, Tyler Zombro, who recommended the flamethrower to him.
Between seeing him in person and once again on social media, Boston reached out to Kirwin just one day after his coach's social media post. He was flown down to Fort Myers, Fla., and took a physical, and he became a new pitching prospect in the system.
The Sox' new singing was the 2023 MAAC relief pitcher of the year at Rider and earned Third Team All-American honors, demonstrating why he was targeted by the organization early on.
Kirwin becomes the latest pitcher to sign with the Red Sox out of Indy Ball. Last summer, Boston signed left-hander Zach Penrod, and he has been fantastic since joining the organization. The Red Sox also signed righty Cooper Adams back in January; he went undrafted and also worked out at Tread Athletics prior to signing with the club.
