Red Sox 2024 draft pick tore UCL in same game he hit career high 98 MPH
The Red Sox accomplished a feat this year they had not yet accomplished since the MLB shortened the MLB draft to 20 rounds. They signed every single one of their 20 picks plus added an undrafted free agent into the mix as well.
Among the draft selections in this year’s draft, Boston took pitcher Alex Bouchard in the 14th round out of Lehigh. His path wasn’t always a clear one getting to play Division 1 baseball at Lehigh, as he had to take what he could get out of high school.
“In high school I was pretty undersized,” Bouchard said on To the Show We Go podcast. “ I was just not really physically developed until my later years, like my junior or senior year. At that point COVID hit. It was kind of tough to be recruited unless you were one of the big guys before that happened. I really just wanted to play the game that I loved for four more years.”
While Bouchard got drafted as a pitcher and will begin his professional career on the mound, it hasn’t always been the case even going into college.
“My only offer was Dickinson College, which is a Division 3 school,” Bouchard said. “I was an infielder for my entire life since I was five, so I actually went there to play shortstop. Then high school graduation ends, and I'm probably going into the summer about six foot, 155 pounds, which is pretty small by today's standards. I knew I needed to get super physically developed and take an extra step in that regard because I didn't want to go into college and have the talent to compete with everyone but just be kind of overmatched from the physical side. So, I just began counting the weights harder than I ever had before. Eating, doing nutrition, doing everything that I could to just get things taken care of on that side. That also coincided with me starting to pitch a little bit.”
There is a slight obsession with velocity these days in the professional game. Whether it be by fans or the organizations themselves, it seems like both gravitate more towards a live arm with plenty of MPH in the tank to see what they can do.
“In high school, I probably only threw like three or four innings,” Bouchard added. Like I said, I played shortstop and second base and then was playing summer ball for my travel team. I'm young so we were still able to do like a tournament circuit and stuff like that before college. So my coach at the time, I played for him since I was like 11 or 12. He knew I could always pitch if I needed to. So, we were just throwing me out there when other guys needed to see innings in the field. It just kind of started going up from there. So, I'd say I probably left high school throwing about 82 miles an hour. By the end of the summer, it was up to 87, which looking back on it was kind of cool. And now it's a little far from where I'm at now, but it was a cool experience. I had texted my coach at Dickinson about the velocity and he said we'll give you a shot to two way in the fall.”
Bouchard did exactly that once he arrived at Dickenson College for his freshman year. He ended up with only ten plate appearances that year and ended up throwing 26 innings as a freshman.
“Looking back at it, that was one of the most important texts I've ever kind of received,” Bouchard said. “And then I gained about 35 pounds that summer, got to the fall at Dickinson and was close to 90 miles an hour at that point. And then it was kind of clear where my career was headed in a sense. I went into the winter just prepping to be a two way, but focusing a lot on arm care, just how to make myself the best pitcher I could. I knew that was where I was gonna see the majority of time as a freshman. So, I kind of became my own coach in a sense, just looked at a ton of videos online, researched a bunch about analytics, mechanics, all that nature, and came out in the spring and was one of our main bullpen guys. I was up to about 92 at that point, I think. And then had a good freshman year. After that season ended, decided to be a pitcher only for the first time.”
With the uptick in velocity, Division 3 was no place for Bouchard to be as he would have no problem selling himself to a bigger school with his fastball ticking up.
“It was also the first time I started to kind of re-evaluate my options,” Bouchard said. “My future and what was best for me and my family, and for my baseball and academic career. I went to go play summer ball. I had gotten up to about 94 at that point. I had two really good pitches at that point and started looking for other options. I kept the same mentality that I wanted to find a school that would develop me into becoming a professional baseball player with good team culture, close school to home, and very high on academics as well”
The decision ultimately paid off for Bouchard as he chose Lehigh where he would end up pitching in 16 games over his two seasons there. The Red Sox selected him in the 2024 Draft, after seeing enough of him during his first season pitching for the Mountain Hawks in 2023.
He ended up tearing his UCL in his second game of the 2024 season for Lehigh while also hitting his highest velocity recorded yet.
“I actually hit 98 the same game I tore my UCL,” Bouchard noted. “So that was pretty cool but at the same time, it was also not cool because I was out. I was feeling great during that game. I was sitting like 94 to 96 MPH for most of the game. And then the arm blew out. But I'm definitely looking forward to what everyone says that you throw harder after Tommy John. And it's not necessarily the surgery. It's more just like the work you're putting in to get stronger and get more mobile and take care of your body. So I'm very much looking forward to that. And me and the training staff here are already off to a great start. The Red Sox liked where I was with my recovery coming into the organization. I will just keep chipping away and hopefully hit a hundred when we're healthy.”
