Red Sox high leverage reliever Josh Winckowski to prepare as a starter for 2024?
There’s an old saying, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Someone needs to deliver that message to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox are tinkering with the idea of transitioning Josh Winckowski out of the bullpen and converting him into a starter for next season.
Over the years, Boston has tried to convert good relief pitchers into starting pitchers. The Red Sox have tried to turn Daniel Bard into a starter, that failed. Garrett Whitlock has shown his immense value out of the bullpen in a bulk innings role, but the team is adamant on him starting.
Look it’s clear the Red Sox are in need of starting pitching and arms that can eat innings. However, moving Winckowski out his current role seems like the team is once again trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
“This guy (Josh Winckowski) can be a starter in the big leagues but then we have to decide what we do," Cora told MassLive's Christopher Smith in Baltimore.
"I’m not saying that’s the route we’re going to go," Cora said. "He can do both. But he was really good over there (in the bullpen) between him, Kenley (Jansen) and Marty (Chris Martin). They gave us three quality arms whenever we had the lead or in close games. He did an outstanding job.”
While Cora is not committing to Winckowski as a starter - which is a good thing, the club should look to add to the rotation through free agency or trades this winter.
Winckowski was one of the Sox true high-leverage relievers this season outside of Martin. The 25-year-old posted a 2.88 ERA with 82 strikeouts and held opponents to a .267 batting average against with a 1.42 WHIP over 84 1/3 innings of work.
Despite his overall success, the righty allowed too many baserunners to reach. He appeared in 60 games, which the most out of any reliever outside Brennan Bernardino (55) and Martin (55).
Winckowski mostly started as a rookie back in 2022. He posted a 5.89 ERA in 15 outings (14 starts).
Boston will have the right-hander prepare as a starter but aren’t committed to using him every fifth day out of the rotation.
“Night and day compared to last year,” Cora said. “I do believe last year he got caught up on the numbers and his strikeouts. There were a few times here he did the same thing. But I do believe overall he understands what he needs to do. His stuff was a lot better when he was pitching in one innings. The last few have been multiple innings and he’s been good too.”
Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisHenrique
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