Red Sox pitching prospect 'excited' to help big league club in anyway next season
Over the last week, Red Sox pitching prospect Hunter Dobbins was added to the 40-man roster, protecting him from the Rule 5 draft in December.
Dobbins is now one call away from the big leagues, and the righty will head into spring training next season with the goal of breaking camp as a member of the Red Sox.
“It's been a little bit of a whirlwind,” said Dobbins on the “To the Show We Go” Baseball Podcast, presented by Beyond the Monster. “You know, it's even when you can kind of expect it or some guys have kind of hinted like, hey, like, you know, don't be shocked or kind of expect this. You know, once it really sinks in and you realize, you know, they always tell you you're one call away.
“And it's like you're really one call away when you're already added to the 40 because it's, you know, they add you because they expect you to, you know, produce and be able to help the big league team this year in some way. But, I mean, I've had phone calls with Andrew Bailey, with Breslow, with Willard, just a lot of kind of higher-ups of what all I need to do to be ready to help the big league team in spring training and kind of to put myself on that list of, you know, possibly breaking with the team out of camp. I've had some good phone calls and stuff and it's getting me really excited for this next camp.”
The Red Sox envision Dobbins as someone who can provide big league depth and spot-start as needed while also offering them another flamethrower out of the bullpen that could potentially give them bulk innings.
“If you know if (Craig) Breslow and (Andrew) Bailey and them see me as a reliever to start the year to break with the team, I'll be fully ready for that. Maybe if they tell me, hey, here's two or three innings, I can go hit 99, maybe even 100 a few times and have some fun with that,” said Dobbins.
The hard-throwing right-hander won the 2024 Red Sox minor league Starting Pitcher of the Year award after he posted a 3.08 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 25 starts for both Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester.
Dobbins compared himself a little to current Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford and the path he took to the big leagues. Crawford pitched bulk inning out of the bullpen and spot-started before becoming a permanent fixture in the Red Sox rotation the last two seasons.
“The guy that I saw that kind of made me start thinking that way was in my rehab. I actually did a—I think it was a rehab start when he was down there was Kutter Crawford,” said Dobbins.
“I had some fun with him. We kind of faced off in some like a little simulated game in Fort Myers. And so I kept up with his career, and like, you know, he's a great guy. So, and then seeing him come out of the bullpen, have a good year. And then that next spring training really solidified himself as a rotation guy. And then had a, I mean, had a great year.
“Overall, it's like that's kind of the guy that I need to expect to be. It's like, all right, you know, I can throw it harder and shorter stints right now. If that's what the bullpen needs and I can help the big league club win games that way, great. And then, you know, get used to the big league life, get used to the environment, how things are run, and then settle in the next spring training as a starter and earn that rotation spot.”
The ability for the Red Sox to have another pitcher that can throw 97 mph out of the bullpen that has the versatility to also start continues to speak to the significant improvements to their pitching pipeline under Breslow the last year.
