Red Sox prospect recalls 'welcome to pro ball' moment with Alex Cora
The Boston Red Sox used their 18th round draft pick on left-handed pitcher Zach Fogell in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Rhode Island native would only throw four professional innings in 2023 after the draft before the offseason began.
Fogell would enter his first professional spring training in February of 2024 and had “impressed” some of the coaches and development staff early on once he arrived in Fort Myers. The exact same place Fogell had dreamed of pitching at since he was a young Red Sox fan growing up in Rhode Island.
“It was honestly crazy since I grew up being a Red Sox fan and being able to go to Fort Myers and experience what I always dreamed of was crazy,” Fogell said on an episode of To the Show We Go. “I think the craziest part about it is I remember one of the pitching coordinators pulled me aside after my first live outing. I didn’t throw a single live bullpen before I went in for my first live AB of the Spring. And then, one of the pitching coordinators pulls me over and he’s like ‘All right, Zach, you look really good today. I think we are going to get you into some big league games.’ I ended up backing up five or six big league games after that.”
While the UConn product did end up backing up quite a few big league games, his first one was the most memorable of the bunch.
“I remember the very first one against Northeastern,” Fogell recalled. “The starter went out there and was having trouble finding the zone. All of a sudden, the bullpen coach gets a phone call and it’s for me. My first spring training game in the big leagues and I was the first name called to get up in the bullpen. So, I start warming up and my heart is beating through my chest. I am going into the game in the first inning with two outs and the bases loaded. I get to the mound and I am walking up and Alex Cora gives me the ball. He was like ‘alright kid, get us out of it.’ The funniest part about it was I threw on pitch and the guy lines out to second.”
In an alternate universe, Fogell agreed that that scenario could’ve played out much, much worse for him than getting a one pitch out in front of the big league manager.
“I then head into the dugout and I see Jason Varitek,” Fogell added. “He gave me a fist bump and I am in complete awe. Then I turn to Niko Kavadas and he told me good job for getting out of that jam. I asked in when he was getting in the game and he mentioned to me he was playing first base that inning. I was so locked in to Alex Cora handing me a baseball that I didn’t even know who was behind me. I couldn’t name a single fielder other than Niko that was behind me that game. It was such a surreal moment for me.”
Fogell went on to begin his 2024 season pitching in Salem and was promoted to High-A Greenville just after two outings. He was also chosen to pitch in the Arizona Fall League and posted a 0.96 ERA over eight outings.
