WooSox pitcher Ryan Fernandez on bullpen role: 'Hoping I get that closer spot'
Would you have ever guessed that a guy who makes a living pitching on a professional baseball team gets more nervous to do an interview with local media than pitch in a save situation?
With all joking aside, WooSox reliever Ryan Fernandez does get pretty nervous before doing interviews. Teammate Taylor Broadway let us know and Fernandez confirmed this as a very true fact about him. He has not felt the same about transitioning to Triple-A.
“Pretty easy transition for me.” Fernandez said to Beyond the Monster. “The guys are super welcoming here and at the end of the day, it’s the same baseball. I have got to keep doing what I have been doing. I am still going to keep working on the little things that I have to work on. It’s been a pretty easy transition so it’s nice with this team here.”
Fernandez has appeared in two games so far for Worcester since the promotion. He threw a scoreless inning and got it done in eleven pitches his first time out. It caught the attention of his manager when he threw the first pitch.
“The first outing was eye opening for me.” Chad Tracy said on Fernandez. “That is 98 MPH with a little cutter and slider. He threw a bunch of strikes. That is a late inning strong arm there. He has done a pretty good job and will get more opportunities to throw in high leverage spots. We wanted to find an outing that was a lopsided game and Sunday in Norfolk presented itself to get him in there. He threw the first couple of pitches, and it wowed me. That is 98 MPH with life at the top and then he threw a cutter with a ton of strikes. It will be interesting to see how he plays out. He threw a lot of high leverage innings in Portland so we know he can do it.”
It hasn’t always been the high speed for the right-hander. His fastball prior to 2022 was sitting around 93-94 MPH. He has now turned that into high-90’s every single pitch.
“I had always worked pretty hard in the offseason, but that offseason in 2022, I was very hammered down.” Fernandez said. “Almost every single day I was in the gym and getting all of my meals in. It was the discipline of it in that offseason that really set it apart from others. I put on about seven pounds of muscle and it was the biggest difference in the velocity. On top of that, I refined my mechanics a bit and it added up pretty good.”
With that uptick in speed comes a higher expectation to take on a role in the back end of any bullpen you are a part of. Fernandez has high hopes on what his role in Worcester will become.
“I have to establish I can be trusted here before I get a set role.” Fernandez said. “Of course, I am hoping I get that closer role because that’s what I love to do. I know I am going to have to prove it to them so I can have that spot.”
Why does Fernandez like the closer role so much?
“Just being able to shut the door on the other team.” Fernandez added. “To make sure they have no more confidence when I am on that mound. As soon as I come on the mound, I want them to know the game is over. I love having that feeling when I am in the game. I love having all of the adrenaline and it gives me that mood. When you’re the closer it just is a different animal.”
You will notice a pretty distinguishing look from Fernandez when he enters the game. His great mustache.
“It started last year in Spring Training as a joke and it kind of turned into my thing.” Fernandez said of his facial hair. “I was going to shave it off but I kind of started to like it. People started to make fun of it, and it became my thing so now I am just rolling with it.”
Follow Andrew on Twitter @ByAndrewParker
For additional Red Sox and Major League Baseball content, follow Beyond the Monster: Boston Red Sox on Twitter @BeyondtheMnstr
Join our new Facebook group for all of our latest content, click the link here.
