When the Crimson Sox added Sonny Grey and Ranger Suarez, there was no query how they’d match into the membership’s plans. These had been confirmed veteran arms who’d slot proper behind Garrett Crochet on the entrance of the rotation.
Boston’s different rotation addition doesn’t have as apparent a match, however he might nonetheless show an enormous presence.
Added emphasis on the “large” half.
Standing at 6-foot-6, 275 kilos, Johan Oviedo is a mountain of a right-hander who stands as one of many greatest wild playing cards on the Crimson Sox roster. The 27-year-old was acquired final month from the Pittsburgh Pirates in change for prime outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia, and he enters spring coaching amongst quite a lot of candidates for the No. 5 rotation spot.
Given the worth the Crimson Sox paid Oviedo will presumably have a powerful probability to win the job, and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow stated shortly after the commerce that they’d been keeping track of him for some time.
“Oviedo was a man that we had focused fairly early within the offseason,” Breslow instructed reporters on the Winter Conferences. “We really feel like coming off Tommy John stuff had ticked up, the fastball profile was actually intriguing, it had gained a ton of playability. So felt like he makes a ton of sense to persevering with so as to add to our pitching depth.”
Oviedo missed all of 2024 as a result of elbow surgical procedure however returned to the Pirates rotation in early August and impressed over the season’s final two months. In 9 begins, he posted a 3.57 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 40.1 innings, a powerful bounce again after placing collectively a breakout 2023 season during which he made 32 begins and put up a 4.31 ERA in 177.2 innings.
Crimson Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey described Oviedo as possessing “elite stuff” and as somebody with each a excessive flooring and a good increased ceiling.
“(He) had a shiny yr final yr when he was up with Pittsburgh and (we’ll) proceed to assist him develop into the pitcher we all know he will be and desires to be,” Bailey stated at Fenway Fest earlier this month. “Actually trying ahead to seeing him develop over the subsequent two years and see what the ceiling is, as a result of there may be a lot to like about him.”
One factor that’s clear about Oviedo is that he completely matches the profile of pitcher that the Crimson Sox have coveted. Underneath Breslow’s management the membership has ceaselessly focused big-bodied arms who throw arduous and have the flexibility to generate elite extension. Meaning they’ll launch the ball nearer to the plate, giving opposing hitters much less time to react.
Oviedo is among the biggest-bodied arms round, and whereas his 95.4 mph fastball velocity doesn’t soar off the web page, his 7.4 toes of extension ranked 98th percentile in all of MLB final season, which allowed him to constantly miss bats and keep away from arduous contact.
Command has been a weak point for Oviedo, who had a beneath common 13.5% stroll price final season and an 11% mark for his profession, nevertheless it’s not arduous to see why the Crimson Sox thought extremely of him.
For his half, Oviedo stated he was excited to be taught he’d be coming to Boston and doesn’t anticipate having any pitch restrictions one other yr faraway from surgical procedure.
“I’m a competitor and that’s one of many issues that I like about being traded right here. Right here is all about successful, World Sequence is the principle factor that involves thoughts after I hear the title Crimson Sox,” Oviedo stated at Fenway Fest. “I’m a competitor and that’s all I would like, to win and assist the staff to perform that.”
Moreover the presumed prime 4 of Crochet, Suarez, Grey and Brayan Bello, Oviedo shall be competing with Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval, Kyle Harrison, Connelly Early and Payton Tolle for the ultimate rotation spot. Crawford and Sandoval are each established MLB veterans who missed all of final season as a result of accidents, whereas Early, Tolle and Harrison are promising upstarts nonetheless trying to set up themselves as large leaguers.
Ovideo, in lots of respects, is a bit of little bit of each. He has an prolonged MLB monitor report and is additional faraway from his season-long damage than Crawford and Sandoval, however he additionally nonetheless possesses tantalizing upside, making him a safer guess than the prospects, a minimum of for now.
Time will inform how Oviedo matches into the large image, however whereas he gained’t go down because the membership’s splashiest offseason addition, he might probably rank among the many most impactful.
