The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves today. Catcher Connor Wong was placed on the injured list with Blake Sabol recalled, a pair of moves that were reported last night. They also made a move on the pitching side, recalling right-hander Josh Winckowski with fellow righty Robert Stock designated for assignment.
Stock, 35, was just added to Boston’s roster yesterday. The club had played a doubleheader on Sunday, with one of the two games going to extra innings. With the pitching staff fairly taxed, Stock was brought up to give them a fresh arm in case they needed someone to cover multiple relief innings.
That’s exactly what ended up happening, as the Sox were down 5-1 to the Blue Jays after seven innings last night. Stock mopped up the final two frames, allowing one earned run on a walk and three hits, with the Sox eventually losing 6-2. Perhaps Stock was not going to be available for tonight or tomorrow, so the Sox have bumped him off the roster and replaced him with Winckowski.
They will now have a maximum of one week of DFA limbo to see what’s next for Stock. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so Boston could potentially take five days to assess any trade interest. Last night’s performance was his first big league action since 2021. He spent 2022 pitching in Korea, 2023 in the minors and Indy Ball, then spent 2024 in Mexico.
Including last night’s game, he now has a 4.70 earned run average in 74 2/3 major league innings. For what it’s worth, he was quite good in Mexico over the past year. He posted a 3.38 ERA in 98 2/3 innings over 19 starts for Tecos de los Dos Laredos last year. He then stayed in Mexico for some winter ball, logging 84 1/3 innings over 14 starts for Naranjeros de Hermosillo with a 1.60 ERA. That led to a minor league deal with the Red Sox and yesterday’s return to the majors after a long absence.
Photo courtesy of David Butler II, Imagn Images