Red Sox Newcomer Comments On Surprising Velocity Drop In Rough Debut
The Boston Red Sox debuted two of their new offseason pitching acquisitions on Monday, and neither one was great.
Red Sox Newcomer Comments On Surprising Velocity Drop In Rough Debut originally appeared on NESN . Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Boston Red Sox debuted two of their new offseason pitching acquisitions, Ranger Suarez and Johan Oviedo, on Monday, and neither one was great.
The plan was for Oviedo to piggyback Suarez's start since Suarez was not completely built up after missing time in spring training for the World Baseball Classic. Oviedo was initially supposed to be in the rotation, but Suarez and Brayan Bello not being ready forced Alex Cora to use him for length out of the bullpen, with Connelly Early pitching in the rotation. Suarez went 4 1/3 innings and gave up four earned runs.
He issued one walk and had just three strikeouts. Oviedo went 3 2/3 innings, allowing four more runs. He also only had three strikeouts.
Both issued one walk and gave up two home runs apiece. Suarez's track record gives fans some reason to think he will bounce back, but Oviedo is still relatively unproven. Oviedo missed all of 2024 and most of 2025.