Josh

Winckowski

It’s a procedural move to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Robert Stock. Winckowski won’t be eligible to return to the Boston pitching staff until after the All-Star break while working through right elbow inflammation.

The 26-year-old has posted a solid 3.86 ERA in 11 2/3 innings out of the bullpen this year, but has had success working as a traditional starter at Triple-A, with a 2.21 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 18:2 K:BB ratio in 20 1/3 innings. He is valuable organizational depth for the Red Sox, so they’ll hope this isn’t serious.

Winckowski threw 80 pitches in relief on Wednesday, so the Red Sox will send him back to the minors and bring up Luis Guerrero as a fresh arm in the bullpen. Winckowski has allowed five earned runs on 11 hits in 11 2/3 innings this season with nine strikeouts and five walks.

Winckowski will be available in middle relief tonight. He had a 4.50 ERA over six innings in two relief appearances for Worcester.

Winckowski will open the year back in the minors as extra long relief depth. The 26-year-old righty was lit up for 12 runs on 15 hits over seven innings (five appearances) this spring in Grapefruit League play. He’s made 115 appearances (21 starts) for the Red Sox over the last three years and should factor into their pitching mix at some point in the near future.

The Red Sox decided against using Kenley Jansen with a two-run lead tonight after he struggled through a 28-pitch outing Wednesday. More surprising was that they also stayed away from Chris Martin, who hadn’t pitched since Tuesday. Still, it’s not like the Red Sox needed them against this lineup. Zack Kelly, Brennan Bernardino and Winckowski combined to retire nine of 10 batters after Nick Pivetta departed.

Winckowski finds himself back with the Red Sox just a few hours after being demoted to the minors with both Lucas Sims (lat) and Luis García (elbow) hitting the injured list prior to Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays. The 26-year-old righty will operate in a versatile swingman-type role moving forward.

Winckowski pitched a scoreless inning in the suspended game today, but he’s given up 12 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings during August. He’ll likely return to the Red Sox bullpen next month anyway.

Winckowski got the call to protect a three-run lead in the final frame with veteran stopper Kenley Jansen unavailable after working each of the previous two days and was unable to convert the save. He immediately gave up back-to-back singles to Corey Seager and Josh Smith before eventually coughing up a game-tying homer to rookie sensation Wyatt Langford with two outs in the frame.

Winckowski did his part, with a Yordan Alvarez homer accounting for the only damage. He was used as a starter today because Cooper Criswell went on the COVID-19 injured list, and he’ll likely return to the pen in a few days.