Josh

Winckowski

It’ll be a two-year, minor league deal. The surgery was previously unreported, but it’s not a big surprise after the right-hander missed much of 2025 with elbow inflammation. The 27-year-old Winckowski had a 4.20 ERA in 21 starts and 100 relief appearances over four seasons with the Red Sox before being non-tendered last month.

Winckowski was non-tendered by the Red Sox just a couple days after being designated for assignment. The right-hander was limited to just 11 2/3 innings while dealing with elbow inflammation, and likely will need to sign as non-roster invite this winter/spring.

There clearly wasn’t another organization out there willing to trade for Winckowski, which left Boston with no alternative besides cutting him completely. The 27-year-old righty was limited to just 11 2/3 innings over six appearances this past season due to elbow inflammation.

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.