Weber open to all possibilities
Sinker-baller could be Sox’ fifth starter
FORT MYERS — The trade of David Price has left a glaring hole in the back of the Red Sox’ starting rotation, but interim manager Ron Roenicke has plenty of options and plenty of time to figure out how to best approach his team’s fifth starter spot before the season opens in late March.
He could fill it by using an opener, the method the Rays invented when the Sox’ new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was still with them. The team could certainly still scour the free-agent market, where it’s slim pickings but Aaron Sanchez and even Clay Buchholz are available.
But it’s most likely that the Red Sox look in-house to fill that role. And we may have an idea of who one of Roenicke’s early favorites might be.
When asked twice last week about his plans for the fifth starter spot, Roenicke mentioned Ryan Weber, a 29-year-old right-hander who made some spot starts for the Red Sox last season, in both of his answers.
“He’s a guy I like because he’s right at you,” Roenicke said. “He throws strikes. When his command’s good, he gets some easy outs and it’s fun to watch him. So we’ll figure it out. But I think there’s a few guys. It’s not just one or two guys.”
What does Weber think about starting? Though he’s made just 11 big-league starts in a five-year career that’s taken him to four different teams, he’s comfortable with it.
“I try to let the decisionmakers make the decisions and for me, I just do what I can control on the field, do the best I can do out there, make myself as ready as possible and then whatever decision they make, I go with it,” Weber said. “If it’s an opener or whatever, they can give me the ball whenever and I’ll go out there until they take it away from me.”
Weber mostly appeared out of the bullpen last season, but with injuries rocking the Red Sox’ rotation, he made three starts. His first start of the season, which was his first in more than two years, was impressive as he threw six strong innings and gave up just one run on three hits in a win over the Blue Jays. But he was rocked his next time out, surrendering seven runs in a loss to the Indians.
Still, the Red Sox liked him enough to keep him around and used him sparingly out of the bullpen. He was a September call-up and pitched to mixed results.
Weber isn’t your typical big-league pitcher. He’s a sinker-ball pitcher who doesn’t have blazing velocity. It averaged 89.4 mph last season, which ranked 386th out of 432 qualified sinkerballers, according to Baseball Savant. He relies on command on all five of his pitches and keeping hitters offbalance.
He said he learned a lot from his first season with the
Red Sox, and he comes into camp much more confident than he did a year ago.
“I learned a lot from the staff,” Weber said. “They really believed in me, they believed in my stuff, so that correlated into my confidence knowing that I do have stuff that plays, that works and really trust myself.”
Weber didn’t say he preferred starting, but it’s something he embraces.
“I like the routine of it. I like the accountability of starting, knowing that it’s your game and the team is really counting on you to go deep into the game,” Weber said. “Especially being in the bullpen, I’ve seen how the starter affects the bullpen, it throws everything off, and like I said, I like the accountability of it.”
He certainly has a manager who believes in him. Roenicke,
who was previously the Red Sox’ bench coach, mostly just helped Weber in the running game last season, focusing on keeping runners at first to take advantage of his sinker and potential double plays. Weber said he’s excited to see what Roenicke can do as the manager now.
Weber may be open to any role he’s given, but he’s certainly understanding of the opportunity in front of him. He’ll have a chance over the next month to prove he can be a viable candidate for the Red Sox every fifth day.
“I like to think I always have something to prove,” Weber said. “Just trying to be better than last year and prove to myself that I can be better than last year. …
“It’s really exciting. With the position that I’m in, there’s availability, and I’m just ready to control what I can control.”