Thrust into key spots, Winckowski shines
Josh Winckowski has been throwing a baseball since he was old enough to pick one up. Tuesday night was the first time he was asked to work as a closer.
It took him seven pitches and his heart thumped like a jackhammer for every one of them.
“I try to stay pretty calm out there but that was exciting,” Winckowski said after the Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6.
Winckowski needed one pitch to get Danny Jansen on a popup. He fell behind Kevin Kiermaier, who singled to left. But a well-located 95-mile-perhour sinker to four-time All-Star George Springer was hit right at shortstop Kiké Hernández to start a double play.
Kenley Jansen, who was not available because of a sore back, could not have handled the situation much better. How do we know? We asked.
“That was great,” Jansen said. “Josh was awesome, he came up huge. That was a big-time save right there. That’s one of those things that makes your team even better.”
Jansen, who has 397 saves and six seasons of playoff experience, knows what he’s talking about. For a team to be successful over the course of a long season, the manager needs to have several good options to protect a lead late in games because injuries and attrition will take a toll.
Winckowski pitched a scoreless eighth inning in a victory against Cleveland last week, holding a one-run lead. That led to the 24-year-old righthander getting the save chance on Tuesday despite having worked two innings on Monday.
“Honestly I wanted to stay away from him but the game dictated something else,” Alex Cora said. “So we took one shot with him.”
You can expect to see more of that. Winckowski has allowed four earned runs on 16 hits over 22 ‚ innings with 17 strikeouts and only five walks.
That made him a good choice to close and on a night the Sox rallied from a three-run deficit, Winckowski locked it down.
“He did an amazing job,” Cora said. “He’s throwing strikes. He’s not getting caught up in the swings and misses. It’s good stuff, too, he was throwing 96 and 97. We’re very proud of him.”
Winckowski was a starter last season and worked as a starter in spring training. He went to the bullpen when the season opened but has kept a fourpitch mix.
“It’s definitely a different role for sure. But one of my strengths is the repertoire that I bring,” Winckowski said. “Trust the heater but all the pitches help each other. Use the cutter and slider and even some changeups.”
Winckowski was talking fast after the game, still hopped up on the adrenaline of hearing the crowd of 27,721 at Fenway Park react to his finishing the game.
“I’m still coming down,” he said. “[Monday] was my first time ever pitching in the ninth inning of a big-league game. I never expected to be getting a save. It’s kind of crazy.”
But not really. Cora knows he needs to cultivate bullpen depth and Winckowski can fill different roles. In that sense, he compares favorably to Tanner Houck, who has a 5.34 ERA in six starts and could shift to the bullpen once Garrett Whitlock returns from the injured list.
John Schreiber, who handled the top of Toronto’s order in the seventh inning, is a reliable late-inning choice.
But he has already made 14 appearances and Cora has to be careful not to wear him out.
Kutter Crawford has the fastball to succeed late in games but has been strong in a swingman role.
For now, Winckowski considers his role to be open-ended. He’ll take the ball when asked, go back to the dugout, and let Cora and pitching coach Dave Bush decide what comes next.
“I treat it all the same,” Winckowski said. “One hitter and one pitch at a time. So far that’s been working pretty well.”