This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
BOSTON -- Hitting on a Rule 5 Draft pick, particularly for a contending team, is a difficult thing to thread the needle on. But the Red Sox just might be building some momentum in this area.
They selected Garrett Whitlock from the Yankees on Dec. 10, 2020, taking a flier on a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery. Whitlock moved from starter to reliever and was one of the best pitchers on the ‘21 Red Sox, a team that advanced all the way to the AL Championship Series. In his fifth year with Boston last season, Whitlock avoided the injured list for the first time in his career and was an ace setup man in front of elite closer Aroldis Chapman.
Two years ago, the Sox hoped that lightning could strike twice when they snagged hard-throwing Justin Slaten in a post-Rule 5 Draft trade with the Mets, who had snagged Slaten from the Rangers. Slaten, though he’s battled some injuries in his first two seasons in Boston, has been one of the club’s most important righty relievers.
All of this brings us to Ryan Watson, the man who gives the Sox the chance to hit a trifecta on righty relievers taken in recent Rule 5 Drafts.
“I don't know if I'd say it's luck. I think our acquisition group does an incredible job of finding talent, finding different skills and pitch repertoires that we feel like will fit in well with our pitching development group,” said Red Sox senior director of player development Brian Abraham.
Going back to the Slaten playbook, the Sox acquired Watson just moments after the Athletics had taken him from the Giants in the Rule 5 Draft in December.
While Whitlock was 24 when he made his debut with Boston and Slaten was 26, Watson is more of a Minor League veteran than those two at 28.
A player taken in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft needs to stay on the big league team’s roster for the entire of the regular season, unless there is an injury.
Watson is eager to join the recent lineage of Rule 5 picks who have thrived in Boston.
“Yeah, I met both Whitlock and Slaten this past weekend at [Fenway Fest],” said Watson. “I had breakfast with Whitlock on Friday morning. Just asked him what helped him, stuff like that. And he's a really good resource for me going into Spring Training, so I'm excited to get to know him more.”
After helping set expectations for Slaten heading into 2024, Whitlock looks forward to doing the same for Watson with Spring Training less than a month away.
“It’s funny, I didn’t know he was another Alabama guy. He’s from Auburn. So we bonded over that pretty quickly,” said Whitlock. “But I told him the same thing I told Slate when he got here. ‘Just enjoy it, be yourself and they picked you for a reason. They believe in you, and they trust you and they think you're ready to be a big leaguer if they took you. So just believe that. Trust that.’”
Pitching in 46 games with Triple-A Sacramento last season, Watson had a 4.26 ERA but displayed his ability to miss bats with 64 strikeouts in 50 2/3 innings.
“I think Watson is a guy who has size, and has the ability to throw multiple innings, a guy who has a really unique pitch mix and can get his velo up to the upper 90s,” said Abraham. “He’s a guy who has versatility, can get guys out in the strike zone, all things that we really value in the organization.”
It will be up to Watson to win a roster spot in Spring Training like Whitlock did in 2021 and Slaten in ‘24.
What is he working on to show the Red Sox he is a finished product who can compete at the highest level?
“Just try to throw strikes. Pound the zone,” Watson said. “Get ahead, stay ahead, stuff like that. Working to get better on lefties. Being more effective against left-handed bats is the big thing we're working on.”