Red Sox roster: Hard-throwing righty joins team to replace Josh Winckowski (80 pitches Wed.) (2025)

BOSTON — After Josh Winckowski threw 80 pitches in mop-up duty Wednesday night, the Red Sox swapped him out for a fresh arm before Thursday’s series finale against Seattle.

Boston recalled righty Luis Guerrero from Triple-A Worcester and optioned Winckowski, according to a team announcement. It’s the first time Guerrero will join the major league roster this year.

Winckowski, who was called up to the big leagues on April 8 after starting the year in Triple-A, tossed three innings largely with the game out of hand Wednesday in a 8-5 loss. He needed 43 pitches to get through the seventh, then settled down to pitch the eighth and ninth with other members of the bullpen unavailable. In total, Winckowski has logged a 3.86 ERA in 11 ⅔ innings. He has allowed 11 hits while striking out nine.

“Winc did a good job,” said manager Alex Cora. “Tough inning in the seventh but this is where we’re at roster-wise. We were short. We needed to make a decision.”

Guerrero, 24, has a 5.23 ERA (6 earned runs in 10 ⅓ innings) for the WooSox this year while allowing three homers and striking out seven. The hard-throwing righty entered spring training with a good chance to make the Opening Day roster but struggled in Grapefruit League play and was an early cut. Last season, in his first taste of big league action, Guerrero struck out nine in 10 scoreless innings over nine appearances. Importantly, he has walked just five batters in the regular season after issuing nine free passes in 5 ⅔ spring training innings.

“Throwing more strikes than in spring training,” said Cora. “The stuff, we know, it plans. We’ve got the big boy (Garrett Crochet) going today. Hopefully, he goes deep into the game and we can use Luis the right way. So we’ll see. But happy for him that he’s here.”

Guerrero’s stay on the major league roster might not be a long one with starter Lucas Giolito needing to be activated for his season debut next week in Toronto. The Red Sox appear intent on keeping lefty Sean Newcomb on the pitching staff, likely as a member of the bullpen, after he made five starts to begin the year.