The Red Sox had interest in acquiring left-handed reliever Justin Wilson from the Reds at the 2024 trade deadline but a deal didn’t line up.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow then wasted no time this offseason locking up the 37-year-old. He signed Wilson just 15 days after the World Series ended and 10 days after free agents were able to sign contracts with other organizations.
Boston gave Wilson a one-year, $2.25 million contract Nov. 14. It seemed questionable at the time why the Red Sox were making him a priority so soon into the offseason after he struggled in 2024. He posted just a 5.59 ERA, 4.73 FIP and 1.46 WHIP in 60 outings (46 ⅔ innings).
But Wilson has been one of Boston’s top relievers so far this season. He has a 2.08 ERA, 2.11 FIP and 1.39 WHIP in 32 games (26 innings).
“He’s been awesome,” Breslow said.
The veteran southpaw has done an outstanding job limiting hard contact. He’s in the 99th percentile in barrel percentage (1.5%), 94th percentile in hard hit percentage (31.8%) and 83rd percentile in average exit velocity (87.6%) among major league pitchers.
His 2.47 expected ERA is in the 95th percentile. He’s also in the 90th percentile in whiff percentage (32.3%), 88th percentile in expected batting average (.208), 85th percentile in strikeout percentage (28.8%) and 82nd percentile in groundball percentage (50.0%).
He has quietly put together some big-time stats.
“I think we saw the track record, right?” Breslow said about signing Wilson so early in the offseason.
Wilson has a 3.54 ERA, 155 holds and 20 saves in 619 outings. He had success pitching for both New York teams.
“It said like, ‘OK, this is a guy who has performed on the big stage,’” Breslow added. “That’s always a good place to start. Velocity trended up through the (2024) season. Was a guy that actually we were engaged with during the trade deadline. And then just saw the pretty platoon neutral profile. We knew we needed to add left-handed relief but also didn’t want to like pigeonhole ourselves to where it’s like ‘OK, this guy can only face lefties.’”
Wilson has been better against righties in his career, although this year he’s been much more dominant against lefties, holding them to a .136 batting average (6-for-44) and no extra-base hits. Righties are hitting .346 against him (18-for-52) but most of the damage has been singles. He has given up just four extra-base hits to them, all doubles.
“I think it’s a tale of two seasons for him last year,” pitching coach Andrew Bailey said. “I think if you look at his ability to miss bats, generate whiff, generally has success against both handedness.”
Breslow added, “It felt like, yeah, there was some opportunity to tweak the usage a little bit.”
Wilson’s four-seam fastball and slider have been huge for him. Opponents are 7-for-36 (.194) with a .196 expected batting average and .250 slugging percentage against his heater. They are 9-for-39 (.231) with a .191 expected batting average and .282 slugging percentage against his slider.
“The slider usage is up a little bit,” Wilson said. “It’s probably a better quality pitch overall.”
His fastball usage is slightly down from last year while his slider usage is higher and the pitch has been more effective than it was in 2024. He’s also been throwing his cutter to right-handed batters more often.
“Just getting outs when needed,” Wilson explained. “Keeping the ball in the ballpark.”
He hasn’t surrendered a home run this season after giving up 10 homers in 46 ⅔ innings last year.
“He’s been a welcome addition to our bullpen, our team,” Bailey said. “He’s a great leader down there for some of the young guys coming up and down and he’s been able to hold his own and been very reliable for us.”
Wilson has 11 holds this year. He has held opponents to a .214/.283/.238/.521 line in 47 plate appearances considered high leverage situations and a .235/.341/.294/.636 line 41 plate appearances considered medium leverage spots.
“It’s been exciting out there,” Wilson said. “I feel like I’ve pitched in high leverage for most of my career. So it’s nice to continue that. And hopefully just keep helping the team.”
