FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox pitching prospect Nicholas Judice is described as “a human highlight reel” in a YouTube video posted in March 2019. It shows the then-senior dunking and blocking shots for his school basketball team.
“I was a shooting guard,” Judice said.
A shooting guard? The 6-foot-8, 230-pound righty looks more like a center or power forward in the 1-minute, 13-second video.
“I was very skinny back then,” he said. “I was probably 6-8, 180, 175 (pounds). And I put on weight in college.”
The Red Sox acquired the 22-year-old, who first dunked as a sophomore in high school, along with right-handed pitchers Greg Weissert and Richard Fitts from the Yankees for Alex Verdugo on Dec. 5.
Fitts is the top prospect Boston acquired in the trade as MassLive ranks him No. 11 in the system. Weissert showed a quality slider and fastball during spring training. He will help Boston this year. Manager Alex Cora compared Weissert, who has a three-quarter arm slot, to John Schreiber.
Judice, meanwhile, is the third piece in the return package. He has yet to pitch in a professional game but he has intriguing potential because of his size, athleticism and rising velo.
“I had options for basketball. I always loved baseball more,” Judice said. “I come from a basketball family but I lean toward baseball.”
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He’s the tallest member of his family, three inches taller than his dad who played both basketball and baseball in high school.
“I just fell in love with how you compete in baseball,” Judice said. “It’s two different mindsets about the game. It’s more of a one-on-one in baseball. I love that.”
The Yankees drafted Judice out of the University of Louisiana-Monroe last July. New York traded him before he threw a single pitch in their organization, which he said felt “very weird.”
He signed last July 18, then the Yankees assigned him to the Florida Complex League Yankees on July 29. But New York shut him down for the rest of the season because of his inning total (53 innings in college last year, then 12 ⅓ innings in the Cape Cod League).
“Just due to innings,” he said. “So just developed, worked out and then towards October they started ramping me back up until I went home. And then December I obviously got traded.”
Judice was hanging out with his family when the Yankees dealt him.
“I had just cooked some wings for the family and I guess we were watching a game or something,” he said. “Yeah, I just got a random call from the Yankees, saying, ‘We just traded you to the Red Sox.’ I really didn’t know what to feel at that point. But it’s awesome.”
His fastball — a two-seamer — was between 92-95 mph in college while occasionally reaching 96 mph.
“I think 94-96 (mph range) is attainable for me,” he said.
His slider is his best secondary pitch. It ranges from 83-86 mph. He also throws a changeup.
“It’s a sweeper,” he said when describing the movement of his slider.
“I’ve messed around with my changeup a good bit,” he added. “I found one my senior year of college that’s more of a gyro change. I like more depth on it. Trying to play it like a fastball.”
He said he likes to locate his two-seam fastball to both sides of the plate.
“Obviously with righties, I like to run it in — hopefully break some bats,” he said. “I like to play both sides.”
The Baton Rouge, La., native didn’t watch much professional baseball growing up. He was more of a college baseball fan. He rooted for LSU and attended a lot of Tigers games.
But he said he was definitely aware of the significance of a Red Sox-Yankees trade.
The rivals made no trades during the Theo Epstein and Dave Dombrowski eras. The two sides completed just one trade during Ben Cherington’s tenure and two trades (including one very minor deal) during Chaim Bloom’s tenure.
“I definitely knew it was a big deal,” Judice said.
A scout from another MLB team told MassLive, “High-velo fastball that occasionally touches 99 mph, and mixes in a slider. Still raw, but a hard-thrower who might have the ceiling of a back-end bullpen piece.”
Judice has enjoyed his spring training with the Red Sox.
“I’ve been tossing, trying to gain weight, trying to get stronger in the weight room,” he said.
