Top prospects Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer undoubtedly will receive the most attention among the non-roster invitees at Red Sox big league spring training camp.
But there will be several other interesting players to watch there who also aren’t members of the 40-man roster. The group includes a minor league reliever who has been up to 101.3 mph with his fastball and another who pitched in 56 games for the A’s in 2024.
FIVE NON-ROSTER INVITEES TO WATCH
1. Yovanny Cruz: The 25-year-old has struggled throwing strikes the past two seasons in the minors, averaging 4.7 walks per nine innings in ‘23 and 4.9 last year.
But there’s is a lot to like about him despite the command issues and not yet pitching above Double A.
He throws hard, topping out at 101.3 mph last year. It was the 19th hardest fastball thrown in the minors in 2024, per Baseball America.
MLB Pipeline ranked Cruz the Cubs’ No. 16 prospect in 2020 because of his fastball/slider combo. At the time, it viewed him as someone who “could develop into a mid-rotation starter.”
MLB Pipeline wrote back then, “Cruz has a power sinker with low spin rates that sits at 92-96 mph and tops out at 99, eliciting swings and misses as well as weak ground-ball contact. He shows good feel for spinning the ball and shows flashes of a plus slider. He also has an advanced changeup that could be at least a solid third offering.”
His SoxProspects.com scouting report notes, “High-upside reliever due to fastball-slider combo. Lack of control has limited his promotability.”
There’s a connection with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow from their time together with the Cubs. Breslow oversaw the Cubs’ pitching development infrastructure.
2. Austin Adams: The 33-year-old right-handed reliever posted a 3.92 ERA in 56 outings (41 ⅓ innings) for the Athletics in 2024. But his season got cut short in August because of right forearm tendinitis.
His slider is his best pitch and most frequently used pitch. He threw it 73.8% of the time last season and opponents had a .199 expected batting average against it. He also limited hard contact (84.3 mph average exit velocity, 4.3% barrel percentage and 32.6% hard hit percentage).
Hitters have gone just 82-for-475 (.173 batting average) against his slider in 188 big league appearances.
He has a career 31.6% strikeout percentage but he has struggled with control (13.9% walk percentage, 5.7 walks per nine innings). He hit 24 batters in 52 ⅔ innings in 2021, leading the league.
3. Michael Fulmer: The 31-year-old righty, who won the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year, didn’t pitch last season while recovering from elbow surgery (UCL revision).
He signed a two-year minor league contract with Boston in January 2024. It allowed him rehab throughout ’24 ahead of a return in 2025.
“He’s a guy we actually signed with an eye on — once he’s completely healthy — building him out, whether that’s as a starting pitcher or someone who can handle bulk, leverage innings,” Breslow said in December. “It’s something we still feel confident in. He’s making quite a bit of progress throwing pain-free and having a fairly normal offseason at this point.”
All 85 of Fulmer’s appearances from 2016-20 were starts. All but five of his 177 appearances from 2021-23 were out of the bullpen and he enjoyed success as a reliever (3.43 ERA, 175 ⅔ innings). And so it’s interesting the Red Sox might use him as a starter.
4. Jovani Morán: The Red Sox acquired the 27-year-old lefty from the Twins for catcher Mickey Gasper on Christmas Eve.
He missed 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery that he underwent after the ‘23 season.
He pitched pretty well for the Twins from 2021-23, posting a 4.15 ERA and just a 2.86 FIP in 79 relief outings (91 innings).
His expected numbers have been better than his actual numbers. For example, he posted a 5.31 ERA in 42 ⅓ innings in 2023 but had a 3.69 expected ERA and .211 expected batting average against.
He has a career 29.0% strikeout percentage and has averaged 11.1 walks per nine innings. But control (13.5% walk percentage, 5.1 walks per nine innings) has been an issue.
His changeup is his best and most-often used pitch. Hitters went 14-for-90 (.156) with a .141 expected batting average against his changeup in 2023, 8-for-79 (.101) with a .137 expected batting average vs. the pitch in ‘22 and 1-for-14 (.071) with a .058 batting average vs. it in ’21.
5. Sean Newcomb: The 6-foot-5 lefty is a Mass. native who grew up rooting for the Red Sox and was the 15th overall pick in the 2014 Draft.
He posted a 3.91 ERA with 159 strikeouts in 30 starts (163 ⅓ innings) as a 25-year-old in 2018. He recorded a 4.06 ERA in 49 starts over his first two seasons (2017-18).
But he struggled the final couple of months in ‘18 and was moved to the bullpen early in 2019. He enjoyed immediate success with a 3.04 ERA in 51 relief outings that year. But he has had off-and-on success since then.
He has pitched just 85 innings in the majors since the start of 2021 because of ineffectiveness and several injuries, including left knee inflammation, a sprained left knee and a sprained left ankle,.
He spent most of 2023 with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate before being traded to the A’s and posting a 3.00 ERA in 15 innings. He re-signed with Oakland for 2024 but struggled (6.30 ERA in 10 big league innings) after offseason surgeries on both knees. The Athletics released him July 5 and he went unemployed until Boston signed him Jan. 14.
When he had success in ‘23, it was in part because his fastball was effective. Opponents went 4-for-26 (.154) against it. But then they went 5-for-13 (.385) against it in limited time last year.
His curveball has been his best pitch throughout his career. And so perhaps the Red Sox will increase his breaking ball usage.
Others to watch: Righty Isaiah Campbell made Boston’s 2024 Opening Day roster but headed to the IL with a right shoulder impingement April 12. He then appeared in just one more game for Boston last year and spent most of the limited time he was healthy with Triple-A Worcester (2.20 ERA, 16 ⅓ innings, four earned runs). He finished the year on the IL (right elbow inflammation) and Boston designated him for assignment Nov. 19. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Worcester. …
Righty Robert Stock pitched for the 2020 Red Sox, posting a 4.73 ERA (13 ⅓ innings, seven earned runs) in 10 outings. His wife Sara Stock provided one of the few highlights of the dreadful season. X user Aaron Kessler tweeted Sept. 1, 2020, “I implore you all to put on the Red Sox game, they have this dude Robert Stock pitching, and he looks like he’s twice-divorced and completely given up on life. I can’t stop watching him. It’s transfixing.” Sara quote tweeted Kessler, writing, “0 times divorced, but if he keeps walking the lead-off batter, I’ll consider filing.” Stock walked 10 batters in his 13 ⅓ innings for Boston. Walks have been an issue throughout his major and minor league careers. …
Catcher Seby Zavala should compete with Carlos Narvaez and Blake Sabol for the backup catcher spot on the Opening Day roster. Narvaez and Sabol both are on the 40-man roster while Zavala isn’t but Zavala has more major league experience than both.
Infielder Abraham Toro, who signed a minor league deal Jan. 28, has 365 games of big league experience.
Sidearmer Wyatt Mills was a reliever who the Red Sox felt had similar stuff to John Schreiber when they acquired him in December 2022.
But he underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2023. Boston non-tendered him Nov. 17, 2023, then re-signed him to a two-year minor league contract the next day.
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