Right-handed pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn doesn’t consider himself a prospect anymore but the Red Sox still do.
Zeferjahn will join Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. The 26-year-old earned a promotion there after not allowing an earned run in 13 ⅔ innings at Double-A Portland. His fastball has reached 101 mph this season. He has 22 strikeouts and just three walks. Opponents are batting .176 against him.
His fast start all began when he spent most of this past offseason training at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers. Zeferjahn lost approximately eight to 10 pounds by dieting and hitting the weight room hard. He said he has “better weight” on him now. He cut out snacks and junk food. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder also ate meals of smaller portions.
“I knew it was going to be a big year for me,” Zeferjahn said. “I needed to show that I was putting in the work. And it’s starting to kind of pay off.”
Why is 2024 such an important year for him?
“I’m 26 now, which is not necessarily old for baseball but in the minor leagues, people think it’s old,” Zeferjahn said. “But honestly, this is the best I’ve ever felt. I’ve kind of been hurt every year coming up and what not. Just knick knack injuries that kind of set me back on what I really could show. This year, my body is in a better place. I’m going to show what I really have. I think I’ve done that. I know the work I’ve put in and the stuff I have. … Honestly, I’m not a prospect anymore. But I’m going to be there. I’m going to do my best to try to help the big league club.”
The Red Sox drafted Zeferjahn in the third round (107th overall) in 2019 out of Kansas. Baseball America ranked him Boston’s No. 19 prospect entering 2020. But he has often struggled in the minor leagues, posting a 4.83 ERA in 105 outings (34 starts). Boston converted him to the bullpen during the 2022 season. He struggled mightily with command in 2023, posting a 5.02 ERA and 8.4 walks per nine innings in 34 relief outings for Portland.
“I think the biggest thing for me was obviously getting in the zone with my stuff,” Zeferjahn said. “I’ve always had the quote-unquote nasty stuff. But when it’s not in the zone, it’s not nasty.”
He does have nasty stuff. Despite struggling in 2023, he still averaged 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings at Double A. He has averaged 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings in the minors.
“I’ve definitely gotten better at mentally being able to handle it,” he said. “I know there’s going to be failures and stuff like that. Obviously when I was starting two years ago, especially when I didn’t have my best stuff, it used to feel lonely out there. You’re on an island. So I definitely was frustrated. I was still working hard trying to get to be the best I could when things weren’t going right. But it’s definitely easier when things are going right. So I’ve got to keep a level-head and just keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Zeferjahn has averaged 14.5 strikeouts and 2.0 walks per nine innings this year.
“It starts with mechanics,” he said. “Obviously being able to repeat it. And as a big guy, it’s very hard. If it’s just a half a second off, it’s going to go haywire. So I think being able to kind of perfect my mechanics to what I have right now. And then honestly, we just call it the golden zone. I’m just trying to throw it in the middle. I’m honestly not trying to pick at the corners or anything like that. I wouldn’t say I was giving hitters too much credit in the past but I was kind of shying away from being in the zone. And this year, I’m like, ‘Screw that. Hit my best stuff.’ And I think that mindset is a big thing that’s helped me get into the zone.”
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One of the many philosophies in chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and pitching coach Andrew Bailey’s new pitching infrastructure is simply to throw strikes. As Red sox starter Nick Pivetta recently said, “Hitting is extremely hard, even if you’re throwing the ball down the middle.”
“I’m willing to try anything,” Zeferjahn said. “I really bought into Bailey and Breslow and what they’ve kind of brought in. It started from the top and they’re bringing it down. I bought in and it really has shown. I think that’s a big, big thing for my success —is buying in, experimenting with it, switching a few things and then going from there.”
Zeferjahn throws a four-seam fastball, sweeper and what he considers a “cutter-slider.”
“I’m throwing all three pitches in the zone,” he said. “It’s pretty much like, ‘Here. Hit this and let’s go from there.’”
On his cutter-slider, he added, “I call it a cutter but it honestly plays like a slider. And then I have a sweeper, which is a slider but I call it the sweeper because that’s the big one.”
He began throwing his sweeper this year.
“Last year or two years ago, the sweeper became a thing,” he said. “I hadn’t been able to really throw it. We tried last year a couple of times, a couple of grips. And it ended up me just kind trying to manipulate my cutter to be a slider. And it then just kind of got all out of whack. We have a grip this year that has really worked for me. And it’s been very effective, especially in the zone. I’m throwing it anywhere from 84-88 (mph). I get some good sweep on it. It’s been a big swing-and-miss pitch for me.”
He topped out at 101 mph against Reading earlier this year. His average four-seam fastball velocity is approximately 97-98 mph. He said he has been better at maintaining his velocity this season.
“I think having that (the velo) now only lets the other pitches play better,” Zeferjahn said. “You can kind of see how the organization has gone to pretty heavy on offspeed. I was a big fastball (pitcher), like, ‘I’m going to blow the doors off someone’ the last few years. The biggest compliment I’ve been getting from coordinators and coaches is that I’ve bought in and I understand that my two offspeed pitches are much better graded out than my fastball.
“I know I have the fastball there in the back pocket,” he added. “But with my success right now, it’s been able to land the breaking balls and go out of the zone late. They’ve got to be geared up for 98 to 100. That’s kind of how hitting is. So I think that’s also been a big part for me.”
He likes to throw his cutter/slider early in counts.
“I use it a lot to lefties,” he said. “I kind of want to get it over and hopefully get an early out. It’s kind of a show-me pitch for my fastball later. But now I’ve been using it a lot to righties early. And then the sweeper, sometimes it’s the same speed but there’s a big movement differential on it. So that’s been playing really well. So just being able to get that in the zone to get them off my fastball is kind of how I think of it — throw this somewhere in the middle, somewhere in the zone and let it work from there.”
