FORT MYERS, Fla. — Reliever Greg Weissert received a tip from Trevor Story and Kutter Crawford not long before the Red Sox demoted him to Triple-A Worcester last July 29.
They suggested he should move from the third base side to the first base side of the rubber.
“I don’t know how it came up,” Weissert said Sunday at JetBlue Park. “They just suggested it because a lot of guys that throw the sweeper/sinker combo, almost everybody honestly (starts on the first base side).”
Weissert made the change while in Worcester, then dominated after the Red Sox recalled him in late August. The 30-year-old righty allowed just one unearned run, 15 hits and three walks while striking out 11 over his final 17 outings (16 ⅔ innings).
Weissert posted a 3.13 ERA in 62 outings His ERA dropped more than a run during the final six weeks of the season.
“It helped a ton with just my misses being more competitive,” Weissert said.
Weissert mentioned Adam Ottavino and Michael King as two right-handed pitchers with a sinker/sweeper combo who begin on the first base side of the rubber.
Weissert and King were teammates together on the Yankees in 2022 and ’23. The Yankees traded both Weissert and King during the 2023-24 offseason. They sent Weissert to Boston in the Alex Verdugo trade and King to San Diego in the Juan Soto trade.
“I talked to Michael King about it a bunch,” Weissert said.
“It just gives you so much more room for error with the sinker running arm side and getting a sweeper away to the righties,” Weissert added. “So I figured while I was going down to Triple A, I might as well give it a shot. It ended up being a good change for me.”
Weissert started off last year well with a 1.96 ERA in 24 outings over the first two months. But a 6.46 ERA in his next 21 outings from May 31-July 28 caused the Red Sox to demote him.
“I wasn’t doing my job,” Weissert said. “It wasn’t necessarily a surprise. It’s a business at the end of the day. So if you’re not doing your job, that’s just the reality of the situation. It’s obviously also super frustrating. I want to be in the big leagues and I know I’m better than that. But yeah, that’s life.”
Weissert also said he had better command when he returned from Worcester. He averaged just 1.6 walks per nine innings during his dominant stretch.
“I was just throwing strikes, getting ahead of guys and just executing some more pitches,” Weissert said.
“I felt good at the end of the year,” he added. “I feel good so far right now. So I’m excited.”
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