The Red Sox added three pitching prospects — Josh Winckowski, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford — to their 40-man roster Friday to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.
“All of whom have the ability to impact a major league club down the road and perhaps early on even for some of them in 2022 in a variety of different roles,” chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Monday. “They all have the upside to start games and they could all help us win games in other capacities if they end up not being starters.”
Crawford and Winckowski are closest to being ready to help the Red Sox early in 2022. Bello, a 22-year-old who is the top pitching prospect in the organization, is further away.
Crawford, a 25-year-old righty, made one start for Boston in 2021. MLB allowed the Red Sox to add him and then outright him off the 40-man roster to Worcester without exposing him to waivers because of the team’s COVID outbreak. He struggled in only 2 innings for Boston but his fastball reached 95.9 mph.
He throws a four-seam fastball, two-seamer, cutter, changeup and curveball.
Winckowski finished the season at Triple-A Worcester where he allowed three earned runs in 12 innings (2.25 ERA) over three starts. Baseball America ranks him Boston’s No. 9 prospect and he reached the upper-90s as a reliever in the Arizona Fall League.
Winckowski throws a fastball, slider and hard changeup.
Boston also added shortstop/second base prospect Jeter Downs to the 40-man roster.
Downs, a 23-year-old who was the top prospect acquired in the Mookie Betts trade, batted only .190 with a .272 on-base percentage, .333 slugging percentage, .606 OPS, 14 homers and nine doubles in 99 games (405 plate appearances) for Worcester in 2021. He then hit five homers and posted a .389 on-base percentage in 16 Arizona Fall League games.
“As far as the four players we added, we’re really excited about all of them,” Bloom said. “All four of them are guys that we’re pumped to have in our organization. Excited to add to our 40-man roster.
“Obviously Jeter Downs has been under the microscope I think here for a while and even prior to that having been a part of a couple high-profile trades,” Bloom added. “Didn’t have his best year but ended on a very positive note. I think we were able to help him figure some things out along the way. And having just seen him in Arizona, I think he’s in a really good frame of mind headed into the offseason. We still love his ability and think he’s going to really impact us down the road.”
Thaddeus Ward, Gilberto Jiménez, Durbin Feltman, Victor Santos, Ceddanne Rafaela, Franklin German, A.J. Politi and Kole Cottam are the notable prospects who were left unprotected. Any team can select them in the Rule 5 Draft next month.
“We had a few tough calls,” Bloom said. “I think some of that is a credit to the depth we built up in the system. Any time you add someone or leave someone off, in some sense it’s a calculated gamble. Over time, you learn sometimes the best way to lose a player is to add somebody that you shouldn’t. It might lead to you being in a crunch down the road. ... Knowing there are other things we want to accomplish this offseason with our 40-man roster and players we’d like to bring in both during the offseason and as we get into next year, wanting to have as much space (on the 40-man roster) as possible, that’s something you have to factor in to the decision you make. So there were a few that were not easy. But ultimately, this is how we felt most comfortable.”
The Red Sox have three open spots on the 40-man roster.
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