There have been rumors flying around this fall about the Red Sox plans for 2026. They range from trading for a #2 to pair with Garrett Crochet, to signing Pete Alonso, to building a “super ‘pen.” With the seemingly ageless Aroldis Chapman and the incredibly talented Garrett Whitlock back in the fold in the ‘pen’s two top positions, it’s a little curious how much of a super bullpen is a even possible. After all, who wants to sign on as the sixth inning guy in the super pen? Luckily they might end up with an even stronger bullpen no matter which path they choose because of a guy they already have on the roster: Justin Slaten.
Justin Slaten held batters to a .171/.233/.232 batting line in the first half of the season. While he only struck out 16 in 23.1 innings, batters just weren’t able to do much. One home run and two doubles comprised the only extra based hits he allowed. And while he did walk seven batters, his overall performance was, mostly, encouraging. But he didn’t quite claim the mantle of Trusted Reliever he looked to be earning in the 2024 season.
After a solid start to the season, Slaten would hit the IL and miss all of June and July and the vast majority of August , returning on the 29th of that month. And it wasn’t pretty. Batters hit .295/.340/.455 against him
in late August and September, when the Red Sox really, truly, needed some help.
However after giving up 12 hits in the first 5.1 innings back from the IL he did allow just 1 hit over the final 5.
While possibly not his best game, of which the selection is limited, his moment of sorts came in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series. With the Red Sox down 4-0 he came in and tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. And they weren’t cheap innings: Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Ben Rice, and Amed Rosario. That’s the heart of the order. Sure, a scoreless outing would have mattered more the day before, possibly winning them that game, but the point is that Alex Cora wanted more vintage Slaten to come in and take the ball and he got a little of that.
Is he healthy? If so, Andrew Bailey is going to want to find a way to get those strikeouts back. After striking out a quarter of the batters he faced in 2024, Slaten K’d just under 19% in 2025.
Justin Slaten can be the sixth-seventh inning guy for Alex Cora when he’s on. A guy who can be turned to when Cora doesn’t want Whitlock and/or Chapman pitching. A key piece of the bridge through the ninth inning in a win. Trading for or signing a reliever would likely push Slaten into the earlier side of this range as hopefully additions would come from the top of the market. But even a 7-8-9 of Slaten, Whitlock, and Chapman would be very strong. And with young pitchers coming up through the system as well? There could be depth! Just not Every Day Bernardino.
