Who is he and where did he come from?
He’s Joe La Sorsa and, in light of the fact that he grew up in suburban NYC, went to St. John’s, and is, you know, named Joe La Sorsa, he is the platonic ideal of a Team Italy WBC player. The Red Sox acquired him yesterday in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash. Exchanging cash for something is usually called “buying something,” not “trading,” but MLB doesn’t let you call it that.
Important thing to note: he is not Jorge de la Rosa, even though your father-in-law probably spent the entire decade from 2005-2015 calling Jorge de la Rosa Joe La Sorsa.
I mean, no, but you knew that already. And so does he maybe? Listen to all this negative self-talk! Not what we want to hear, Joe! Somebody teach this guy how to do affirmations in the mirror every morning.
La Sorsa doesn’t have much of a big league track record. He’s mostly been a sinkerballer out of necessity, as he doesn’t have a ton velocity on his fastball, topping out at 92 MPH. He’s 6’5, which would lead you to believe he’s one of Andrew Bailey’s extension darlings, but while he has been above average in that metric in the past, he’s not elite in it. The Red Sox will be his sixth organization since being drafted by the Rays in 2019.
Tl;dr, just give me his career MLB stats.
46 G, 57 IP, 62 H, 44 K, 16 BB, 11 HR, 33 ER, 5.21 ERA
Show me a cool highlight.
Here he is absolutely losing his goddamn mind after getting a big K against the Dutch in the 2023 WBC. My sole hope for the rest of the 2026 Red Sox season is now to see him pull out this celebration in the fifth inning of a meaningless game against the Angels and ignite a week of annoying baseball discourse.
What’s he doing in his picture up there?
That’s how all the Team Italy players look after their fifth dugout espresso.
What’s his role on the 2026 Red Sox?
He’s not Brayan Bello’s new opener, that’s for sure.
La Sorsa had an escalator clause his contract with the Pirates, which is how he ended up with the Sox. That means he has to be on the 40-man roster, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he has to be on the 26-man roster. Having said that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a look in the big league bullpen over the next couple of weeks.
