Who is he and where did he come from?
He’s Ryan Watson, a right-handed pitcher. He was acquired yesterday in a trade with the Athletics, who had just selected him from the San Francisco Giants in the Rule 5 Draft. He was born in Auburn, Alabama, and pitched for the Auburn Tigers in college. He went undrafted in the shortened 2020 draft and signed with the Baltimore Orioles, reaching Triple A before being traded to the Giants midway through 2024.
The Giants had 40 other players they would rather protect from the 40-man roster, so I wouldn’t expect him to become an All-Star right away. At the same time, he’s a relief pitcher, and relief pitchers are fickle beasts. His stuff doesn’t jump off the page, but there are definitely things to like.
Like many of the pitchers the Red Sox have acquired, he has above-average extension, averaging about seven feet. He also throws from a below-average release height, in part due to how far down the mound he gets. These factors, among others, create a flatter-than-average four-seam fastball shape. Pitching outside of the Pacific Coast League, where several of the stadiums are at extreme elevation, he should see marginally more vertical movement, making the pitch even flatter. This is what happened to Hayden Birdsong, who pitched in the same league for part of 2025 and then saw his fastball average about an extra inch and a half of vertical movement when he reached the majors. The major league baseball might counteract some of the environmental gains, but there’s a chance Watson sees an extra inch or so. At 95 mph, it’s hard enough to be a weapon for him, given the shape. Again, it’s not a Payton Tolle fastball, but it’s not a Cooper Criswell fastball either.
In terms of secondaries, he turns to a slider most often against righties. The shape varies; he throws some with more sweep and others that are tighter. He uses the pitch both in and out of the strike zone, so he may be manipulating the shape intentionally in different counts for different purposes. The velocity also ranges from 81 to 87 mph, with slower pitches displaying more sweep.
Lefties see over 50% fastballs from him, with his curveball accounting for most of his breaking pitches. It’s not thrown in the zone often, but it misses a ton of bats. The whiff rate against the pitch was over 40% in Triple-A last season. Again, this came in the Pacific Coast League, where the elevation decreases pitch movement in several stadiums across the league. In normal conditions, he’ll get even more movement, which could make the pitch an even better offering.
Aside from nerdy pitch shape data, Watson throws strikes. He walked just seven percent of the hitters he faced in 2025.
So, to answer the question, I don’t know if he’ll be good. He has qualities that play at the major league level and has shown the ability to spin the ball. He’s a reliever, though, and sometimes they just don’t work out. If he keeps missing bats and throwing strikes, he’ll carve out a nice role in the Red Sox bullpen.
Tl;dr, just give me his 2025 stats.
46 G, 50.2 IP, 64 K, 16 BB, 5 HR, 4.26 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 4.01 xFIP
Show me a cool highlight.
Here he is in 2023, striking out his seventh batter of the game. He worked as a reliever for all of 2025, but there’s a part of me that wonders if the Red Sox would toy with the idea of making him a long-relief or depth starting option over time. He throws two fastballs and two breaking balls, an arsenal deep enough to start. He’s also 6’5”, 225 pounds, the frame of a starting pitcher. He’s 28 and pitching in a minor league bullpen, so he’s probably best used in the bullpen.
What’s his role on the 2026 Red Sox?
He’ll join up with the Red Sox for Spring Training, and if he pitches well enough to make the 26-man roster, he’ll pitch out of the bullpen. His middle name is Traylor, which is apt because he’ll likely begin the season pitching in a mop-up capacity should he make the team.
There’s a chance he doesn’t have any role on the 2026 Red Sox, too. Because he’s a Rule 5 pick, he’ll need to remain on the 26-man roster for the entirety of the season. If the Red Sox want to remove him from the roster, they’ll need to place him on waivers. If he clears waivers, he’ll be offered back to the Giants. It’s not different than when they acquired Garrett Whitlock or Justin Slaten.
