Josh Winckowski Stinks, Will Never Be MLB Caliber Starter
The Andrew Benintendi trade will go down as a failed trade for the Boston Red Sox. Shocking considering that’s exactly what I said would happen. Nevertheless, we have our answer now. As if Franchy Cordero sucking wasn’t bad enough, we also have all the information we need about Josh Winckowski too. He’s not good enough and never will be.
Bloom botched the Benintendi trade. Instead of getting one or two guaranteed hits back, Bloom took a five player return back. All of which appear to be outrageous gambles that didn’t work. Grant Gambrell still hasn’t pitched for the club. Luis De La Rosa is the most interesting of the bunch but is still very much a dart throw. Freddy Valdez has dropped off the prospect rankings. Winckowski was supposed to be the one guy who we knew could at least make the team. Turns out, that’s not even true anymore.
Winckowski just got sent back down to AAA after a rough go of it at the big league level. Winckowski, 24, sports a 5.19 ERA in 12 starts. The WHIP sits at 1.500 which is just a number that’s not good enough to be on any roster.
The bottom line is there is no swing and miss in Winckowski’s game. It’s never going to change. We have our answer. If you check out Winckowski’s savant page, it’s littered with poor metrics. The fastball velocity is fine but the Sox right-handed is in the 4th percentile in K rate, 3rd percentile in chase rate, and the single worst pitcher in baseball at creating whiffs.
It’s never going to change. Could Winckowski develop and find a way to eat innings with mediocre stuff? I’m not saying it’s impossible but it sure as hell is unlikely. The slider could be a bit of an out pitch but that’s about all he’s got. You’re never going to get good big league production from this bum. It’s just not in the cards.
Winckowski is the perfect example of magnifying the flaws during Chaim Bloom’s tenure. He’s so worried about fixing the depth of this roster that he found a way to botch it in the process taking bad trades in return out of desperation. If Winckowski is part of your 40-man roster, your team isn’t good enough.
So far the only thing Josh Winckowski is good at is running his mouth while turning in clunker starts. He did it about Wrigley Field and about the Yankees lineup. How about try being good first before doing that?
Josh Winckowski stinks. End of story. He needs to be shipped out of town while finding actual capable big league starters. Right now, Boston doesn’t have any and it’s one of many reasons why they’re on the outside looking in for a playoff spot.
At some point, Bloom can’t keep his job if he’s going to keep doing this no matter how great the farm system looks. It’s bad business and something a winning Red Sox team would never do.
