The Red Sox are finalizing a one-year contract with right-hander Michael Wacha, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal is pending a physical.
Wacha spent the 2021 campaign with the division-rival Rays. Working primarily as a starter, Wacha tossed 124 2/3 innings across 29 appearances this past season. Despite a league average 22.9% strikeout rate and a solid 5.9% walk percentage, the 30-year-old had trouble keeping runs off the board. Wacha pitched to a 5.05 ERA, largely on account of the 23 home runs (1.66 homers per nine innings) he surrendered.
That’s become somewhat familiar territory for Wacha, who has struggled with longballs in each of the past three seasons. He’s allowed a higher than average homer rate every year since 2019, with an ERA of 4.76 or higher in each season. Since the start of the 2019 campaign, Wacha owns a 5.11 ERA/5.07 FIP across 285 1/3 frames. While his strikeout and walk numbers have been fine, he’s not been able to effectively compensate for that home run trouble.
More to come