Besides their trade for Garrett Crochet and the signing of Walker Buehler, the Boston Red Sox made one more, oft-forgotten starting pitching addition this offseason.
Boston signed former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval in December 2024 to a two-year, $18.25 million deal. The lefty appeared in parts of six seasons with the Angels, but the team non-tendered him after he underwent UCL-repair surgery before the end of the 2024 campaign.
Sandoval still has months of recovery ahead of him, but Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic on May 20 shared an update on his rehab progress. The 28-year-old has thrown the first bullpen of his recovery and will continue to throw two sessions per week. He threw 16 pitches in his first session, all fastballs.
Sandoval is one of the Sox’s latest sign-and-stash acquisitions — Lucas Giolito, Liam Hendriks and Michael Fulmer, who was designated for assignment on April 18, are the other recent examples. Giolito and Hendriks haven’t had the easiest starts to their Red Sox careers, with a 7.08 and 3.38 ERA, respectively.
Red Sox reporter shares rehab update on sign-and-stash pitcher Patrick Sandoval
Sign-and-stashes are risky because it can take quite a while for pitchers to fully rebound from UCL surgeries. Red Sox starter Walker Buehler knows this well. The two-time All-Star and National League Cy Young vote recipient was a career 2.82 ERA pitcher in the four full seasons before he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022. Since the procedure, he’s pitched to a 5.04 ERA in 22 regular-season appearances between the Dodgers and the Sox.
Sandoval is a 4.01 ERA pitcher over his career with the Angels, with mixed results year over year. The best season of his career came in 2022 when he posted a 2.91 ERA with 151 strikeouts and 60 walks over 148.2 innings. Since then, his strikeout rate has decreased and he’s walked batters at a higher clip.
The Red Sox don’t expect Sandoval to be ready to pitch until midseason, at the earliest. Boston also expects Kutter Crawford to be active sometime around then, which gives them two additional starters for whom to find roster spots. After Tanner Houck’s recent struggles, one could go to the rotation in his former spot and the other to the bullpen, but the Sox’s pitching staff could look very different by the time they’re both activated.
