The Red Sox have agreed to bring back right-hander Robert Stock on a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to major-league spring training, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The agreement was first reported by Stock’s winter ball team in Mexico, the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, who previously announced that he was traveling to the United States for a physical exam.
Stock, 35, appeared in 10 games for the Red Sox during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. In that span, the hard-throwing righty allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 16 hits, 10 walks, and 14 strikeouts over 13 1/3 innings of relief in which opposing hitters batted .320 against him. He averaged 96.8 mph on his fastball that year, which ranked in the 93rd percentile in all of baseball, per Baseball Savant.
A former 2009 second-round draft pick out of Southern California, Stock debuted in 2018. He has since forged a 4.71 ERA (3.97 FIP) with 76 strikeouts to 40 walks in 55 appearances (72 2/3 innings) for four teams (Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, and Mets) over parts of four seasons. He made three starts between Chicago and New York in 2021 but has not seen any big-league action since then.
Stock spent all of 2022 with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization and split the 2023 campaign between the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville and the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks. He signed on with Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League for the 2024 season and produced a 3.38 ERA with 104 strikeouts to 41 walks in 19 starts (98 2/3 innings). He then latched on with Hermosillo and became the first in team history to win the pitching triple crown after leading the Mexican Pacific League in wins (10), ERA (1.60), and strikeouts (78) this winter.
Stock figures to provide the Red Sox with versatile pitching depth in the upper minors to open the 2025 season. He joins the likes of Austin Adams, Isaiah Campbell, Noah Davis, Michael Fulmer, Bryan Mata, and Wyatt Mills as non-roster pitchers who will be in Fort Myers for camp, which begins next month.
