{"id":1132,"date":"2026-05-24T23:34:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T23:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1132"},"modified":"2026-05-24T23:34:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T23:34:02","slug":"not-overly-tricky-why-red-sox-have-kept-ryan-watson-amid-recent-bullpen-churn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1132","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Not overly tricky\u2019: Why Red Sox have kept Ryan Watson amid recent bullpen churn"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>When the Red Sox made another bullpen swap Sunday, <b>Ryan Watson<\/b> stayed where he has been all season: corner locker by the laundry room, ready to throw as many innings as needed, whenever necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1130\">What to know about the White House shooting on Memorial Day weekend<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Watson, a rookie righthander pitching better lately, survived the latest round of reliever roulette \u2014 a decision that was \u201cnot that tough,\u201d interim manager <b>Chad Tracy<\/b> said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Instead, the Sox sent an undeserving <b>Tyler Samaniego<\/b> (1.04 ERA) to Triple-A Worcester to make room for <b>Danny Coulombe<\/b>, who returned from the injured list. That came two days after the Sox demoted <b>Zack Kelly<\/b> (3.31 ERA) to take a look at <b>Tyron Guerrero<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>\u201cHe\u2019s done a pretty admirable job chewing up innings and keeping the bullpen intact in some certain spots,\u201d Tracy said of Watson. \u201cHe has a role to fill and he\u2019s been filling it, so not overly tricky.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Among the reasons the Sox have kept Watson:<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>\u22c5 Watson is a Rule 5 draft pick, meaning he has to stay in the majors or be placed on waivers (and, if he clears waivers, offered back to his previous club, the Giants). He cannot be optioned to the minors. Samaniego and Kelly can. Since the Sox, like most teams, prioritize keeping as many pitchers as possible, Samaniego and Kelly became the tough-luck odd men out for now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Rule 5 picks need to stay on the active roster for 90 days. If they are on the injured list for an extended period and don\u2019t meet that minimum, the same rules apply the next season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u22c5 Watson owns a 3.46 ERA in May, an improvement over the 7.07 he posted in April.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019m just relaxing. I\u2019m not trying to do too much, put too much pressure on myself to chase strikeouts or stuff like that,\u201d Watson said, crediting advice from pitching coach <b>Andrew Bailey<\/b> for that mindset shift. \u201cA couple of times it looked like I was tensing up a little bit, trying too hard to get a pitch to a location. That\u2019s when things tend to go bad on the mound, when you try too hard to do certain things. So really just relaxing, trusting my ability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Perhaps related to his effectiveness: He has covered 13 innings across six appearances this month, with lots more rest mixed in. Last month, it was 14 innings in 11 games.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1128\">\u2018It Takes Two\u2019 rapper Rob Base, who helped bring hip-hop mainstream, dies at 59<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u22c5 Watson has covered three innings in three May appearances. There is value to having a reliever who can offer that length, sparing others from having to pitch in a game that seems decided.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019ve been kind of the bulk guy out of the \u2018pen the last few weeks, so I\u2019m just trying to embrace that role, eat up as many innings as I can, try to save some arms in the bullpen when we need it,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h3>Samaniego disappointed<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Samaniego, also a rookie, has been great, including opening his career with 15 consecutive scoreless innings. So Tracy didn\u2019t enjoy sending him down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c[Samaniego was] not surprised, but I think he was disappointed, as all guys are when you have this conversation with him,\u201d Tracy said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Sox\u2019 only other option was <b>Greg Weissert<\/b>. Other choices included cutting Watson or even Coulombe, who is guaranteed only $1 million this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily anything that [Samaniego] did wrong, but you\u2019re trying as an organization to keep valuable resources and keep everything in line,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cThose guys [Samaniego and Kelly] will help us again. I told them both that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h3>Anthony update<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><b>Roman Anthony<\/b> (sprained right hand\/wrist) remains in a no-swinging holding pattern. Tracy said the Red Sox would next consider having him try a dry swing with a bat in his hands on Tuesday \u2014 eight days after he experienced pain when he first tried to hit. In the meantime, he is running, throwing, and doing defensive work \u2026 Sunday marked the Twins\u2019 first three-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway since 1994, when <b>Roger Clemens<\/b> was on the Sox. His son, <b>Kody Clemens<\/b>, went 2 for 5 with an RBI \u2026 As <b>Payton Tolle<\/b> walked onto the rainy field Sunday morning, he offered a weather assessment and life advice in one fell swoop: \u201c\u201cThe sun is out. You can\u2019t see it, but it\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1126\">Late pass sends Felix Rosenqvist past David Malukas for the closest Indianapolis 500 win in history<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watson, a rookie righthander pitching better lately, survived the latest round of reliever roulette<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Not overly tricky\u2019: Why Red Sox have kept Ryan Watson amid recent bullpen churn - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1132\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Not overly tricky\u2019: Why Red Sox have kept Ryan Watson amid recent bullpen churn - 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