While the New York Mets are now scrambling to find a replacement for the injured Frankie Montas in their rotation, a former reliever of theirs, veteran Adam Ottavino, has found a new home with the Boston Red Sox.
Ottavino has made his way around Major League Baseball across his 14-year career and will have at least one more season on his resume after signing with the Red Sox on Tuesday. The veteran’s most recent stint came in a three-year stretch with the Mets, which saw some of the reliever’s best work early in his tenure with the team.
In the 2022 season, his first with the Mets, Ottavino enjoyed one of his best seasons by posting a 2.06 ERA and 2.85 FIP as both a setup man and a fireman reliever. However, he struggled to a 1-7 record in 2023, and he recorded a bloated 4.34 ERA last season.
The agreement is a minor league pact with an invite to spring training, and if the veteran breaks camp with the Major League roster, he will get a $2 million base salary. 2025 will mark his second stint with the Red Sox, as Ottavino spent one year with the team in 2021.
In his lone season with Boston, Ottavino pitched to a 4.21 ERA across 62 innings in a team-leading 69 games. He amassed 71 strikeouts and a 112 ERA+ in that time, finishing 15 games and earning 11 saves. He fared much better on the road than at home in 2021, pitching to a 3.94 road ERA across 32 innings compared to a 4.50 home ERA across 30 innings at Fenway Park.
For his career, Ottavino carries a 3.49 ERA across 743 innings in 724 games with 46 saves, 859 strikeouts, and a 127 ERA+. He has proven to be a serviceable arm out of the pen for many different teams and now has at least one more opportunity to do so yet again with the Red Sox.