{"id":26929,"date":"2025-01-17T10:35:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T10:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=26929"},"modified":"2025-01-17T10:35:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T10:35:28","slug":"after-insane-free-agency-new-red-sox-lefty-aims-to-join-rotation-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=26929","title":{"rendered":"After \u2018insane\u2019 free agency, new Red Sox lefty aims to join rotation in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last month, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said he hoped newly signed starter Patrick Sandoval could contribute to Boston\u2019s starting rotation at some point in the second half of 2025. It\u2019s a timetable that Sandoval is very much on board with.<\/p>\n

Appearing on MassLive\u2019s Fenway Rundown podcast Thursday, Sandoval \u2014 who clarified that he underwent an internal brace procedure, and not full Tommy John surgery, on his pitching elbow in early July \u2014 said he started his throwing program a couple weeks ago and is progressing well ahead of spring training, which begins in three-plus weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting to feel more and more like an athlete every day,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of the biggest grind of it at the beginning, not being able to do much activity at all and then slowly ramping up. I\u2019m in a good spot and I feel really good.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo get back and be able to compete and help this team win games down the stretch, that\u2019s my goal for this year,\u201d he added. \u201cTo be able to work my way back and be able to compete in those games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandoval, whose 107 major league appearances (100 starts) have all come with the Angels, was expecting to be back in Anaheim next season. An arbitration-eligible player for the second time, the 28-year-old wasn\u2019t a free agent until he was non-tendered by the Angels, in surprising fashion, on November 22. That decision suddenly thrust Sandoval onto the open market for the first time his career and started a process that finished on December 20 when he agreed to a two-year, $18.25 million agreement with Boston.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting it at all,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cI got a call like two minutes before the tender deadline. My agent had let me know that they decided not to tender me. I didn\u2019t really know how to feel. I understood, me coming back from injury, they might not want to pay me that money to just sit and rehab for a year. And they have the right to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the whole free agent experience was insane. You\u2019re not expecting it. I\u2019m thinking I still have two more years until I get that opportunity to choose which team I want to play for. The whole recruiting process or whatever you want to call it, it kind of brought me back to like the high school days of having colleges come and talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Red Sox jumped into the mix for Sandoval very early and were aggressive suitors. Pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who had worked with Sandoval during his time with the Angels in 2019, created an individualized progress plan for the lefty. Sandoval also knows new bullpen coach Chris Holt from their shared time in the Astros organization, righty Lucas Giolito from the righty\u2019s brief stint with the Halos in 2023 and Jarren Duran from playing with him on Team Mexico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, though, it was the organization\u2019s pitch to Sandoval that lured him to Boston.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe confidence they had in myself, plus what I could bring and what they could bring to me, I think ultimately meshed together,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cI\u2019m super grateful to be part of this historic franchise and to be able to play in Fenway, which is one of \u2014 if not my favorite \u2014 stadiums in all of baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything they presented me aligned with how I wanted to progress and I thought this would be a huge stepping stone in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sandoval, who reportedly had serious interest from the Phillies and other teams, the free agent process was more of a confidence-builder than a stressor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of teams that were lining up to talk to me, it was a huge confidence boost,\u201d he said. \u201cGoing through this, getting let go, obviously it\u2019s not the greatest feeling in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brought my spirits up a little bit just hearing all the teams that wanted to come talk to me, then talking to them. Then ultimately, choosing Boston, I was on Cloud Nine. I\u2019m still coming down from it. It\u2019s a huge blessing and I couldn\u2019t be more grateful to the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandoval has some personal history in Boston, as he made his first big league start at Fenway on August 11, 2019. A southern California native who attended USC, then spent the first six years of his big league career with the Angels, he\u2019s looking forward to experiencing baseball in the Northeast on a full-time basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cEast coast fans, it\u2019s just different,\u201d he said. \u201cDifferent cultures out there, different types of people,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cThere\u2019s a different level of passion they have for their teams and it\u2019s amazing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n