{"id":38076,"date":"2025-03-02T13:29:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T13:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=38076"},"modified":"2025-03-02T13:29:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T13:29:26","slug":"red-sox-pitchers-wife-provided-rare-highlight-during-boring-2020-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=38076","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox pitcher\u2019s wife provided rare highlight during boring 2020 season"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 The Red Sox finished last in the AL East standings with a 24-36 record in 2020, a brutal season that was shortened due to COVID.<\/p>\n

Fenway Park was empty every night without fans being allowed in. Night games didn\u2019t start until 7:30 p.m. And manager Ron Roenicke used 16 different starting pitchers over the 60 games, nine of whom haven\u2019t made a start in the majors since then. Zack Godley, who was third on the team in starts (7) has made just one start and pitched in two big league games since then.<\/p>\n

There were few highlights. Tanner Houck\u2019s MLB debut was one. A busy trade deadline that included then-chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom acquiring Nick Pivetta was another.<\/p>\n

Then there was Robert Stock\u2019s wife roasting him on X (formerly Twitter).<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s very funny,\u201d Stock said at JetBlue Park.<\/p>\n

Stock, who is back with the Red Sox this year after signing a minor league deal in the offseason, was struggling during a relief appearance Sept. 1, 2020. He gave up two runs on three hits and one walk while recording just two outs out of the bullpen in a 10-3 loss to the Braves. He took the loss.<\/p>\n

An X user @aaronkessler tweeted, \u201cI implore you all to put on the Red Sox game, they have this dude Robert Stock pitching, and he looks like he\u2019s twice-divorced and completely given up on life. I can\u2019t stop watching him. It\u2019s transfixing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many people at the time, Stock hadn\u2019t gotten his hair cut since before the shutdown and looked a little unkempt.<\/p>\n

Stock\u2019s wife, Sara Stock, quote tweet it, writing, \u201c0 times divorced, but if he keeps walking the lead-off batter, I\u2019ll consider filing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had texted my brothers like, \u2018Hey, I think this is a funny tweet but before I send it, what do you think?\u2019\u201d said Stock, who now has a much cleaner haircut.<\/p>\n

Stock\u2019s brothers told Sara not to send it out. So she waited until the game ended to ask Stock if it was OK to tweet it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause she knows me so well, right?\u201d Stock said. \u201cAnd she\u2019s like, \u2018You think I should tweet this?\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018You definitely should. That\u2019s hilarious, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Does he realize Sara provided one of the few highlights of 2020?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s good. I\u2019m glad that good jokes are something that can live on,\u201d Stock said.<\/p>\n

He said Sara\u2019s tweet was somewhat accurate.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the biggest thing that\u2019s been (holding) me (back) in my career is throwing strikes, right?\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a funny tweet, but it\u2019s also exactly what I needed to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strike throwing is something the 35-year-old worked on in his many different stops \u2014 including South Korea, Mexico and with two different Indy Ball teams \u2014 since last pitching in the majors in 2021.<\/p>\n

“\u200aChanging my mechanics to allow for better strike throwing,” Stock said.<\/p>\n

Stock throws hard. He said he has found that one of the common strategies mechanically for throwing hard is at the cost of a pitcher\u2019s control.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s a better mechanical strategy that allows you to do both. Just improving my mechanics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stock also has worked on a cutter the past couple of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s really good for me, although my last outing that was actually my underperforming pitch. But typically it\u2019s good,\u201d Stock said. \u201cAnd I throw like sidearm now.\u201d<\/p>\n

His sidearm angle developed naturally last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been throwing sinkers and I was finding when my arm slot would be lower, it would be more effective,\u201d he said. \u201cSo just over time, it got lower and lower and lower.\u201d<\/p>\n

What else does Stock remember from the 2020 season?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat season was such a blur because it was so unlike regular baseball,\u201d Stock said. \u201cWhat I remember most from that season probably was our lockers being set up in the suites up above but then the showers being in a trailer on the concourse. And so you would walk downstairs in a bathrobe. Usually like in a locker room obviously you would walk in your underwear. And it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, hey, look. There\u2019s (people) outside the stadium while I\u2019m walking in the showers.\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n