{"id":41930,"date":"2025-03-17T11:56:31","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T11:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=41930"},"modified":"2025-03-17T11:56:31","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T11:56:31","slug":"coming-off-lost-year-brockton-native-emerges-as-contender-for-red-sox-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=41930","title":{"rendered":"Coming off lost year, Brockton native emerges as contender for Red Sox rotation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 It\u2019s been a tough couple of years for Sean Newcomb.<\/p>\n

In 2023 the Brockton native underwent surgery on both of his knees, and heading into last season the Oakland Athletics placed him on the 60-day injured list to start the year after he experienced what he described as \u201csimple swelling.\u201d Upon his return in June he pitched infrequently, often going nearly a week at a time between appearances, and he was ultimately released in July after throwing just 10 innings in nearly a month.<\/p>\n

Newcomb did not pitch again the rest of the season, but now it appears his fortunes could finally be turning around.<\/p>\n

Since signing with his childhood club on a minor league deal in January, Newcomb has emerged as a dark horse contender for the Red Sox starting rotation. Earlier this week manager Alex Cora identified the left-hander as one of four candidates for the two open spots, and based strictly on his performance, a strong argument could be made that Newcomb deserves to start the season on the Opening Day roster.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a refreshing change of pace for the 31-year-old, who described his longer-than-usual layoff as a needed reset but who is grateful to be back in a big league clubhouse again.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously being a local and growing up a huge Boston everything fan, it was definitely an ideal landing spot. Probably No. 1 where I wanted to go,\u201d Newcomb said. \u201cI didn\u2019t consider who was here as far as the rotation, I just wanted to get to a good spot, a good team that\u2019s ready to compete and feel normal again.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former Middleborough High star who was drafted in the first-round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of the University of Hartford, Newcomb originally broke into the big leagues as a starting pitcher and made 49 starts over his first two MLB seasons with the Atlanta Braves. After that Newcomb transitioned to the bullpen, being used primarily as a traditional one-inning reliever during the rest of his time with the Braves as well as in his subsequent stops with the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Athletics.<\/p>\n

Having the chance now to be stretched out as a starter represents a welcome return to Newcomb\u2019s roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it\u2019s always been the more innings the better, if I\u2019m in the pen I\u2019m looking for that long role where I go 2-3 innings, I\u2019ve got a good amount of off-speed pitches and it takes me a second to get rolling, so it\u2019s been a good change of pace versus the one-inning relief stuff I\u2019d been doing at the end of the Atlanta time and a little bit with Oakland,\u201d Newcomb said. \u201cBeing stretched out is always good for me, I get to get rolling and get competitive, it feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since joining the Red Sox Newcomb has made a strong impression on the mound. Entering Sunday the left-hander had appeared in four Grapefruit League games, allowing just one earned run over 9.2 innings while posting 10 strikeouts against three walks and holding opposing batters to a .152 average.<\/p>\n

Those numbers are all among the best on the team.<\/p>\n

Because Newcomb is in camp as a non-roster invitee and is not currently on the club\u2019s 40-man roster, he may face longer odds at making the team than his competitors who are already on the 40-man. But regardless of how the next couple of weeks play out, Newcomb says the experience of being a part of the Red Sox has been everything he hoped it would be and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s awesome. Being in Oakland it was a bit of a different situation, a lot of younger talent and it\u2019s just a different way of going about things,\u201d Newcomb said. \u201cYou come here and you can watch Aroldis Chapman, we\u2019ve got (Walker) Buehler and (Garrett) Crochet, a bunch of dudes kind of my age, and guys I\u2019ve seen around the league for years and see how they work. It\u2019s a mix of prospects and veterans and it\u2019s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published:

Coming off a lost year in Oakland, Brockton\u2019s Sean Newcomb has emerged as a surprise contender for a spot in the Red Sox rotation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":41931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[47,114,926,780],"class_list":["post-41930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-red-sox","tag-sean-newcomb","tag-spring-training"],"yoast_head":"\nComing off lost year, Brockton native emerges as contender for Red Sox rotation - NEWS USA<\/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:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=41930\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coming off lost year, Brockton native emerges as contender for Red Sox rotation - 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