The Boston Red Sox bullpen needed help, and they found it. Earlier on Thursday, the team announced that they had recalled right-hander Luis Guerrero from Triple-A Worcester after Josh Winckowski’s outing turned into a bit of a roller coaster.
The Dominican-born pitcher returned to the majors while Winckowski was optioned to Triple-A. The righty threw 80 pitches over three innings on Wednesday night. He struggled early, allowing two runs in the first inning, but ultimately settled down to retire 8 of the last 9 batters he faced—helping Alex Cora give his bullpen some much-needed rest.
Luis Guerrero made his 2025 MLB debut on Thursday, pitching two innings, allowing one hit, and striking out one. It was his 10th career appearance in the big leagues—and he still hasn’t allowed a run. He’s the first Boston Red Sox player to begin his MLB career with 10 consecutive scoreless outings since Andrew Maddox in 2017.
Guerrero and Winckowski gave Alex Cora the chance to rest his main bullpen arms. Aroldis Chapman and Justin Slaten have each pitched only once since April 19, while Garrett Whitlock has thrown just 1.1 innings in that span as well.
«It was huge,» said Cora after Winckowski’s 80-pitch effort on Wednesday night. «You don’t want your pitchers throwing more than 3.1 innings, but that’s where we were. He gave up two [runs] in the first inning [of his relief], but he was able to give us two more [innings].»
However, Winckowski was optioned after that outing, and that move allowed Luis Guerrero to make a little bit of history. Dave Ferriss and Andrew Maddox are the only pitchers in franchise history with more scoreless innings to start their MLB careers. Ferriss did it over 18 innings, and Maddox over 15.
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Luis Guerrero is the first Dominican-born pitcher to begin his MLB career with 10 consecutive scoreless outings since Seranthony Domínguez did so in 2018. Only four other Dominican-born hurlers have recorded 11 or more scoreless outings to start their careers: Víctor Cruz (13), Luis Peralta (12), Ramón Ramírez (11) and Francisco Cordero (11).
