9:19 PM: Wingenter has an assignment clause in his contract, according to MassLive's Chris Cotillo, and as such will need to be added to the team's 40-man roster in the coming days. No corresponding move has been announced by the Red Sox thus far.
8:36 PM: The Red Sox got a right hand Trey Wingenter from the Tigers in exchange for a minor league righty CJ Weins according to an announcement from both clubs. Wingenter has been in the Tigers' organization on a minor league contract and does not require an immediate addition to the club's 40-man roster.
Wingenter, 30, pitched in three MLB seasons and most recently appeared in the majors as a member of the Tigers last year. The right-hander was a 17th-round pick by the Padres in the 2017 draft and made his debut with the club in 2018. Over two seasons with San Diego, the righty posted a lackluster 5.14 ERA in 70 innings of work, although his peripheral . the numbers suggested a strong baseline performance that those run blocking numbers might have suggested. The righty struck out 33.1% of the batters he faced during his time with the Padres, and that was enough to earn him a 3.79 FIP despite a 13% walk rate and 12.7% home run rate to fly the average for both of them to leave something to be desired. there. desired.
Righty would not appear at the major league level again until 2023, as a member of the Tigers. His time in Detroit went the same way as his time in San Diego, as he posted a 5.82 ERA with no hits while his high strikeout rate (28.9% in 17 innings) outpaced his high walk rate (9.2%) and home run average. it's running enough to give him. strong peripheral numbers. One notable change from his time with the Padres was his low ball rate, however. Wingenter didn't get many bases during his time with the Padres, slugging them at just a 35.7% clip, but that rate increased to 43.2% for the Tigers.
Wingenter ended up remaining with Detroit heading into the 2024 campaign after re-signing with the club to a new major league deal this past winter. Although he hasn't pitched in the majors this season, he has put up impressive numbers at the Triple-A level with a 3.31 ERA in 32 2/3 innings of work this year. He's paired those strong results with his usual lackluster at-bats, as he's struck out 32.9% of the batters he's faced at the level this year while walking 11.6%. Notably, he has continued to show improvement in terms of his batted-ball profile, as he has hit the bases at a solid 48% clip this season in Triple-A.
Heading to Boston, Wingenter joins a number of exciting bullpen arms the club has in unsigned deals as potential depth options behind their current squad. That being said, it's worth noting that most of that group (like Lucas Luetge again Joely Rodriguez) to throw from lefty, meaning Wingenter could be the club's top depth option on the right side. With Chris Martin again Liam Hendriks both are currently on the injured list, it is at least possible to lose one Kenley Jansen, Justin Slate, Greg Weissertor Zack Kelly could lead the Red Sox to turn to Wingenter or Alex Speas or Isaiah Campbell, both of whom are currently at the Triple-A level but already have spots on the 40-man roster. It's also possible that the club could be impressed enough by Wingenter's high strikeout rate to give him an immediate look in the majors, or such a move would require him to be selected from the 40-man roster.
In exchange for adding Wingenter to their depth chart, the Red Sox waive Weins. The 23-year-old was Boston's sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft and pitched just one inning of rookie ball last year before being promoted to Single-A to begin the 2024 campaign. In 24 1/3 innings of work with the club's Salem affiliate this year, Weins posted a 4.81 ERA with a solid 26.6% strikeout rate but a dangerous 14.7% walk rate. Those solid strikeout numbers give reason to hope that the righty can be a key piece of a major league bullpen one day if he can fix his control issues, and the Tigers will now work to guide Weins to that goal moving forward.
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