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The Boston Red Sox looked to their own backyard to add left-handed depth to their bullpen on Friday when they took a flyer on 31-year-old Sean Newcomb, an eight-year veteran and native of Brockton, Mass., a city of about 105,000 people 24 miles south of Boston. The Red Sox signed Newcomb, who missed most of 2024 with knee injuries, to a minor league contract and plan to make him a non-roster invitee to spring training.
Brockton is a city better known for boxers than baseball players. Two legendary fighters, Rocky Marciano — still the only heavyweight champion to end his career undefeated — and 1980s middleweight king Marvin Hagler both hailed from Brockton.
Newcomb is the most recent of only 11 Major League Baseball players from the Massachusetts city, and the first since journeyman pitcher Jim Mann appeared in two games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2003.
According to baseball statistician Thomas Nestico, Newcomb's "breaking balls have a ton of movement due to his ability to generate spin," giving the Red Sox pitching development staff something to work with in hopes that he can realize some of the potential that made him a high draft selection a decade ago.
Once considered a top prospect in the game, Newcomb was drafted in the first round, 15th overall, by the Los Angeles Angels in 2014. The Angels traded him to the Atlanta Braves after the 2015 season as part of a package that sent back four-time Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons.
Newcomb had some quality seasons for the Braves. His career year was 2019 when he appeared in 55 games, all but four in relief, with an ERA of 3.16. He pitched on the Braves' World Series championship team of 2021, throwing 32 1/3 innings out of the bullpen with a 4.73 ERA, but did not appear in the postseason for Atlanta.
After 2019, Newcomb's strike-throwing ability escaped him. The Braves traded him to the Chicago Cubs early in the 2022 season. He signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants after that year, but was quickly dealt across the bay to the Oakland Athletics.
He appeared in only 14 games over two seasons in Oakland, sidelined by knee surgery in 2023 and a flare-up on the knee in 2024 that landed him on the 60-day injured list.
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JON VANKIN is a journalist and writer. He is the author of five nonfiction books and nine graphic novels. His ... Read more