SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The 2023 Draft has already been a productive one for the Red Sox, in a variety of ways.
Two picks have already hit Boston and even though fourth-round pick Kristian Campbell’s first go-round didn’t go as planned, the fact that he and fifth-rounder Connelly Early have already contributed to the big league team is impressive. First-rounder Kyle Teel is also a big leaguer, with the White Sox, but he helped bring Cy Young Award candidate Garrett Crochet to Fenway.
The organization is hoping the Class of ‘23 well isn’t dry yet. The Red Sox actually sent three from that crop to the Arizona Fall League. Outfielders Nelly Taylor (Round 11) and Stanley Tucker (Round 19) are interesting, but it’s left-hander Jojo Ingrassia, the club’s 14th-round selection, that has the most upside … if he can stay healthy.
“He’s a very interesting left-handed arm,” Red Sox director of pitching Justin Willard said. “He’s able to approach guys from different angles and different shapes. When he’s out there, he’s one of the most competitive guys on the mound. The question is keeping him out there because of his potential.”
In his two years with the Red Sox, Ingrassia has shown his three-pitch mix – fastball, slider, changeup – can get outs and miss bats in the Minors. He has a 2.15 ERA, 0.956 WHIP and .178 batting average against to go along with a 13.6 K/9 rate (vs. just 2.9 BB/9). But he also has only thrown a combined total of 75 1/3 professional innings – just 17 in 2025, a big reason why he’s in the AFL – with shoulder and forearm issues forcing him to the sidelines way too often.
“Especially going down to [Ft. Myers], not being able to rehab with the team, it hurt me,” Ingrassia said. “It felt different because every injury I’ve ever had I’ve still been with the team, still been able to bring energy to the field and this was the first time I was kind of away and… just wanting to do more and kind of realizing that sometimes doing more is worse and can lead to slower time back because you want to do more and you get off the mound and something doesn’t feel right because you’re a little tight from working out harder.
“It was a learning experience definitely to try to figure out the right balance to, ‘I’m still getting my work in but I’m still trying to stay on the road to recovery and not overdo it.’”
Ingrassia is still working on that balance during his Fall League time. Toggling back and forth between starting and relieving, the southpaw has made four appearances. Still trying to regain feel – Ingrassia said locating his fastball has been challenging – he’s given up 14 hits and nine walks over 10 innings, though he also has whiffed 13. Small sample size results aside, he feels this time in Arizona has allowed him to feel much more like himself on the mound.
“My velocity is pretty much average to where I was in the season before I got hurt and then stuff, it feels like it really hasn’t ticked down, maybe even better. It feels like I’m back. A little bit of mentality felt off a little bit after such a time off, but other than that it feels back.”
Stuff-wise, Ingrassia has had success with a fastball that’s just average velocity-wise, a heater that’s sat around 92-93 mph in the AFL. It plays up because of his low slot, crossfire delivery and extension, creating sink and deception. His changeup has always been a plus pitch, a mid-80s offering that can fade in the opposite direction of his fastball and low-80s slider.
While in Arizona, one of Ingrassia’s primary areas of focus, beyond adding innings and staying healthy, has been to add a cutter to that arsenal, giving him something he can spin in the zone. It’s a work in progress, but Ingrassia likes where it’s going.
“It’s pretty good,” Ingrassia said. “It was a little weird. I started throwing at the end of Spring Training. We were going to really hope to develop it over the course of the year. That got cut short. It’s been good. A lot of work here with pitching coaches here, messing with grips and getting it to what we want to do.
“At first it was more of a kind of hybrid between a gyro slider and a curveball. It was getting a little more depth than we really wanted it to. We wanted it to stay on plane and use the east-west that I have going on with my fastball to have something moving into a righty away from a lefty that’s a little smaller than the sweeper just to use to get ahead in counts early. I’m super happy with how it’s going.”
The hope is that Ingrassia can keep it going and build off his Fall League time into a healthy offseason and a full 2026. Even with all the missed time, the Red Sox clearly think he has the stuff and edge on the mound to succeed at the highest level.
“He’s an incredible competitor, an exciting arm, especially as a left-hander doing the things he can do,” Willard said. “He can get too focused on the day-to-day of performance and we are pushing him to continue pushing on the big rocks. We keep saying there are two leagues – the big leagues and everywhere else. And we want him to get there.”
Ingrassia seems to have gotten that message. He’s relieved, even closed in college. The Red Sox have worked to stretch him out as a starter seeing that as a strong course of development for any pitcher until it’s time to make a decision. Ingrassia is ready for whatever the organization asks of him.
“Whatever is going to get me to Boston and be able to help that team succeed,” Ingrassia said about his future role. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
