Thad Ward should be of interest to several teams in next month’s Rule 5 Draft. The 25-year-old right-hander, who is currently No. 15 in the Boston Red Sox prospect rankings with 40+ FV, was not added to the club’s 40-man roster — Eric Longenhagen A decision that left us “a little surprised”. Our Lead Prospect Analyst said Ward “looked great in the Arizona Fall League, finding a 92-94 mph fastball while mixing two above-average curveballs… [and] Now it looks like there might be a bulk relief fit. ”
Three years ago, Ward seemed well on his way to securing a spot in Boston’s starting rotation. His 2018 fifth-round pitcher at the University of South Florida was honored as the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year when he was featured in his FanGraphs in October 2019. According to then-Red Sox pitching analyst Brian Bannister, Ward owned “Chris Sale’s slider.”
But fate had a point. The 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the pandemic, and the following year Ward underwent Tommy John surgery after making just two starts at Double-A Portland. By then, he had essentially missed more than two seasons. Did. In his first innings of 51 and his third across four levels, Ward fanned his 66 batters and allowed just 40 hits while recording his ERA of 2.88. did.
Ward talked about his comeback during his stint in the Arizona Fall League, including how it compares to pre-injury.
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David Laurira: You came back from Tommy John this year. Are you the same pitcher you were before going under the knife?
Sad Ward: “In a way, yes. It’s not, but I feel it points it in a better direction.”
Laurelah: In what ways did you not channel well?
Ward: “I used to feel guilty, as strange as it sounds, for being too enthusiastic about what I was doing. I get mad at the umpire, I get mad when a ball comes down that I can’t hit, basically things don’t go my way… not enough to take me off the game plan, but enough to annoy me is.
“After doing it for a while, I have a better understanding that things don’t always go according to plan. Things happen. Bad calls happen behind the plate, bad calls happen on the field.” A ball that happens and shouldn’t be hit becomes a hit, so there’s been a lot of maturation and growth over the past few years.”
Laurelah: Did it take into account that baseball was taken from you?
Ward: “I think so. It reminded me that baseball is temporary. It’s our career, and as much as we want to stay there forever, it’s hard to control when we leave the game.” This understanding has made me more forgiving of my mistakes and more patient with myself.
“I want to make it to the big leagues and I’m trying to stay as long as I can, but at some point I’m going to be out of the game. I’m trying to freeze that timeline for as long as possible.”
Laurelah: Returned to the mound in July. Was it like riding a bicycle?
Ward: “It was July 1st in the Complex League. I would like to say it was the same as being on a bike, but it felt different. You have the competitiveness that you are used to, but when you don’t have it for a long period of time. You have to get that feeling back, you have to adjust to the adrenaline rush — everything you haven’t felt in a long time — it took a while, and you get to really feel your pitch. It took me a little while to finally get to the point where I was finally able to readjust to everything and feel like myself again.
Laurelah: How are your belongings compared to before your injury?
Ward: “It’s pretty much the same, if not one notch better when it comes to data analysis and stuff. It’s getting better.”
Laurelah: In what ways is yours better?
Ward: “More than my command improved, I would say. I get more advantage and can put pressure on hitters. In terms of movement profile, it’s about the same as before.”
Laurelah: Is the command improved because the mechanics have improved, or is it really more of a mental adjustment?
Ward: “I think it’s a combination of both. I could sit there and play the harp, and when I actually got back to pitching, I was able to move cleanly throughout the pitch and get in the zone more often. I didn’t have to go out, so I didn’t have a hard time trying to swing everyone out of the zone.
Laurelah: What is your current repertoire?
Ward: “Two-seam, four-seam, cutter, slider, curve, change. My best pitch is probably still my slider. I don’t think it will surprise many people. Some pitches feel natural — Change.” Some people have a natural feel to the ups, others carry the fastball very well — for me the slider has always been a natural pitch.
Laurelah: The slider movement profile is…
Ward: “It’s a horizontal sweep. You could probably define it as a sweeper because it doesn’t have much downward action, it’s more side-to-side, almost straight across. Again, the slider has always been a natural pitch for me. I don’t think it changes anything.” That’s exactly who I am, that’s what I do.
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