Tampa Bay Rays Trade Japanese Pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa to Boston Red Sox

Naoyuki Uwasawa was unable to earn a roster spot with the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Boston Red Sox were willing to take a flier on the Japanese right-hander.

Mar 15, 2024; Port Charlotte, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa (36) faces the Baltimore Orioles in Spring Training. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to trade right-handed pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa to the Boston Red Sox, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Wednesday afternoon.

It has not yet been been specified what the Red Sox sent back to the Rays in return.

Uwasawa spent the last 11 seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball. He was posted to MLB free agency this winter, signing a minor league deal with Tampa Bay in January.

The 30-year-old righty earned a non-roster invitation to the Rays' major league Spring Training camp, but he struggled in Grapefruit League play. Across four appearances, Uwasawa went 0-1 with a 13.03 ERA, 2.379 WHIP and 1.13 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Tampa Bay reassigned Uwasawa to the minors on March 22, five days before they wound up shipping him to an AL East rival.

The Boston Red Sox are acquiring right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa in a trade with Tampa Bay, sources tell ESPN. Uwasawa, 30, had signed a minor league deal with the Rays and wasn’t going to make the team. Boston, looking for pitching, adds the veteran who pitched nine years in Japan.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 27, 2024

Uwasawa had a much more impressive resume back in Japan, where he was named an NPB All-Star in 2018, 2021 and 2023.

In 225 career NPB appearances, Uwasawa went 78-80 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.216 WHIP. He went 9-9 with a 2.96 ERA and 1.135 WHIP across 24 starts in 2023.

Uwasawa doesn't have a ton of velocity on his fastball, averaging out near 90 miles per hour, but he still uses the pitch roughly 44% of the time. He also has a curveball, slider, splitter, cutter and changeup in his repertoire, making him a dynamic hurler who's difficult to read.

The Red Sox have already carved out a five-man rotation of Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck with Opening Day 24 hours away. However, given how most of those pitchers are either injury prone or have had more success as long relievers, it isn't shocking to see Boston take a flier on another starting pitcher.

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