Steven Wright: The Red Sox’s Next Knuckleballer

Blogathon 2013 continues to roll on, going deep into the morning. If you haven’t donated to Doctors Without Borders yet, please do what you can. We are closing in on $2,000 and are well on our way towards $3,000. If you can’t donate, please help spread the word. Every little bit counts.

———-

I think we can all agree that knuckleballers are pretty special. They’re to be cherished like a four leaf clover or a Daniel Day Lewis film as they don’t come around all that often. With Tim Wakefield now retired and RA Dickey fresh off his amazing Cy Young season and headed to Canada, where can a lonely nation turn their eyes to for inspiration?

If the Red Sox have any say in the matter, it will be in Pawtuckett. Or hell, let’s go bananas and say Boston. Yeah, the 28-year-old Steven Wright, hurler of the knuckler for only two seasons, could be in Boston next year even after only 39 innings above AAA. Now that he’s in Red Sox camp, there’s a good chance he’ll get to meet Tim Wakefield and can be gifted with the fairy dust of the eternals.

Said Wright:

“I’m not 100 percent sure, but rumors say that he might come down for a little bit,” Wright said. “I know he lives in Florida. If he doesn’t come down to me, I’ll go to him. It’s that beneficial to me.”

If you saw “Knuckleball” a film which I’m not ashamed to admit made me tear up, you’ll know that knuckleballers have their own cadre, their own secret witches covens where they exchange secrets and howl at the moon when the veil between the worlds are thinnest.

Last year, between two levels, Wright went 10-7 with a 2.54 ERA despite a 4.4 BB/9. That’s high, but not absurd for a knuckleballer and hopefully with a little more practice with the pitch and some help from Wakefield and a lot of luck, there can be a new pitcher who possesses the skill of the floating pitch in the rotation in 2013.