The Red Sox have officially signed right-hander Michael Wacha to a one-year deal after they spent yesterday finalizing the deal.
The #RedSox today signed RHP Michael Wacha to a one-year contract for the 2022 season.
Welcome, @MichaelWacha! pic.twitter.com/JFshqUO4Ze
— Red Sox (@RedSox) November 27, 2021
Wacha’s deal comes out to be worth $7 million, and it includes no incentives — that’s compared to the $3M he made the past two seasons. It will be the most he’s ever made in one season — his most since he made $6.3 million in 2019.
The 30-year-old spent his 2021 with the Rays and posted a 5.05 ERA although he did pitch a 5.9 walk rate (84th percentile) and he was in the 92nd percentile of chase rate. In addition, the righty held a 3.91 xFIP, as well as a 4.00 SIERA across 29 outings (23 starts).
Wacha, like Eduardo Rodriguez, is someone who is favored by analytics but is disliked by the traditional base box score stats.
Michael Wacha 2021
4/5 – 8/14: 85.1 IP, 33.3% CUT Usage, 3.0% CB Usage, 36.2% FB Usage, 27.6% CH Usage, 5.91 ERA, 4.32 xFIP
8/20 – End of Season: 39.1 IP, 3.9% CUT Usage, 14.2% CB Usage, 48.6% FB Usage, 33.2 CH Usage, 3.20 ERA, 3.02 xFIP https://t.co/j14lxPhUcH
— Sam Federman (@Sam_Federman) November 26, 2021
In 2021, Michael Wacha led the majors with 4 starts of 5.0+ innings, 0 runs, and 1 or 0 hits:
4/16 @ NYY – 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R
6/24 vs. BOS – 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R
9/28 @ HOU – 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
10/3 @ NYY – 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 RFinal 7 outings: 2.88 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, .167 AVG, 36 K, 7 BB
— J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) November 27, 2021
(Photo of Michael Wacha by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)