Article: Luis Guerrero Is Already A Bright Spot In The Red Sox Bullpen

[Alex Mayes]

Luis Guerrero showed up late last season and turned some heads. Can he be counted on to step into a higher-leverage role in 2025?

Luis Guerrero was a surprising bright spot in the late 2024 season bullpen. He appeared in nine games, throwing ten innings with a zero ERA, nine strikeouts, and a 0.80 WHIP. He came up for a cup of coffee with the big league team and showed he had enough potential to be an essential piece of the 2025 bullpen.

So far in spring training, he has looked mostly the part of an impact arm. He has appeared in four games with 3.1 innings pitched, seven strikeouts, a 1.80 WHIP, and sports a 5.40 ERA. He gave up two runs in a third of an inning to Pittsburgh in his latest outing, but it was the first time this spring that he had gone more than one inning in an appearance. As he stretches out to multi-inning relief appearances, he should be able to get through them without an issue. As you can see in the video below, his first outing of spring training gave us an excellent view of what we could expect in 2025.

Guerrero sports a solid three-pitch mix, a four-seam slider, and a changeup that allows him to be effective against hitters on both sides of the plate. His fastball averages 97.5 MPH while his changeup averages 88.7, and the slider is a true putaway pitch when he’s hunting for strikeouts. Unlike starting rotation members, Guerrero doesn’t pitch to contact very often. He relies on his velocity to throw his fastball past hitters and the east/west break of his changeup and slider to get hitters to swing through them.

What does Guerrero’s role for 2025 look like, though? Should his whiff rate continue to be at the level it was last year, over 40% according to CBS Sports, then it’s highly likely we’ll see Guerrero slot into a high-leverage relief role during the 2025 season. They even have him listed as a candidate to breakout for the Red Sox this season, something we all should hope happens. Some believe that Guerrero could end up in the closer role at some point in his career, and that doesn’t seem too farfetched. The Red Sox already have several closer candidates in the bullpen, but it is never bad to have someone young and electric eyeing the position soon.

What do you expect from Guerrero in 2025?

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