John Holobetz Displays Growth In Red Sox's System With Dominant Final Outing of 2026

[Nick John]

John Holobetz completed his 2026 season with the Worcester Red Sox in what may have been his most dominant outing since being promoted to Triple-A. Relieving Johan Oviedo in the third inning, the 24-year-old imposed his will on the mound, tossing 4 1/3 innings and allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out eight. Most impressive, however, was the manner in which he dominated. Leading with his fastball, Holobetz generated 20 total whiffs, with 14 of them from his heater.

“Everything mechanically synced up and I felt great. It felt like a rubber band. I was just snapping it off and it was doing what it should have done. My fastball was electric that outing and I kind of rode with it until they proved they could hit it,” Holobetz said. The four-seamer was tossed 38 times in the outing, good for 58% of all pitches he threw, as it averaged 95.4 mph, up ever so slightly from his season average of 95 mph. It also maxed out at 97.5 mph.

The right-hander has made nine appearances for Worcester with all but his final outing being as a starter. In 40 1/3 innings, he struck out 39 batters while walking just 11 (that's good for a 23.1% strikeout rate and a 6.5% walk rate). He held opponents to a .266 batting average and his ERA was a highly productive 3.57.

Despite being a starter for the majority of the season, the change in routine didn’t affect Holobetz, who cited his previous experience as an opener while serving in a piggyback role a few times. Since coming to Boston, he’s made seven relief appearances with only one of them being less than four innings. The right-hander admitted that it was fun to be back in the bullpen, but he likes starting.

His mindset for entering the game was a little different, admitting that when he entered he wanted to ‘try and blow everyone’s doors off’. And he did just that, as opposing batters only put seven balls into play, just two of which fell for hits. His warmup routine was only slightly modified as he pushed everything back from his usual start time by around five to ten minutes instead of when he would start a game.

The year as a whole was a positive one for Holobetz, his first full year in the Boston organization. In 26 appearances between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester, he tossed 119 1/3 innings, striking out 132 batters while finishing the year with a 4.07 ERA. Throughout the season, he was joined by fellow pitchers and friends Gage Ziehl and Blake Wehunt as the three grew together and all finished the year with Worcester.

“We always try to push each other,” Holobetz admitted about the competitive energy the three brought with them from Portland. “We’re all best friends and try to hang out as much as possible, but when we’re on the field we just try and outdo each other every game. It’s fun to watch everyone compete.”

Still, there are areas of growth left for Holobetz to strive for, the right-hander admitting that his sweeper will require a few offseason tweaks. When he arrived in Worcester, it had inconsistent movement, and so he got to work alongside WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia and bullpen coach Noah Junis to improve it.

Even with development hurdles still in his path, his first taste of Triple-A was a positive one as the right-hander solidified himself as one of Boston’s top pitching prospects with a strong showing to close out the season. He should enter the offseason with his head held high, knowing that he's got the right mentality to push toward his MLB debut in 2027.

“I’m happy to do anything if it makes the Red Sox better.”

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[JoeBrady]

Interesting article.  If you ever get a chance, it might be interesting to ask Breslow what he's looking for in pitchers, particularly the younger ones.  I assumer extension is an obvious trait, but guessing that there is a lot more to it.

[Nick John]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

Interesting article.  If you ever get a chance, it might be interesting to ask Breslow what he's looking for in pitchers, particularly the younger ones.  I assumer extension is an obvious trait, but guessing that there is a lot more to it.

If we go off of his tendencies he usually looks for strong pitchers who have elite extension and great velocity. There are some exceptions of course.

[moonslav59]

Holobetz might be all the value we end up getting for Priester.

He started off well in April with POR, then had 3 of 5 bad starts in May, including a 9 ER start that destroyed his season ERA. June saw 2 of 4 starts being bad, then he had a nice July and was promoted to WOO. The 6 ER in 2.2 IP game in mid AUG hurt, but otherwise he did pretty well with WOO. He allowed 1 ER in his last 3 starts (15.2 IP) Only 9 hits, but 6 BBs was not that good, but the WHIP was under 1.00.. 19Ks was impressive.

I have to say, I don't see significant impact ability in Holobetz, Paez, Bastardo and Ziehl, but maybe one does well enough to help in 2027.

[mvp 78]

17 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Holobetz might be all the value we end up getting for Priester.

He started off well in April with POR, then had 3 of 5 bad starts in May, including a 9 ER start that destroyed his season ERA. June saw 2 of 4 starts being bad, then he had a nice July and was promoted to WOO. The 6 ER in 2.2 IP game in mid AUG hurt, but otherwise he did pretty well with WOO. He allowed 1 ER in his last 3 starts (15.2 IP) Only 9 hits, but 6 BBs was not that good, but the WHIP was under 1.00.. 19Ks was impressive.

I have to say, I don't see significant impact ability in Holobetz, Paez, Bastardo and Ziehl, but maybe one does well enough to help in 2027.

He's very 4 seamer heavy. Seems bulk relieverish to me. Maybe he could be a back end starter somewhere? The SP guys still like him a lot. IDK. 

[Nick John]

33 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's very 4 seamer heavy. Seems bulk relieverish to me. Maybe he could be a back end starter somewhere? The SP guys still like him a lot. IDK. 

His fastball is viewed as a plus offering and he's improved his secondaries. If he can improve his changeup and slider or sweeper to at least league average his ceiling could become a #3 starter. Right now I view him as a back of the rotation arm or a really good reliever. His growth this year makes me feel good for his chances to stick in the rotation 

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, Nick John said:

His fastball is viewed as a plus offering and he's improved his secondaries. If he can improve his changeup and slider or sweeper to at least league average his ceiling could become a #3 starter. Right now I view him as a back of the rotation arm or a really good reliever. His growth this year makes me feel good for his chances to stick in the rotation 

It's just not likely that a 25 year old will develop multiple below average secondaries into league average. The sweeper has the best chance of working out, but I'm dubious about his other pitches. If he was just 4 seam, cutter, sweeper with a show me curve (I just like curves), it'd be good enough as a back end guy. I don't think that's really a knock either.