The Red Sox have promoted pitching prospect Tyler Uberstine from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester, as was first reported by Andrew Parker of Beyond the Monster.
Uberstine, who turns 26 next month, opened the 2025 season in Portland’s starting rotation. The right-hander posted a 3.64 ERA (2.60 FIP) with a staff-leading 35 strikeouts to just four walks in six starts (29 2/3 innings) for the Sea Dogs. Opposing hitters batted .241 against him.
Among 30 qualified pitchers in the Eastern League coming into play on Thursday, Uberstine ranked second in walk rate (3.3 percent), third in walks per nine innings (1.21) and FIP, sixth in xFIP (2.90), seventh in strikeouts per nine innings (10.62) and WHIP (1.04), eighth in strikeout rate (29.2 percent), 11th in swinging-strike rate (12.6 percent), 12th in line-drive rate (20.8 percent), and 13th in groundball rate (42.9 percent), per FanGraphs.
A southern California native, Uberstine did not receive any scholarship offers out of Chaminade Prep in 2017, leading him to join the club baseball team after enrolling at USC. He attempted to walk on with the Trojans as a sophomore but was cut before the start of the season. That prompted him to seek out assistance from ex-big-leaguer Joe Biemel, who helped Uberstine refine his mechanics and add velocity to his repertoire.
Uberstine transferred to Northwestern for the final two seasons of his collegiate career and pitched for the Williamsport Crosscutters in the 2021 MLB Draft League. The righty was then selected by the Red Sox in the 19th round (556th overall) of that summer’s draft and signed for an under-slot $97,500 before making his professional debut in the Florida Complex League. He split the 2022 campaign between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville but suffered an elbow injury the following spring that ultimately required June Tommy John surgery. As such, he missed all of 2023 and did not return to the mound until last August.
After making three short starts for Greenville, in which he allowed one earned run in 4 2/3 innings, Uberstine received an invite to pitch in the 2024 Arizona Fall League. He then forged a 3.12 ERA with seven strikeouts to six walks in seven appearances (8 2/3 innings) for the Mesa Solar Sox to end his year on an encouraging note.
“It was pretty surreal,” Uberstine told MLB.com’s Jesse Borek in Arizona last November. “They threw me out in Greenville again, where I played in ‘22, and then I was like, ‘Hopefully I can get a couple more innings. The quality would be great.’ [The Fall League] is where the best players come, and when they called me in the office and mentioned it, it was just a huge moment.
“I was like, ‘Dang, I went from not playing baseball to playing in the Draft League and here I am now playing in the Fall League,’” Uberstine added. “Just having these opportunities to learn from so many people, players, coaches, it’s just a huge honor.”
Fast forward to the present, and Uberstine is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 56 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 30th among pitchers in the organization. To this point in the season, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound hurler has sat between 91-94 mph and reached 95 mph with his fastball. He has also featured an 86-89 mph cutter, an 81-84 mph slider, and an 84-86 mph changeup, according to SoxProspects.com director of scouting Ian Cundall.
Having last pitched on May 10, Uberstine is expected to make his Triple-A debut by getting the start for the WooSox in the penultimate game of their series on the road against the Buffalo Bisons this coming Saturday. He is another minor-leaguer who can become Rule 5-eligible this winter if he is not added to Boston’s 40-man roster by the November protection deadline, so that could be something to keep in mind when evaluating his performance moving forward.
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