Red Sox Pitchers Unexpectedly Bond At Holiday Party With New Details

Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock attended a holiday party with friends in December, expecting a normal night of festivities. Little did he know that one of his peers would turn into his teammate during the night.

Celebrating with fellow players that train in Alabama with Cal Tinsley, pitcher Richard Fitts got a call that he would be heading to Boston in the Alex Verdugo trade with the New York Yankees, teaming up with his friend in Whitlock.

"It was wild," Whitlock told reporters during Red Sox Winter Weekend at MassMutual Center in January. "We were at the Christmas party together for our gym. He gets a phone call from Kevin Reiss, the Yankees' farm director. He was like, 'Oh, I gotta go.' We had been talking about the whole (Juan) Soto package before that whole thing happened. Through the window, he's knocking on the glass pointing at me."

"I actually talked to him 30 seconds after I got traded," Fitts told NESN.com during rookie development camp in Boston.

"He comes back like, 'Hey, you've got a new teammate, I'm coming to Boston,'" Whitlock recalled.

Fitts noted that given Whitlock's similar transition after moving from the Yankees to the Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft, he now has a solid mentor to help with the change.

"Just getting to connect with him, we do have a similar story," Fitts added. "Coming from the Yankees to the Red Sox, he kind of walked me through what to expect and basically just how to be successful in the league. Hoping to have the same impact that he had."

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow's first free agent signing, right-handed pitcher Cooper Criswell, also attended the party just days before joining the Red Sox, adding another wrinkle in an interesting night.

"We were all there and amped up," Criswell told reporters during Winter Weekend. "I obviously hadn't signed yet. A couple days later, I had signed. Just joking around that it's the Tinsley Red Sox now."

The new collection of Red Sox arms enter the season in 2024 looking to step up for Boston.