Josh Winckowski’s mouth might be a little ahead of his arm.
Fresh off denigrating Wrigley Field — and then clarifying his remarks — the Red Sox’ rookie right-hander threw some shade at the Yankees’ lineup Thursday after New York lit him up for six runs over five innings of work.
Could it get worse for the Red Sox?
The Yankees were playing without Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo, both of whom missed the game with minor injuries. That’s the advantage first-place teams receive when they’re 14.5 games ahead of their closest competition in the division. They can rest star players with mild ailments, because even in early July, it’s all about preparing for the playoffs.
Judge and Rizzo’s absences meant the Yankees lineup looked a little bare, with the unimpressive foursome of Aaron Hicks, Jose Trevino, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Joey Gallo rounding out the order. Winckowski took notice.
"I think Rizzo and Judge lengthen their lineup. I'm not gonna say the guys they had in there today are bad, by any means, but it felt like another big league lineup, to be honest,” he told reporters.
While Winckowski isn’t necessarily wrong, that’s still quite the statement to make after walking five batters and allowing six hits in five innings. Josh Donaldson broke the game open with a grand slam in the third.
Overall, Winckowski is 3-3 with a 4.35 ERA in six starts. To his credit, the prospect has been equally blunt when critiquing his own performance. After his unimpressive debut against the lowly A’s, in which he lasted just three innings and allowed four runs on six hits, he said his start was “kind of really bad.”
Winckowski had similar remarks about Wrigley Field last week, saying the iconic venue didn’t have the same feel as Fenway Park. "I said to my mom (Friday) night, this place is very stock standard, if you ask me,” Winckowski stated. (Afterwards, Winckowski said he "wasn't attacking" Cubs fans with his comments.)
While Winckowski’s bluntness is very entertaining for us, it may backfire on him. He’s giving teams some easy bulletin board material, and may not have the stuff to make up for it.