Less than a month after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2018 they made a trade: Minor-league infielder Estaban Quiroz for a pitcher named Colten Brewer.
Few paid attention.
The team that was fresh off riding through the streets of Boston duck boats had acquired a player who was living with his wife in a mobile home, carrying around the experience of just 11 innocuous major league relief appearances with the Padres.
Now? Every fifth day he might be a pretty important piece of this Red Sox' 2020 puzzle.
"We liked a lot what he did today and that’s what we saw in the first spring training," said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke after watching Brewer dominate in his three innings during Thursday's intrasquad scrimmage at Fenway Park. "His confidence has, for me, really improved. He’s attacking the hitters a lot more with his fastball. We know he's got a great curveball. We know he’s got a great slider. Really impressed with what he’s doing."
This hasn't been an overnight success story since that offseason acquisition in 2018.
Brewer has had his moments, dating back to when the perfect game he threw in high school, is days as a Double-A closer and even last season when he came in for a key eighth inning to preserve the Red Sox' 2-0 June win over the then-best lineup in the big leagues, the Twins.
"I wouldn’t say I was nervous, but I was a little bit anxious and ready to get back in the dugout," he told WEEI.com immediately after that outing. Brewer later added, "I have been in big moments somewhat like that, but those other times I wasn’t as fortunate as I was tonight. It seems like I pushed through those boundaries."
Brewer would go on to have his moments after that June 17 outing at Target Field, finishing off his first full major league season with 58 appearances and a 4.12 ERA.
He sold his RV, bought a house, made a serious commitment to the Red Sox' shoulder strengthening program -- ("I know he’s put on some weight. I’m hoping that’s muscle weight," Roenicke noted Thursday) -- and went on to open even more eyes with a Spring Training 1.0 that saw him allow two runs in 8 1/3 innings while striking out nine. His last Grapefruit League appearance was a three-inning gem against the Braves that set the stage for the role he is seemingly easing into -- part of that No. 5 spot in the Red Sox rotation.
"I don’t know if he’d be the guy that would open the game or if he’d be the guy that would come in," Roenicke said. "I feel really good with him coming in and giving us three, four innings, so that’s something we just have to figure out whether a guy, does he get anxious about starting a game because it’s different. If you’re used to the bullpen, you know you have not much heads up of when you come into a game, when you lose. That’s different when you’re a starting pitcher, knowing the day before you’re going to be that guy so that night, you’re anxious about it, you’re anxious all day about it, we just have to figure out who those guys are, that it doesn’t bother, they can come out and just open up, or if it’s a guy that has to come in for the opener.”
The manager continued regarding the 27-year-old, "From spring training from the firs ttime I saw him, he was way more aggressive just going at the zone. When we started games, going right at hitters, not being able to throw his fastball. He’s always had confidence in the slider and the curveball. We just see a more aggressive, more confident guy. We saw it the first go-round in Florida and we’re seeing the same thing now."