Boston Red Sox to Sign Oakland Ballers Pitcher

Jason Burke | Apr 23, 2024

Baseballs with the Pioneer Baseball League logo sit in a bucket at the Northern Colorado Owlz home / Lucas Boland/The Coloradoan / USA TODAY

The Oakland Ballers haven't played a game in their inaugural season, and already they're losing players to MLB teams. After B's manager Micah Franklin posted a video of right-hander Danny Kirwin on Friday, the Boston Red Sox reached out on Saturday and got the ball rolling. As we spoke, Kirwin was arriving at the airport to head to Fort Myers, FL, Boston's Spring Training home, for his physical.

"He worked his butt off this offseason" Franklin said in a press release. "Now [he's] on his way to where he deserves to be and I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Kirwin was one of a number of signings the Ballers made in December, but he said that during the offseason he went to Tread Athletics to work on adding velocity, adding zip to all of his pitches. After sitting 92-94 in college last year, Kirwin is now touching 97 with the heater. That speed has also trickled down to his off-speed offerings. His cutter was 84-86 last year, and now it's sitting 90-93, while his slider was 78-81 and now hovers at 84-86. He also added a changeup to the mix.

Part of the work that went into adding this velocity was in making some mechanical adjustments and doing some plyo work. He also credited stability and mobility as keys for getting him to where he is.

Roughly 20 years ago, when he was five, Kirwin got into baseball. A year later, he wanted to quit. His dad asked him to give it one more year, and he fell in love with the game at that point. He grew up in Lansdale, PA, rooting on the Philadelphia Phillies and Chase Utley. Now the 24-year-old undrafted right-hander is set to embark on his dream of reaching the big leagues.

Once he passes the physical, Kirwin will be off to Low-A Salem to join the Red Sox affiliate. Oakland has said that they will be donating a portion of the MLB transfer fee to a local community group.

The Ballers are ecstatic about the news, because this is what they're there for. The Independent League isn't meant to be a final stop for the players on the roster. Instead, it's meant to give players an opportunity to shine, with the hope of catching the attention of a big-league club. They feel that being in Oakland, they'll have more visibility than most clubs at this level.

"The Ballers are excited for what this reflects about the quality of players we’re attracting, and, given our exposure and top tier baseball operation, the visibility our players will get from MLB clubs."