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WooSox reliever Tayron Guerrero dominating hitters with new use of two-seamer
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- WooSox reliever Tayron Guerrero dominating hitters with new use of two-seamer
WORCESTER -- Even deep into his career at 35 years old, reliever Tayron Guerrero isn’t afraid to adapt to new surroundings and make changes, and it’s paying off for him with the WooSox.
Having been all over the world since pitching in the MLB for San Diego in 2016 and Miami in 2018 and 2019, Guerrero has landed with the organization that made him want to be a baseball player, and has made some adjustments that have led to early success in Triple A.
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His arsenal has mainly consisted of a powerful 4-seam fastball and a slider, but since spring training, he’s been using a new 2-seamer a lot more, and it seems to be paying dividends.
“Most of the time now I’m throwing a 2-seam,” Guerrero said. “That’s giving me more confidence to throw. I’m still throwing my 4-seam, but most of the time I throw my 2-seam, and I think it’s helping me a lot.”
Guerrero, who some other pitchers in the clubhouse have taken to calling “2-Seam Tayron,” has been nothing short of dominant out of the WooSox bullpen in 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out 10 and holding opposing batters to a .172 average.
He missed a week of action in early April with back discomfort, but he avoided the injured list and came back even stronger. He had his longest (and first multi-inning) outing of the season on Thursday, allowing a hit and a walk and striking out two in two innings of work.
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Tayron Guerrero high fives teammates during a WooSox game at Polar Park on March 28, 2026.WooSox/Ashley Green
Over his career, command has been an issue, as he’s averaged close to six walks per nine innings over the course of his career across all levels. But that hasn’t been a problem at all this year.
“He’s throwing hard, throwing 100 miles an hour, and all spring and here, he’s in the zone, he’s throwing nothing but strikes since I’ve laid eyes on him,” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said. “So with a 100-something mile an hour fastball and a pretty good slider, a little split that he mixes in there…he’s been awfully good.”
The Bocachica, Colombia native boasts a big, elite fastball, averaging about 98 mph and occasionally touching triple digits. In fact, Guerrero hit 104 mph in the majors against the Braves on Aug. 13, 2018 .
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This year, he’s reached 100 mph in four of his eight appearances.
He worked with another hard-thrower in the offseason and spring training, getting advice and guidance from Aroldis Chapman .
“He gave me some advice on how to be mentally ready for the game and stuff like that,” Guerrero said.
Guerrero seems to be soaking in as much as he can with the Red Sox organization, which is no surprise since the 2007 World Series was the first time he ever saw baseball, and it made such an impact that he knew he wanted to play the game.
“Eighteen years later, here I am, with the team that made me like baseball,” Guerrero told MassLive’s Chris Smith during spring training . “I have been enjoying it since the first day they called me and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna sign you.’ I’ve been dreaming of this moment. And nothing is gonna be like the day, if I have the opportunity to pitch at Fenway Park.”
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With the way Guerrero is pitching, that opportunity is certainly not out of the realm of possibility. The biggest impediment is the fact that he’s not on the 40-man roster.
“He’s definitely in the conversation…I know it’s probably a situation where they don’t want to just bring him up for a day,” Tracy said. “It’s a good arm, so I’m sure at some point where they feel like he can contribute for an extended period of time, and hopefully have him ready for that. But he’s looked great in spring, and he’s looked great here.”
Notes
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Kristian Campbell provided the WooSox with their first walk-off win of the season on Wednesday with a 2-out RBI single. Campbell is riding an eight-game hitting streak, which is actually his second-longest hitting streak of the year after a nine-gamer earlier this season.
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Nate Eaton is 10-for-29 over his last seven games and has racked up 14 bases over the course of his last four games. Eaton tied up the game on Wednesday with a RBI double to set the stage for Campbell’s walk-off.
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Jake Bennett continues to pitch very well for Worcester; he’s boasting a 0.86 ERA in 21 innings, which is good for second lowest in the International League.
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Roster moves this week include Jack Anderson being optioned back from Boston and Angel Bastardo coming off the development list and making his WooSox debut.
Performance of the Week
Michael Sansone was called up from Double-A Portland on somewhat of an emergency basis last week in Nashville as the WooSox were running desperately low on arms. Sansone delivered what the team badly needed: six innings of two-hit, shutout ball to lead the WooSox to their only win of the six-game series against the Sounds.
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“That was like the most needed six innings of all time,” Tracy said. “We were so thin on pitching…we didn’t have one pitcher throw over three innings the whole week. If he goes four, we’re probably scrambling to get through the game and maybe throwing a position player in. So just an incredible performance.”
What’s Next
TBD is getting a lot of action on the hill for the WooSox; that is to say, there’s no plan in place quite yet for this weekend’s pitching rotation with Payton Tolle up with the Red Sox and the staff thin already.
The WooSox finish out the series with Syracuse this weekend with games at 6 p.m. on Friday, 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday before traveling to Rochester.
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