Red Sox prospect used family’s no-quit mentality through ‘hard times’ on journey to majors

Q: What challenges did Tyler Samaniego face on his way to the MLB?

Tyler Samaniego faced challenges such as a back injury and elbow surgery that caused him to miss time in the minor leagues.

Q: What was Tyler Samaniego's draft position and signing bonus?

Tyler Samaniego was selected 433rd overall in the 2021 Draft and signed with the Pirates for $75,000.

Q: Where did Tyler Samaniego play college baseball before joining the MLB?

Tyler Samaniego began his college career at Northeast Mississippi Community College and later played at Division I South Alabama.

Q: When did Tyler Samaniego make his MLB debut?

Tyler Samaniego made his MLB debut last Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Red Sox pitcher Tyler Samaniego, who made his MLB last Wednesday, was never a top prospect with a straight path to the majors.

He began his college career as a first baseman/occasional relief pitcher at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He pitched just 21 ⅓ innings total in two seasons at Division I South Alabama before the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him 433rd overall in the 2021 Draft.

He signed with the Pirates for only $75,000.

A back injury and elbow surgery caused him to miss time in the minor leagues.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder faced adversity off the field, too. His father Richard Samaniego, who had a significant influence on his baseball career, died from a heart attack in August 2022.

After years of grinding, the 27-year-old struck out the side in his big league debut against the Brewers and could feel his dad right there with him on the mound.

“There’s definitely times that it felt so far away that it makes you start thinking about other options but it just goes back to how my family is — we’re not quitters," Samaniego said.

Boston acquired Samaniego and starting pitcher Johan Oviedo from the Pirates for power-hitting outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia on Dec. 4. Baseball America ranked Samaniego the Red Sox’ No. 21 prospect entering 2026.

Samaniego pitched 3 ⅔ scoreless and hitless innings in three outings over the past week. That included two scoreless innings Monday against the Twins after Garrett Crochet recorded only five outs.

But Boston was forced to option Samaniego back to Triple-A Worcester and call up Jack Anderson to provide length out of the bullpen after Crochet’s short outing.

“Yeah, we’re not quitters,” Samaniego said about his family. “And that doubt creeps in during rehab, after surgery. But you never lose the love for the game. You’re never going to stop going for it. So that drove me through rehab and just through all the hard times to get back out there.”

Samaniego said both his parents taught him to never quit through how they acted.

“Just through anything, through hard times,” he said. “We went through some hard times with financial stuff, grinding through it. Just keep the family first.”

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Despite being a low-bonus, 15th-round college draft selection, Samaniego was confident back then he would make it to the majors.

“Absolutely. I mean, they picked me for a reason in my head, so I knew they had more of like a project in mind,” Samaniego said. “But I thought that I had the stuff to be able to make it. Obviously it took a few years, took some grinding, went through some hard times. I’ve always had that belief in myself.”

Samaniego described himself as “a project” coming out of college because of his inexperience. In his four years between JUCO and Division I, he pitched fewer than 50 innings.

“It was more just like just getting reps because I didn’t pitch that much in college,” Samaniego said.

He mostly played first base at Northeast Mississippi Community College. As a sophomore, he batted .358 with a .438 on-base percentage, .586 slugging percentage, eight home runs, 13 doubles and 54 RBIs in 185 plate appearances.

He initially committed to South Alabama as a two-way player.

“But I had that talk — like my path to the majors was on the mound," Samaniego said.

Samaniego pitched only 3 ⅔ innings his first year at South Alabama because COVID shortened the season. He threw 17 ⅔ innings as a reliever as a senior. Meanwhile, he missed playing first base and hitting.

“Initially I wasn’t happy about it because I loved to hit,” Samaniego said. “But, I mean, I agreed.”

He still misses getting the chance to hit.

“I think it’s fun but hitting is a very frustrating thing, especially at this level I can imagine,” he said. “They roll out so many guys with elite stuff. You never really know what you’re going to get out there.”

The Red Sox feel Samaniego can be one of those pitchers with elite stuff. He brings a different look with a low three-quarter arm slot.

“Kind of like an up-shoot slot for the fastball,” Samaniego said.

It wasn’t until later in high school he began throwing at that angle.

“In my early high school days, I was pretty over the top,” Samaniego said. " One of my summer coaches, he saw like a lot of arm-side run. My throws from first base, like turning double plays, were always more like three quarters. They were like, ‘Hey, that might be your natural slot. Maybe we need to explore that option a little bit.’ And we did. And the fastball started taking off."

Samaniego’s elite extension (7.0 feet) down the mound makes his fastball look harder than he actually throws it. He’s thrown six four-seam fastballs in the majors this season, averaging 93.3 mph. But the pitch plays 1.2 mph harder with a perceived velocity of 94.5 mph.

“I think it just comes naturally, just getting ride down the mound,” he said. “I’ve got long legs. I’ve got decently long arms, too. Big thing for me is maintaining direction and finishing the pitch. And I feel like once I finish the pitch, I get pretty far down the mound.”

Samaniego bats right-handed. His dad actually encouraged him to throw left-handed when first started playing baseball.

“I do everything primarily right-handed except throw,” Samaniego said. “He was the opposite. He was left-handed. And my grandfather made him right-handed because he had two older brothers and they had hand me down gloves. So it was like, ‘Here, you’re going to use one of these.’”