{"id":477471,"date":"2026-02-13T14:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/477471\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T14:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:14:08","slug":"even-before-red-sox-traded-for-6-6-275-pounder-he-was-working-out-at-aroldis-chapmans-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/477471\/","title":{"rendered":"Even before Red Sox traded for 6-6, 275-pounder, he was working out at Aroldis Chapman\u2019s house"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 Two Red Sox<\/a> teammates worked out together this offseason before they even became Red Sox teammates.<\/p>\n

New starter Johan Oviedo<\/a> split his time training between Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and closer Aroldis Chapman\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a place at his house. His gym is huge and amazing,\u201d Oviedo said Thursday at JetBlue Park.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox acquired the 6-foot-6, 275-pound Oviedo from the Pirates on Dec. 4<\/a>. He had already been training at the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Chapman\u2019s house before the trade happened. The two Cubans first met when Chapman pitched for the Yankees. They kept in contact and became closer when Chapman spent the 2024 season pitching for the Pirates.<\/p>\n

This offseason marked the first time that they trained together at Chapman\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably the hardest I\u2019ve ever worked in my life,\u201d Oviedo said. \u201cHe\u2019s a monster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapman\u2019s 2025 season has been a source of motivation for Oviedo, who has a nasty fastball that averaged 95.5 mph last year but has always struggled with command. Oviedo has a high 11% walk percentage.<\/p>\n

Chapman has an even higher career 12.2% walk percentage. But he had the best command of his life as a 37-year-old for the Red Sox in 2025, walking just 6.6% of the batters that he faced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe walks have been the thing I have to get better at. So main goal this year is like Chappy did last year \u2014 70-something percent of first-pitch strikes,” Oviedo said. \u201cAnd at 37, to have his best season ever, it\u2019s a big (inspiration) to myself that it\u2019s never too late. … So just trying to keep improving fastball command.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oviedo is competing for the fifth spot in the Red Sox starting rotation against Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval, Payton Tolle and Connelly Early.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mindset is always about competing,\u201d Oviedo said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about the fifth spot. It\u2019s just about competing because that\u2019s who I am. Competing, it\u2019s kind of the way I can take the best out of myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll let them decide what they want to do for me,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s just competing against myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The humongous Oviedo fits right in with Boston\u2019s staff. He\u2019s one of nine Red Sox pitchers on the 40-man roster who\u2019s 6-foot-4 or taller.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing seeing how many strong and big people are on the team,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Red Sox pitcherHeightWeightJohan Oviedo6-6275 poundsGarrett Crochet6-6245 poundsJake Bennett6-6234 poundsPayton Tolle6-6250 poundsRyan Watson6-5225 poundsGarrett Whitlock6-5222 poundsAroldis Chapman6-4235 poundsTyler Samaniego6-4205 poundsJustin Slaten6-4222 pounds<\/p>\n

Oviedo is the biggest member of a big family.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad is like 6-2, something like that. My mom is huge,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I kind of got that from her. She\u2019s like 5-11 I think but she\u2019s like big and wide and huge legs. She\u2019s a monster of (a) woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oviedo has enjoyed his time here at camp. He said he feels amazing and everyone has made him feel welcome. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole system is really organized. It has purpose,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s been amazing. I feel really comfortable about being here. It doesn\u2019t feel like a new team.\u201d<\/p>\n

He posted a 3.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 42 strikeouts and 23 walks in 40 \u2153 innings for the Pirates in 2025.<\/p>\n

He missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in December 2023. A right lat strain also delayed his return in 2025.<\/p>\n

He has a 4.24 ERA in 81 career major league outings (67 starts). <\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s working to be the \u201cbest version\u201d of himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust making sure everything is on command,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oviedo has been wearing a purple glove during his bullpens here in camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was kind of my BP glove from last year,\u201d Oviedo said. <\/p>\n

He said every other glove he has right now has a Pirates logo on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that wouldn\u2019t be a good idea,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t plan on using the purple glove during games but he hasn\u2019t ruled it out. He said he likely will wear either a red or camel-colored glove.<\/p>\n

Why did he have Rawlings send him a purple glove? <\/p>\n

\u201cJust because I love purple,\u201d he said, smiling. \u201cI don\u2019t know it\u2019s something different.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 Two Red Sox teammates worked out together this offseason before they even became Red…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[242984,8475,64,63,4034,7168,179799,591,85,23574,13424],"class_list":{"0":"post-477471","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-2026-spring-training","9":"tag-american-league","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-franklin","14":"tag-greenfly","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-workout","18":"tag-workouts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}