Coming into the season Jojo Ingrassia wasn’t really on anyone’s radar. A late-round pick in last summer’s MLB Draft, the lanky left-hander had yet to throw a pitch as a professional and there was no reason to expect his first season in the minors to be anything more than an extended transition process.

But since making his professional debut, Ingrassia’s become impossible to ignore.

A 14th-round pick out of Cal State Fullerton, Ingrassia has immediately emerged as one of Boston’s most interesting prospects from last summer’s draft class. Despite not throwing particularly hard, the 6-foot-1 Ingrassia is still averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning for the Low-A Salem Red Sox, an astonishing rate he’s kept up for close to half a season.

For Ingrassia, it’s been an incredible ride.

“Everyone I always talked to said the minor leagues was a grind, and being here, I don’t know if it’s the coaches, the team, but it seems like playing baseball and having fun,” Ingrassia said by phone this week. “It’s been a dream come true and something I’ve looked forward to my whole life.”

Through his first 14 appearances, including five starts, Ingrassia has struck out 60 batters over 36.2 innings. He’s gone 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA, allowed only 13 walks and one home run, and held opposing batters to a .198 average.

What’s Ingrassia’s secret? Salem pitching coach Juan Rivera said Ingrassia has a unique arm angle and delivery that gives opposing hitters a lot of trouble.

“Literally think Chris Sale, and that’s the delivery,” Rivera said, referring to the former Red Sox ace and fellow lefty.

Ingrassia’s success hasn’t been built just on smoke and mirrors. Rivera said the 21-year-old arrived in Fort Myers with a lot of room to grow physically, so the Red Sox got him into the weight room and he quickly made enormous gains. Ingrassia has gained 17-18 pounds since reporting to Fort Myers and now weighs in at around 182 pounds. As a result his fastball velocity has ticked up 3 mph and consistently sits 92-93 mph, a huge jump from the 88-89 mph he showed in college.

“His velo gains basically came from the weight room,” Rivera said. “It’s definitely a pleasant surprise.”

Ingrassia said he’s also become much more comfortable with his slider, which has given him a third pitch to pair with his fastball and splitter and has taken his game to a new level.

“In college I was more or less a two-pitch pitcher. My slider was on the back burner, I don’t know what it was but I just could not throw it,” Ingrassia said. “College is a 56-game season and you’re always trying to win, so there’s really no chance to take some time and say we’re really going to figure this pitch out.”

Off the field Ingrassia is a mellow, easygoing California kid from outside San Diego who enjoys golf and checking out cars, but on game day he can flip a switch to become an emotional competitor on the mound.

Rivera described him as intuitive, someone who asks a lot of good questions and has completely bought in to the Red Sox pitching program. Yet even if the Red Sox expect their young players to do well, and even if no player starts their career expecting to fail, both Ingrassia and Rivera acknowledged this start has been a pleasant surprise.

“Oh 100%,” Rivera said. “Usually it takes a little bit for these guys to get their feet under them, but he really bought into the fact he needed to get bigger and stronger, and he did just that.”

“Absolutely,” Ingrassia said. “I hope I can keep it up the rest of the year.”

Though Ingrassia’s long-term role hasn’t been determined, he will pitch out of Salem’s rotation for now. In the short-term Ingrassia says his goal is to earn a promotion to High-A Greenville, which he feels would cap off his season and serve as validation for all his hard work.

But whenever that happens, the ultimate goal remains the same: Keep improving and ensure this great start isn’t just a flash in the pan but the start of a longer journey towards the big leagues.

“You don’t really make your career off your first season but you can start putting the stones in place that help you along the path,” he said. “I’m extremely happy and honored to have this opportunity to play professional baseball, let alone in Boston.”

Watch out for Portes

Ingrassia isn’t the only pitcher worth watching in Salem. Two other notable arms were recently promoted to Low-A, those being right-handers Nicholas Judice and Ovis Portes.

Judice was one of the pitchers acquired in last winter’s Alex Verdugo trade, and though he has so far only pitched in two games in rookie ball, the 6-foot-8 behemoth boasts some intriguing tools. As of this writing he hasn’t yet made his Salem debut, but Rivera said he looks like someone who could present similar problems to hitters as Ingrassia.

“Judice is another long, lanky, unique release, kind of a right-handed version of Jojo,” Rivera said. “He provides a lot of unique problems that hitters don’t see every day.”

Maybe even more interesting, however, is Portes. The 19-year-old, who was signed for $25,000 out of St. Johns, Antigua and Barbuda in March 2022, absolutely dominated rookie ball with a perfect 0.00 ERA in 13 innings. Since being called up to Salem he’s posted a 1.69 ERA over his first two starts, and despite being listed at just 170 pounds, he’s already hitting 98 mph on the radar gun.

“He’s a guy that in two to three years you tell me he’s at 102 I’d believe you,” Rivera said. “He throws freaking gas.”

Politi released

The Red Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve released Triple-A right-hander Andrew Politi. A 15th-round pick out of Seton Hall in 2018, Politi peaked as Boston’s No. 31 prospect in July 2021 according to SoxProspects.com and was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. Politi was returned to the Red Sox last summer after failing to stick in the Orioles bullpen and has struggled this season, posting a 12.19 ERA in 11 appearances.