Tyler Uberstine is the unlikeliest member of the Red Sox’ spring training roster

Now, the 26-year-old righthander is on the brink of the major leagues, in camp as a member of the 40-man roster and starting Friday against Northeastern, the Sox’ first exhibition game.

Even in a sport known for underdog stories, Uberstine stands out.

“It’s something out of a movie, honestly,” said Alonzo Wright, the Midwest area scout for the Red Sox. “It’s a fairytale that he’s writing.”

Let’s go back to the beginning.

As a teenager, Uberstine (pronounced you-ber-steen) never threw more than a handful of innings in a season. On occasion, at the end of a game, his team would put him in at third base to play a little defense — certainly not to swing a bat. There were no offers to play collegiately.

He graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory in 2017 and enrolled at USC as an NARP: non-athletic regular person. He majored in business. Missing baseball, he went out for the club team in search of some fun and some friends. But he didn’t stick with it because the vibe didn’t scratch his competitive itch — and because he was told he was a “6 out of 10” talent, he said.

So Uberstine decided to up the ante: try to make the Trojans’ actual baseball team.

What had been late-night catch sessions on the roof of the parking garage next to his dorm — empty, well lit, out of sight because he said he was “pretty embarrassed” about the endeavor — turned into seeking out professional coaching. He enlisted the help of Dave Coggin, a former big leaguer who had worked with Joe Kelly. Coggin helped Uberstine add strength and velocity and put in a good word with USC.

Uberstine’s extended tryout, during the fall of his sophomore year, went well. Until it didn’t.

“I got cut two days before the season,” Uberstine said. “I did the photo day, I got the jerseys, I got the glove with my name on it. I’m like, I made the team. And honestly, I performed really well … I deserved to make the team.”

Told no again, Uberstine refused to accept it again.

He had convinced himself over those months that he could play Division 1 baseball, having very nearly done so in a high-end program. He transferred to Northwestern, where he could achieve his two goals: elite academics, plus the camaraderie and community of being on the squad.

“It’s not like I was trying to play pro ball. I was just trying to make the team,” Uberstine said. “I liked being on a team. I missed that. If I was the 34th guy on a 35-player roster, so be it.”

He was a pleasant surprise for Northwestern, except it was 2020. He pitched in four games before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down.

“And it was a good four games, too,” he said.

The pandemic raged as Wright was hired by the Red Sox to cover a vast area that included Chicago. Diligent in his new job, unable to actually go watch games, Wright hunkered down at home and watched video of some of those in his territory.

Wright saw one of Uberstine’s starts, against South Carolina, and got curious.

“You look at the history, and there’s none there,” Wright recalled. “He had pitched 35 innings in six years.”

They had a video call. Wright liked Uberstine the person. He put Uberstine the pitcher on his gut-feel watch list for 2021.

“That was the first time I really realized: I have a chance of playing pro ball,” Uberstine said.

His statistics that spring, as he was about to graduate: nine games, 39⅔ innings, 5.90 ERA.

“The numbers didn’t tell the whole story with him that year. In the bad, he showed glimpses of what could be with development,” Wright said. “This guy needs a full year of development, and things will start clicking for him.”

It helped, too, that the Red Sox’ analytics department liked Uberstine’s underlying metrics in a brief showing in the MLB Draft League. They selected him in the 19th round. He pitched well in 2022, his first full season anywhere, pros or otherwise, then injured his elbow during spring training 2023 and needed Tommy John surgery. He missed nearly all of the next two seasons.

Early in 2025, after Uberstine impressed in camp enough to make it to Double A, the Sox bumped him up to Triple A — but, as he sees it, not because of anything he did. The Worcester Red Sox needed an extra body. Uberstine, not a prospect, was that.

“I don’t think I was called up because I earned the Triple A spot right away,” Uberstine said. “I proved that I could stay there and forced their hands. That’s kind of what ended up happening.”

He did anything he was asked, posting a 3.56 ERA across 19 games (15 starts) along the way.

“I threw in a bunch of different roles last year, whether it was piggyback, whether it was starting, whether it was out of the ‘pen, on short rest, on long rest,” he said.

The Sox responded by adding him to the 40-man roster last November, a seemingly minor transaction that nonetheless was a monumental accomplishment for a guy who had seen baseball as a hobby most of the way through college.

It was a statement: The Red Sox felt he could contribute to the major league team in 2026.

“It was an awesome moment, feeling rewarded for what I did,” Uberstine said. “But also, that’s not the end.”

As a member of the 40-man roster, Uberstine has positioned himself as an option to be easily promoted whenever a need arises — a frequent occurrence, especially early in the season. Given his background, it could be for any role.

“Sometimes you bet on tools, and sometimes you bet on the person. And you have to bet on this guy,” Wright said. “I would not advise anybody else to try that route. But he was able to do it.”

Tim Healey can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @timbhealey.