Ryan Watson had an idea that he might be taken in the Rule 5 Draft. He’d been left unprotected by the San Francisco Giants, and sure enough when the day arrived he was selected No. 6 by the Athletics.

Then, almost as soon as he’d begun to wrap his mind around playing for a new team, he learned he’d actually be getting his first big league opportunity someplace else.

“I want to say it was like 15 minutes,” Watson said. “It was short.”

Acquired by the Red Sox in exchange for minor league infielder Justin Reimer, Watson now has an opportunity to become Boston’s latest Rule 5 success story. By rule Watson must remain on the Red Sox’s active roster for the entire season or be made available to other clubs, so the 28-year-old right-hander will be given every opportunity to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster out of camp.

If all goes well, the team is hopeful Watson can follow in the footsteps of former Rule 5 picks Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten, each of whom have become crucial members of the Red Sox bullpen.

“I’m super excited and super grateful for the opportunity to come in and try to help this team win,” Watson said during Tuesday’s rookie development camp at Fenway Park. “That’s really the main goal, to help the Red Sox as best I can and make the best of this opportunity.”

Standing at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, Watson is a big-bodied righty who fits the mold of what the Red Sox have looked for in their pitchers over the past few years. His fastball sits mid-90s and he also boasts a sinker, slider, curveball and splitter, which he said is the newest addition to his arsenal and has been a focus of this offseason.

He’s also coming off a successful 2025 season in which he posted a 4.26 ERA with 64 strikeouts and 16 walks in 50.2 innings for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.

With a few adjustments the Red Sox believe he could be primed for a big step forward in 2026.

“I think there are some unique things we can help him with from an arsenal standpoint and really drive some consistency there,” said Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey. “There’s a lot to love about what he does currently and some additions and tweaks that we can make to hopefully make the stuff better and perform at a much higher rate at the major league level.”

“I think with Watty, a guy who has size, who has the ability to throw multiple innings, a guy who has a really unique pitch mix and can get his velo to the upper 90s,” said senior director of player development Brian Abraham. “(He’s) a guy who has versatility, he can get guys out in the strike zone, all things that we really value as an organization.”

Beyond being Rule 5 picks, Watson and Whitlock both also hail from Alabama, and over the past week the two started bonding while in town for this past weekend’s Fenway Fest fan festival.

“The first day of fan fest we had breakfast together,” Watson said. “We talked about our Alabama ties, he went to UAB and I went to Auburn and he still lives there and whatnot. It’s cool to have those connections with the guys that are here and talking about them and stuff, he’s a really great guy and looking forward to getting to know him more over spring training.”

Whitlock said he was excited to get to know Watson and has already offered some advice.

“I kind of told him the same thing I told Slaten when he got here, just enjoy it, be yourself, and hey, they picked you for a reason, they believe in you, they trust you and they think you’re ready to be a big leaguer if they took you,” Whitlock said. “So believe that, trust that and don’t try to do anything different than who you are because they trust you and believe who you are.”

This week marked Watson’s first ever visit to Boston, and he said the experience of being part of the Red Sox has exceeded every expectation so far.

Now with spring training on the horizon, he’s excited to go to Fort Myers and make the most of the opportunity he’s been afforded.

“I’m going to give it everything I’ve got to help this team win,” Watson said.