Sox praise Altobelli's work with LHP Wu-Yelland

BOSTON -- On the heels of an unfathomable tragedy, Red Sox area scout J.J. Altobelli has continued to come to work every day and do his job.

Though Altobelli is never one to seek attention or accolades, Red Sox amateur scouting director Paul Toboni gave him some in a Zoom call with reporters at the conclusion of the Draft on Thursday night.

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It was on Jan. 26 that Altobelli’s life changed forever. His parents, John and Keri, and sister, Alyssa, died in the helicopter crash that also killed basketball star Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and several others.

Perhaps focusing on work these past few months gave J.J. Altobelli at least some form of comfort or escape.

With their fourth-round pick in the Draft on Thursday, the Sox took hard-throwing Hawaii left-hander Jeremy Wu-Yelland. It was a selection that had Altobelli’s fingerprints all over it.

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“We were just talking about it in the conference room,” Toboni said. “I wish it was a traditional Draft where we could announce the pick over the conference line, because it would have been very cool to dedicate that pick to his family. He’s had such a tough year, and he’s shown me just how strong someone can be.”

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Understandably, Toboni got a little emotional as he spoke about Altobelli.

“And his sister, Lexi, too, and his fiancée, Carly. They taught me so much this year,” Toboni said. “And really, I think about Jeremy Wu-Yelland and the process J.J. had with him, and it was so J.J., because he is so darn humble.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if this guy’s a 10-year Major Leaguer, and J.J. knew it all the way along, and really never doubted himself but also didn’t get really in your face and let you know that he really loved the dude. He just quietly went about his job, and that’s kind of the way he walks through life and I admire it really on a daily basis.”

Wu-Yelland’s head coach at Hawaii -- Mike Trapasso -- also gave an unprompted shoutout to Altobelli.

“J.J. Altobelli we know well from out here in Hawaii as a player at Oregon and then as a scout,” said Trapasso. “So I was really grateful that J.J. believed in Jeremy and drafted him.”

“As you know, kids at the University of Hawaii are pretty tough to scout,” Toboni added. “And they are especially tough to scout when you only get three or four weekends in the spring. But the communication right from the get-go was on point in terms of this kid’s talent.

“We had seen him pitch on the Cape, where he threw great. J.J. went over there over the course of the winter, got a good look at him there. And then they came out and played at Vanderbilt, I think that was in early March and he threw great again there. J.J. really drove it with how well he communicated. We were able to get a really robust process early on the kid, which left us in a really good position to select him in the fourth round.”

In this, his first year as amateur scouting director for the Red Sox, Toboni felt it was important to make sure the work of area scouts doesn’t get lost.

“I think in the industry as a whole, the work that our scouts -- particularly our area scouts -- do in my mind is categorically underrecognized across the sport,” Toboni said. “And I think the work that Josh Labandeira did this year was remarkable. I mentioned J.J. I mentioned Dante [Ricciardi]. Danny Watkins every year kills it. And I just think of the hundreds of nights they spend away from their families, largely isolated. It’s pretty thankless.”