Despite the unfortunate news about Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Kutter Crawford, the rotation may be getting a lift after all.
According to Tommy Cassell, a Worcester Red Sox reporter for Worcester T&G Sports, starting pitcher Richard Fitts has departed Triple-A Worcester to join the Red Sox on their road trip.
Fitts is yet to be officially activated, so it’s unclear when he’ll join the rotation. He last pitched on June 17th and threw 77 pitches, which is the most he has in a game since returning from injury. He should be in shape to extend that count up to 90 or so pitches.
The Red Sox could insert him ahead of Walker Buehler on Monday, pushing everyone back a day and using the off-day on Thursday to provide additional rest.
Fitts has been excellent this season. He currently holds a 4.71 ERA, although that number is inflated by a poor outing when he was rushed back from injury. If you exclude the outing, he has a 2.70 ERA over 20 innings.
Story continues below advertisement
While it’s a small sample for Fitts, he’s much improved from last season. He’s throwing the ball harder, and his breaking balls have returned significantly more whiffs. He hasn’t put hitters away as effectively as he’d like to, but he’s thrown strikes, limited free passes, and navigated out of jams.
With Hunter Dobbins and Walker Buehler struggling in their most recent outings, Fitts could be a welcome change to the rotation. Dobbins appears to be the leading candidate to move to the bullpen, but the move is yet to be official.
