Red Sox starting pitching candidates for potential six-man rotation
There is a possibility the Red Sox kick off 2021 with a 6-man rotation
The 2020 campaign was a forgettable year for the Red Sox pitching staff after posting an alarming team ERA of 5.58. The hope is that the return of Alex Cora can allow the staff to turn things around along with the moves that Chaim Bloom has made to add depth to the rotation.
The club reported to Fort Myers on Thursday to kick off their Spring Training. Cora once again being the Sox manager made headlines itself. However, an ongoing debate about beginning the season with a 6-man rotation has not gone away. AC told the media that they are still not ruling it out, and this could become a trend in MLB sooner rather than later.
Boston would be wise to do this considering that they will be without ace Chris Sale for at least the first half of the season as he continues his recovery from elbow surgery. It will only give the pitchers more time to rest and an opportunity to see who can be a reliable and consistent option. Let’s take a look at what this 6-man rotation could look like.
Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez
Eduardo Rodriguez was extremely missed after sitting out all of last season recovering from Covid-19 and myocarditis. The Sox are hoping they can get back the player who was a bright spot during a disappointing 2019 season when he posted a record of 19-6 to go with a 3.81 ERA. These could be similar numbers to expect him to put up once again considering he had close to an identical ERA in 2018 with a 3.82.
He is not expected to have any limits and looks to be primed to open up this upcoming season as the team’s ace. During Sale’s absence, he will be leaned on more than usual and an extra day off could benefit him to get back into the swing of things.
E-Rod is a pitcher who is known to throw a lot of pitches and challenges hitters by attempting to hit the corners of the zone. This sometimes hurts him when it results in walks but it also is what makes him such an effective pitcher. A 6-man rotation would allow him to go over 100 pitches no matter what the inning is and not have to worry about pitching four days later.
Rodriguez should be considered a major bounce-back candidate in 2021 and fans should be thrilled to have their big lefty back in the rotation.
Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi
The 2018 postseason hero Nathan Eovaldi is projected as the club’s number two man in the rotation. Without both Sale and E-Rod in 2020, Eovaldi was one of the only reliable pitchers the Sox had, starting 9 games during the shortened 60 game season and acting as the team’s ace. He managed to post a 4-2 record with a 3.72 ERA and was the only starter who opened up the year in the rotation that had a winning record.
Eovaldi has nasty stuff there is no questioning that, showcasing a fastball that can touch 100 mph and pairing that up with off-speed pitches is deadly. In the past, he has been known to show flashes of inconsistency which is something he has always dealt with. As long as Sale is out Boston desperately needs Eovaldi to be on his game and be able to be a guy that Cora can rely on and go at least five-plus innings every outing.
An encouraging sign was that he was able to stay relatively healthy and that is half the battle for a guy like Eovaldi. He has had countless amounts of surgeries in the past preparing his elbow which has been the reason why he bounced around team to team in the early stages of his career. At 31-years-old he cannot afford to have another scare because that could then potentially put his career at risk. That is obviously thinking worst-case scenario but based on the last year’s anything is possible.
If healthy, there is no arguing that he can be a serviceable pitcher and a guy who can be electrifying on the bump. He should be able to hold down the fort as the number two even though he is ideally viewed as a number three in a perfect world.
Red Sox starter Garrett Richards
Right-handed pitcher Garrett Richards is the newest toy for Alex Cora and will likely be the third man up. It is concerning that we are just on the third pitcher and will have to continue to talk about their injury history. Richards suffered a gruesome knee injury, ironically at Fenway Park, in 2014 when was having a career year. He owned a record of 13-4 with a 2.61 ERA in 26 starts and supported a dominant 8.8 K/9.
He did recover in 2015 and managed to start 32 games and hit double-digit wins once again with 15. He carried an ERA that inflated a bit at 3.65 in 207.1 innings pitched with a 7.7 K/9. After that Richards would go through a tough battle with elbow injuries which led to surgery. Since 2016, he has only pitched about 200 total innings which makes you question the move.
Despite the small number of innings pitched and the injuries, Richards did have a small bounce-back year with the San Diego Padres where he managed to stay relativity healthy through 14 starts and supported a 2-2 record and an ERA of 4.03.
Richards is under contract for just one year that worth $10 million with Boston. He can be a key piece carrying a high strikeout rate throughout his career. An extra day of rest can benefit a guy like Richards to remain fresh as he could be a steal for Chaim Bloom and company as long as he manages to stay on the field.
Red Sox starter Martin Perez
Perez day is back and is set to be a reoccurring event held at Fenway Park in 2021. In the offseason, the Red Sox re-signed Martin Perez to pitch in Boston for at least one more season. You could make the argument that someone like Jake Odorizzi would have been the better option but Perez was one of the few starters in this rotation that has durability and does not have so many question marks. Odorizzi would have just been another injury liability added to the mix.
Perez’s numbers are not known to be anything special but he is the definition of an innings-eater which makes him valuable as the fourth starter in the rotation. He led the team in innings pitched a year ago with 62 and had a record of 3-5 with a 4.50 ERA striking out 46 and walking 28. Again, nothing to brag about but when you have a below-average bullpen it makes a large difference.
Being the team’s fourth starter could improve his performance even more rather than being a number 2 like he was last season and being so dependent on. He is a perfect middle-of-the-rotation type of pitcher and can keep you in games and that bodes well when you have a lineup that can score with the best of them.
Expect him to put up similar numbers he had last year and to continue to pitch deep into games and allowing the bullpen to stay fresh. Get ready for a lot of Perez days this season because he will play a vital role in the team’s success. It is encouraging that you know what you will get out of Perez and he should be able to hold his own.
Red Sox starter Tanner Houck
Tanner Houck, the former first-round pick in the 2017 draft, should absolutely be in the rotation after his late-season resurgence starting his first three games in the bigs. Houck was one of the few bright spots in an ugly season as he was practically unhittable, going 3-0 with a superb 0.53 ERA. Slotting him into the rotation will make us find out if this one just a one-time thing or if he does the pure talent to repeat his success.
Houck had a jaw-dropping 11.1 K/9, though he did register 9 walks in 17 innings. It is a small sample size to get over-excited about but he was a first-round pick for a reason and his solid numbers in the minors suggest that he can be a fine young pitcher. It should be interesting to see what he can do with a larger sample size, as it has been quite some time since Boston last had a prospect within their farm system to become an effective starting pitcher.
Houck has almost an identical delivery to Sale, throwing from three quarters, and he has had early success with it in the MLB. Sale has already told the media that he wants to pick the brain of the youngster. There is no better mentor to have than Chris Sale to help him improve his game and take it to the next level. Can he be the future ace? That could be a stretch considering it is just 17 career innings pitched but the sky is the limit for the 24-year-old and we should hope we see a lot of him this upcoming year.
Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta
Last but not least is the main piece from the Brandon Workman deal with the Philadelphia Phillies that was made late in the season. Nick Pivetta, like Houck, had a mini coming out party in Boston. He resembles Eovaldi in a way, having excellent velocity, but at times struggles with his command and becomes fastball friendly and predictable.
In his lone two starts with Boston, he did his thing by winning both appearances and posting a 1.80 ERA, striking out 13 batters in 10 innings, and walking 5. A fresh start was exactly what Pivetta needed, as he posted a disappointing 15.88 ERA with the Phillies in the first half of the season serving as a relief pitcher.
Pivetta is best suited as a starter and that where his flashes of success have come from. He should at least get an opportunity to open up the year as the sixth man, as offseason addition Matt Andriese would be best suited in the long reliever role. Pivetta has been inconsistent throughout his career but he has still managed to have some encouraging stretches since entering the league with the Phillies in 2017. He is viewed as a low-risk option who does carry high upside because he has the stuff it is just a matter of putting it all together. Plugging him in as a starter is well worth the risk.
Next. Rodriguez has Comeback Player of the Year potential. dark
At the end of the day, it is all up to manager Alex Cora in what he decides to do with this Red Sox rotation. It is a bonus to have some depth for once but there is still a lot of unknowns. The pitching rotation will continue to be the main topic of Spring Training until AC makes a final decision.