Boston Red Sox have the best pitching staff in baseball in June

The Boston Red Sox pitching staff has been dominant this month

Remember when pitching was supposed to be the Achilles heel of the Boston Red Sox? We haven’t even reached the official starting point of summer and that prediction has already been proven wrong. We’ve reached the mid-point of June and the Red Sox currently have the best pitching staff in baseball this month.

The collective 2.01 ERA from the Red Sox pitching staff this month is the best in the majors. The 2.8 fWAR from their pitching staff is the highest in the majors and their 2.88 FIP trails only the Atlanta Braves (2.81 FIP) this month, per FanGraphs.

The latest brilliant performance was last night against the Oakland A’s when Nick Pivetta tossed an eight-inning gem, allowing only one run on three hits. Pivetta has pitched at least six innings while allowing three runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts. He’s allowed one run or fewer in six of those outings. Pivetta is 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP, and a .162 opponent AVG in his last eight starts.

Since closing out the month of May by losing a 2-1 pitching duel, the Red Sox have won 10 of their last 12 games. In the 13 games since that May 31 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, the Red Sox pitching staff owns a 1.85 ERA.

According to J.P. Long of Sox Notes, we have to go back to April 2001 to find a 13-game span where Red Sox pitchers own a better ERA. That staff led by Pedro Martinez produced a 1.84 ERA from April 4-17.

The starting pitching has been outstanding this month with a 1.94 ERA in 12 games. The much-maligned bullpen hasn’t been too shabby either though with a 2.13 ERA that ranks fifth in the majors this month.

Granted, the Red Sox are taking advantage of a soft schedule, starting with the Reds. While Cincinnati is near the middle of the pack in runs scored, they rank 25th in the majors with a 90 wRC+ this season. Boston has beaten up on Oakland and Seattle, both of whom rank in the bottom five in the majors in runs scored. The Angels roster looks good on paper but the Red Sox caught them at an opportune time during an epic 14-game losing streak.

The schedule is going to get a bit tougher as we approach the end of the month and gets brutal in July leading into the All-Star break.

Boston is also dealing with injuries to Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock, forcing them to test their rotation depth by calling up Josh Winckowski and Kutter Crawford. Both rookies have shown potential but they remain unproven at this level.

The Red Sox pitching staff is due for some regression but don’t expect them to fall apart. They’ve been solid all season, ranking sixth in the majors with a 3.57 ERA. Eovaldi and Whitlock shouldn’t be sidelined for long and Chris Sale is making progress toward his return.

The bullpen could use more reinforcements but it’s starting to stabilize with Tanner Houck emerging as a legitimate closer option while Matt Strahm, John Schreiber and Austin Davis handle the bulk of the high-leverage innings building a bridge to to the ninth.

It’s only been about two weeks in June but a stretch this dominant from a pitching staff that was widely criticized entering the season is notable. The Red Sox pitching staff has exceeded expectations all season and they are capable of improving with more reinforcements on the way.