Red Sox pitching staff took a giant leap to build future foundation in Boston

It's been an up-and-down, yet cyclical year for Boston Red Sox starting pitchers. Nobody expected much from Boston's rotation when the season started, but they posted the best ERA in the league in April.

The Sox's starters experienced some regression in the middle of the season. Brayan Bello lost command which made his ERA and walk rate skyrocket. Tanner Houck became human for a stretch. Kutter Crawford allowed an MLB-record 12 homers over three starts. Yet, Boston's rotation has provided a solid canvas to build upon this offseason.

The 2024 slate has been the best of Houck's career and he's turned into a potential ace in the Red Sox's staff. He made his 30th start of the season — a five-inning, one-hit, scoreless outing — on Sept. 23 and he's slated to start the final game of Boston's slate. He's pitched to a career-best 3.12 ERA over 178.2 innings.

Crawford has also reached career-highs of 32 starts and 179.1 innings pitched. He's lessened his struggle with the long ball with five homers allowed in his last nine starts. The 28-year-old is also scheduled to make one more start against the Rays, but his season ERA will end up around 4.17.

Bello will reach his 30th start against the Blue Jays on Sept. 24. He had bouts of struggle with command and using his emotions to his advantage, but when Bello is on, he's near untouchable. The 25-year-old posted the best start of his career on Aug. 28 and made it look easy — his eight scoreless, two-hit innings against Toronto have been the best work of his career.

The Red Sox's rotation has proved it's worthy of top-tier reinforcements this offseason

According to J.P. Long — @SoxNotes on Twitter — the Red Sox have posted the lowest starting pitcher ERA in their past 27 games. The pitchers' improvement down the stretch has been palpable, and they helped pick up for the stall in the offense that began at the beginning of August. A new face also helped Boston's rotation late in the season.

Top pitching prospect Richard Fitts has logged a 0.00 ERA in his first three starts in the big leagues. He's been perfectly reliable for Boston through his 15.2 innings pitched so far, despite giving up quite a few walks in the early going. Not only have the Sox's established hurlers improved, but Fitts has shown that the future is bright.

Last season, the Red Sox didn't have a single pitcher reach 30 starts. In 2022, impending free agent Nick Pivetta clocked 33. The evolution of Boston's rotation can't be ignored, despite its midseason struggles.

The Red Sox's starters' progress is deserving of reinforcements. Just one front-line starter or top-tier free agent could take the Sox's staff from inconsistent to great. Houck, Bello and Crawford proved that they can stick it out for a full season of work and post good to great numbers in the process. All they'll need to compete next season is one big free-agent starter to carry some weight and eat more innings.

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