The Boston Red Sox began their 2024 campaign on March 28, with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox right behind them on the 29th.
Boston enters the season with a lot of question marks in the pitching department. The Red Sox starting rotation has plenty of upside but no truly established names. The good news is that the bullpen could be a real weapon.
What happens if they run into problems like they did last year, though? Injuries and bad pitching led to a season-long migraine for Boston fans. No one deserves that two years in a row.
Luckily, the Red Sox appear prepared for any depth problems that might pop up in 2024.
The current Worcester Red Sox starting rotation consists of Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts, Grant Gambrell, and Brian Van Belle. Brandon Walter will fit in when he returns from the injured list. For the time being, it might be newly acquired Naoyuki Uwasawa working on his craft in the rotation. Walter and Criswell both have Major League experience, Uwasawa was dominant in Japan and Fitts is one of Boston's top pitching prospects.
Red Sox Triple-A team features plenty of pitching depth in case of an emergency
Richard Fitts put together a solid showing in this opportunity for the Red Sox. https://t.co/sFDOKCJBon
— NESN (@NESN) March 27, 2024
Gambrell is severely underrated and put together an impressive 2023 campaign that saw him go all the way from High-A to Triple-A. Then there's Brain Van Belle. BVB's numbers don't always shine, but he's going to get you five-plus innings of good baseball every five nights.
That rotation is a far cry from the 2023 roster when the team's only starting pitcher with MLB experience — not counting Whitlock and Paxton, who were rehabbing — was Matt Dermody (massive yikes).
Everyone in the 2024 rotation is in a position to be a reasonable call-up option at some point during the season.
That's all before we've even mentioned the loaded bullpen that Worcester boasts. Brennan Bernardino, Joe Jacques, Zack Kelly, Cam Booser, Lucas Luetge, and Jason Alexander all have Major League experience. Bernardino was especially impressive in 2024 and his demotion to Triple-A came as a shock to many Red Sox fans.
Red Sox rotation: Houck and Whitlock in the rotation, Criswell will be optioned. Sox needed Criswell to stay stretched out as rotation depth, hence the decision to option him.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) March 22, 2024
Justin Hagenman had a phenomenal 2023 season and has shown the potential to be a legitimate weapon. Then, at the back of the bullpen is Luis Guerrero. Guerrero has serious "closer of the future" vibes. He dominated in Double-A all last season and turned heads in the Future's Game.
During the Spring Breakout game, Lou Merloni seemed particularly enamored with Guerrero and pointed out how he threw "a hundy" quite a few times.
It isn't ideal for the Red Sox to have to dig into their depth much. In a perfect world, they wouldn't deal with any injuries, and no one's performance would merit a demotion or DFA. That's simply going to happen, though.
The good news is Boston's well equipped to deal with any problems that arise with their pitching staff. A mixture of MLB-tested talent and "almost ready" prospects create a perfect storm of depth for the Red Sox. There are pitchers ready to be called to duty if needed early in the year. Meanwhile, as the season advances, talent like Guerrero inch closer to their debut.
Fans might not be too excited about the Red Sox's pitching staff heading into the 2024 season. However, the depth provided by Worcester should give fans hope that the 2023 pitching woes won't be repeated, and that should count for something.