Boston Red Sox fans were already getting amped up at the possibility of a Kyle Harrison call up. Acquired in the Rafael Devers trade, Harrison was once considered among the best starting pitchers in baseball, Harrison still possesses incredibly exciting stuff. When word got out that Boston was considering removing the struggling Walker Buehler from the rotation, Harrison's name started getting thrown around. However, when Monday's start came, it was Richard Fitts that took the mound.
Fitts has done a passable job in 10 starts for the Red Sox this year with a 4.83 ERA and much less exciting 5.72 FIP and he was throwing pretty well against the Orioles on Monday night for the most part. Unfortunately, Fitts threw a pitch in the sixth inning and immediately looked down at his arm and was almost immediately removed from the game with an apparent arm injury.
It did not take long for Harrison's name to pop up as soon as the Fitts news began to spread.
With Richard Fitts suffering an arm injury it seems like it’s all but inevitable that Kyle Harrison gets his call up this week
— Kleaver (@KleaverSports) August 26, 2025
Richard Fitts leaves start against Orioles early with arm injury as calls to bring up Kyle Harrison begin almost immediately
While immediately jumping to Fitts' potential replacement while he is still walking down the tunnel back to the clubhouse to get examined feels a bit harsh, Boston fans were already irked that Fitts got the nod (even in long relief) over Harrison and it was on their minds. However Fitts is okay, but given the sequence events on Monday, we can probably expect less than great news on him.
As for Harrison, he still hasn't pitched since August 19 and with Monday being an off day across the minor leagues, we can expect that he could hop on a plane very quickly if needed. Over his last four starts, Harrison has posted a 2.25 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 10 walks in 20 innings of work. While certainly not overpowering numbers, Red Sox fans would almost certainly take them right now.
Assuming he gets the call, one hopes that Harrison is more effective in the big leagues than he had previous. In 39 appearances (including 35 starts) in the majors, Harrison has only managed a 4.48 ERA with mediocre pitching metrics. Assuming he has spent his time in the minors further honing his craft and more reliably locating his pitches, Harrison has the ceiling to do much better than he has shown.