The Boston Red Sox spent the 2024-25 offseason upgrading their pitching staff, and early tests suggest their improvements will pay off sooner rather than later.
Three Red Sox starting pitchers will begin the upcoming season on the injured list. Kutter Crawford is healing knee soreness and is expected to debut sometime in the first half, Brayan Bello will be sidelined in the early going due to shoulder issues, and Lucas Giolito recently joined them on the IL with hamstring tightness he sustained during his first spring training start. Their absences will be an early trial for Boston's depth, of which, fortunately, it has plenty.
Bello and Giolito were locks for the Sox's Opening Day roster and Crawford likely would've been Boston's first depth starter if he wasn't also on the shelf. Their ailments leave Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck and Walker Buehler as the Red Sox's rotation regulars who should be ready on Opening Day, and Alex Cora and Red Sox management will need to fill in the gaps within the next two weeks.
A few of Boston's depth starters have already separated themselves from the pack in spring training games. Here's how we think the Red Sox's rotation will look on Opening Day (not necessarily in this order), based on Grapefruit League performances and quotes from Cora.
Updated Red Sox Opening Day rotation projection after pitcher injuries, Garrett Crochet named Opening Day starter
- Garrett Crochet
- Tanner Houck
- Walker Buehler
- Quinn Priester
- Richard Fitts
Crochet immediately became Boston's ace after it traded four top prospects for him during the Winter Meetings. The Red Sox confirmed him as the Opening Day starter on March 15, and it wasn't a surprise to anyone — his 19.9 strikeouts per nine innings in spring training make an exceptional case for the job.
Houck hasn't gotten off to the best start in Grapefruit League action, as he's allowed seven runs with three walks in 5.2 innings of work. He could still land near the top of the rotation due to his breakout season last year when he posted a 3.12 ERA over 178.2 innings across 30 starts, both career highs for the righty.
Buehler has posted a solid spring training, although he would've been a lock for the rotation, regardless. He's let up one run and clocked seven strikeouts in five innings. After he fanned Alex Verdugo for the final out of the 2024 World Series against the Yankees, Red Sox fans are hoping for a massive season out of Buehler, who hasn't properly bounced back after his 2022 Tommy John surgery.
Last year, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow acquired Priester and Fitts from trades with the Pirates and Yankees organizations, respectively, and the Red Sox will put them to good use early. Cora flagged Priester and Fitts as potential depth starter options for Bello when it was first determined he would start the season on the IL, but the later injury to Giolito could give both time to shine.
Priester (1.80 ERA, 5 IP) and Fitts (1.74 ERA, 20.2 IP) posted successful big league debuts for the Sox last season, and they've carried their solid work into spring training. Priester has logged two earned runs, five strikeouts and four walks in 6.2 innings in the Grapefruit League this spring, and Fitts has posted a 0.84 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 10 innings.
Last year, early injuries to Bello, Giolito, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock had the Red Sox scrambling for rotation depth. This season, after multiple frontline and depth pitching additions, Boston is finally ready for whatever comes its way when the injury bug visits its clubhouse.