and Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler Added rotation and last year’s free agent signings Lucas Giolito The Red Sox are expected to be ready for Opening Day after sitting out the 2024 season, but they are considering deploying a six-man rotation in 2025, according to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey.
Considering the way the club’s starting lineup is constructed, it would make sense for the club’s management to consider such a plan. On paper, this is a very deep team with homegrown youngsters. tanner hawk, Brian Belloand Kurt Crawford Joining the aforementioned trio, alongside in-depth works such as Richard Fitts, Quinn Priestand Cooper Criswell All remain as plug-and-play depth options in the wings. In addition to that group, the Red Sox also have veterans Michael Fulmer as a starting option, and there are other potential options such as Garrett Whitlock and Patrick Sandoval Expected to return from the injured list at some point during the 2025 season.
While most clubs around the league would be envious of a roster with 12 reliable MLB-caliber starters, that depth could easily prove to be a liability for the Red Sox given their worrisome injury history within the rotation. Said it was necessary. Giolito, Fulmer, Whitlock and Sandoval will all be pitching on the major league mound for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery and will certainly need to carefully manage their pitches as they resume their duties as starters. workload.
Additionally, Buehler will be out of the same situation in a year, last pitching a major league season at OL in 2021, while Crochet made 32 starts in 2024, but after a struggle with the pros, he ’s single-season maximum number of innings nearly tripled with injuries early in his career. Both pitchers will likely need to carefully manage their innings in 2025, especially given Boston’s postseason aspirations and the club’s sure desire to both stay healthy and do well as the club makes the postseason for the first time since 2021 Prepare.
The biggest reason teams are hesitant about the possibility of a six-man rotation (at least for clubs who don’t employ players) Shohei Ohtani) is the 13-pitcher limit for MLB rosters, which results in any club using a six-man rotation being forced to deploy a seven-man bullpen. The extra rest between starts would allow starters to dive deeper into games and make the bullpen more viable, at least in theory, but occasionally over the course of 162 games due to injury or ineffectiveness. The resulting short starts are inevitable at the end of the season, with a bullpen of just seven pitchers forced to go six or seven innings during a shortened start that may suffer over the next few games due to an unexpected increase in workload. hinder.
That being said, Boston’s depth of potential starting options could allow the club to utilize a six-man rotation more effectively than the average club. With at least 12 pitchers likely to start this season, utilizing a handful of those arms as bullpen guys capable of going multiple innings would be a way to allow the club’s relievers to better handle the workload, albeit with only one on the field. 7 arms available. All signs point to the Red Sox already planning to move Whitlock back to the bullpen once he’s ready to return to action, and players like Fulmer, Priest, Criswell, and more Josh Winkowski All can seamlessly step into the club’s bullpen and pitch multiple innings if needed.
Of course, the club’s ability to fill the bullpen with relievers capable of going multiple innings will certainly depend on the actions they take to bolster their relievers this winter. Justin Slaten, Aroldis Chapmanand Liam Hendricks A spot in the club’s Opening Day bullpen is more or less guaranteed, health permitting, and the same can be said for the lefty Justin Wilson. If the club moves to a six-man rotation, that would leave only three available bullpen spots if the club decides to pursue another reliever addition. Tanner Scott or Chris Martin Then there are only two positions available for traditional bullpen arms, e.g. Greg Weissert or Brennan Bernardino As well as any multi-inning options the club wants to take advantage of.
