Why pitching coach Andrew Bailey believes Red Sox don’t need to add another starting pitcher
The Red Sox haven't done much to address the starting rotation this offseason, but their new pitching coach thinks "there’s a lot of talent here already."
Andrew Bailey seems to disagree with the notion that the Red Sox haven’t done enough to address their starting rotation this offseason.
The Red Sox’ new pitching coach doesn’t believe the team needs to add another starting pitcher, saying “no” when asked if he thought the Red Sox needed to add another starter during Winter Weekend.
“If our industry doesn’t view our pitching staff individually at higher tiers [by the end of 2024 than entering the year], I just didn’t do my job,” Bailey told reporters on why he thinks the Red Sox’ starting rotation is good enough as is (via The Boston Globe‘s Alex Speier). “I think that there’s talent in our rotation, opportunity. Helping them understand who they are and giving them identities and creating some accountability is going to be our name of the game. I’m totally happy. I’m excited about this group.”
Boston doesn’t necessarily lack pitchers who can be starters. Rather, it doesn’t have many perceived top-of-the-rotation pitchers, especially after trading Chris Sale.
Brayan Bello might be the pitcher who has the highest upside of the group. The 24-year-old showed promise in his first full season in 2023, having a two-plus-month stretch where his ERA was below 3.00. But he finished the year 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA in 157 innings pitched and striking out just 7.6 hitters per nine innings pitched.
Lucas Giolito, the only addition to the starting rotation so far this offseason, has proven he can be an ace in the past. He was one of the American League’s best pitchers between 2019-21 and has consistently pitched deep into games over his career. But, he’s struggled over the last two seasons, going 8-15 with a 4.88 ERA last season.
Beyond Bello and Giolito, the Red Sox’ rotation is mostly made up of pitchers who have bounced between being a starter and a reliever or have struggled for good chunks of the last few seasons. Nick Pivetta is chief among the group, struggling in the first half of last season before his switch to the bullpen turned things around. He went 7-5 with 3.22 ERA in the final four-plus months of 2023 after becoming a long reliever in June but made his way back into the rotation by season’s end.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow recently pointed to Kutter Crawford likely getting the team’s fourth starting spot. The righty, who started 23 games in 31 appearances, had some solid outings last season, but went 6-7 with a 4.51 ERA and averaged fewer than five innings per start over his 23 starts.
Breslow additionally told The Boston Globe‘s Pete Abraham he’d like to see Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowski, and Tanner Houck compete for the fifth starting spot. Houck has had the best results as a starter from that group, but he went 6-10 with a 5.01 ERA in 2023.
Even though the Red Sox’ starting rotation lacks many proven commodities, and standouts starters like Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell remain on the free-agent market, Breslow feels confident in the Red Sox’ potential starting rotation.
“I think where we are, in terms of starting pitching, is we feel good about the combination of guys who took a step forward last year, with Giolito and the 175 innings he’s provided over the last five years, plus a fairly deep competition for rotation spots among guys who have been successful major league pitchers, but maybe not successful major league starters,” Breslow recently told MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam. “So, I think with the certainty of being built out as starters, coming into spring training to prepare to take on the bulk of starting, I think we’ve given guys like Whitlock, Houck, Winckowski every chance to be successful as starting pitchers.”
The Red Sox are also hoping that Bailey can work similar magic that he used to help turn Kevin Gausman and Carlos Rodon into two of the game’s highest-paid pitchers during his stint with the Giants. Bailey is ambitious that the Red Sox’ starting rotation can pitch at a high level.
“I want to be viewed in the upper echelon of the league as a pitching staff,” Bailey said. “I would also say that they weren’t too far off [from that] last year. There’s a lot of talent here already. You can set guys up in certain ways to succeed. [I’m] expecting the staff to take steps forward.”
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