Alex Cora shuts down 6-man rotation despite injury issues

[Cameron Tran]

 Despite early injury concerns to starters Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, and Kutter Crawford, Alex Cora shut down the idea of starting the year with a six man rotation.

    Speaking Friday, Cora said, "[A six man rotation] is a conversation for when everyone is healthy. You cannot protect everyone. We've got some guys in the bullpen that we need to protect too. I think versatility and multi-inning relievers will benefit this team probably better than a six-man rotation."

    With Bello reportedly being on track for opening day, the rotation will likely consist of Bello, Tanner Houck, Lucas Giolito, and newcomers Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler. Kutter Crawford, who led the team in starts and innings pitched last year, is not expected to be ready by opening day as he deals with knee issues. He figures to be inserted into the rotation when healthy. 

    Cora's remarks on multi-inning relievers also gives us some insight on what looks to be a crowded bullpen. Cora intends to use Whitlock as a multi-inning guy this year, but it is unclear how much Whitlock will be able to throw early in the season coming off the internal brace procedure. Josh Wincowksi, who operated as a started in AAA following his demotion last season, is someone Cora could turn to for a few innings of work. Righty Cooper Criswell could also be converted to a multi-inning reliever after losing his spot in the rotation. Premier Red Sox arms Justin Slaten, Liam Hendriks, and Aroldis Chapman are all late-inning, high leverage guys, so it will be interesting to see how Cora builds his bullpen around them.     

 

 

 

[moonslav59]

I see Hendriks, Chapman, Slaten and Wilson as the short guys for the 8th and 9th.

Whitlock will be the 2-3 innings guy that could end up finishing out some games,

Wink can be the 1-2 inning guy, who may go into the 3rd inning, at times.

That's the 6, I see as having a slot pretty much locked up.

I like the idea of Criswell as a second "long man," but I also see the value of having as many stretched out SP'ers in AAA, as possible.

Guerrero seems to be a pick many think will be made. I don't disagree, but I don't see him as a lock for the 8 man pen.

Weissert is the #8 guy on the soxprospects.com projected opening day roster. That seems reasonable.

There is a boatload of pitchers hoping they can win that 8th slot away from Weissert, or maybe even the 7 slot from Guerrero:

On the 40: Bernardino (IL?), Kelly or a converted SP: Criswell, Fitts, Priester, Dobbins

Non Roster Invitees: Michael Fulmer, Ottavino, Austin Adams, Matt Moore, Isaiah Campbell, Jovani Moran, Wyatt Mills, Noah Davis, Bryan Mata, Sean Newcomb

[Bellhorn04]

I think Cora explained it well.  If Crawford and Bello were healthy it'd be a conversation.  As it is multi-inning relievers are what they really need.

At the rates pitchers are getting injured at, a 6 man rotation might be a pipe dream. 

[notin]

17 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I think Cora explained it well.  If Crawford and Bello were healthy it'd be a conversation.  As it is multi-inning relievers are what they really need.

At the rates pitchers are getting injured at, a 6 man rotation might be a pipe dream. 

Unless you mean rotating on and off the Injured List…

[Cameron Tran]

On 3/1/2025 at 4:02 PM, moonslav59 said:

I see Hendriks, Chapman, Slaten and Wilson as the short guys for the 8th and 9th.

Whitlock will be the 2-3 innings guy that could end up finishing out some games,

Wink can be the 1-2 inning guy, who may go into the 3rd inning, at times.

That's the 6, I see as having a slot pretty much locked up.

I like the idea of Criswell as a second "long man," but I also see the value of having as many stretched out SP'ers in AAA, as possible.

Guerrero seems to be a pick many think will be made. I don't disagree, but I don't see him as a lock for the 8 man pen.

Weissert is the #8 guy on the soxprospects.com projected opening day roster. That seems reasonable.

There is a boatload of pitchers hoping they can win that 8th slot away from Weissert, or maybe even the 7 slot from Guerrero:

On the 40: Bernardino (IL?), Kelly or a converted SP: Criswell, Fitts, Priester, Dobbins

Non Roster Invitees: Michael Fulmer, Ottavino, Austin Adams, Matt Moore, Isaiah Campbell, Jovani Moran, Wyatt Mills, Noah Davis, Bryan Mata, Sean Newcomb

I think Weissert deserves a spot more than Guerrero right now. Weissert pitched really really well to end last season (0 ER in his final 16 IP). Guerrero has more raw talent and will probably surpass Weissert at some point this season, but to start the year I trust Weissert more. I do agree though I think Criswell Fitts and Priester will start the year at AAA depth options. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Cameron Tran said:

I think Weissert deserves a spot more than Guerrero right now. Weissert pitched really really well to end last season (0 ER in his final 16 IP). Guerrero has more raw talent and will probably surpass Weissert at some point this season, but to start the year I trust Weissert more. I do agree though I think Criswell Fitts and Priester will start the year at AAA depth options. 

Hard to disagree. There is a chance both Weissert & Guerrero make the 8 man pen.

[moonslav59]

Assuming these are the 8 men in the pen, who makes the AAA pen?

Hendriks, Chapman, Slaten, Whitlock, Winckowski, Wilson, Weissert & Guerrero...

AAA Rotation: Fitts, Priester, Criswell, Dobbins, Gambrel

Pen???

Ottavino, Adams, Fulmer, Moore

Kelly, Bernardino, I Campbell, Drohan, Mills

Moran, Mata, Davis, Harris, Newcomb, Olds, Van Belle, Burdi, Webb, Cruz

 

[moonslav59]

soxprospects.com has Crawford & Bello beginning the year on the IL (Fitts is the ML 5th starter.)

[Cameron Tran]

Bello is still a possibility, threw a bullpen friday that went well. I don't think Ottavino, Moore or Adams will stick around if they don't make the major league roster. Fulmer might, Cora loves him as a mentor in AAA and he seems to be content with that role. Penrod will be in AAA when he is healthy. Robert Stock is also an intriguing arm theres some upside there I think he'll fight for a spot in AAA. I also really like Nick Burdi, he's got medium-high leverage potential if he can stay healthy and develop a good secondary. trust Criswell the most as a spot starter early with that heavy schedule, He was pretty solid as a starter last year (3.45 ERA in 89 innings). I think the AAA pen ends up being Fulmer, Stock, Penrod, Bernardino, Drohan, Kelly, Webb, and Burdi.

[mvp 78]

Cora shuts down 6 man rotation BECAUSE OF injury issues. 

If Bello isn't ready. If Crawford is injured. There's no reason to force a 6 man rotation on an MLB team. You're only adding AAA guys to reduce the amount of starts that Houck and Crochet get. 

[Cameron Tran]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Cora shuts down 6 man rotation BECAUSE OF injury issues. 

If Bello isn't ready. If Crawford is injured. There's no reason to force a 6 man rotation on an MLB team. You're only adding AAA guys to reduce the amount of starts that Houck and Crochet get. 

only one day off for the first 21 days is really rough though, i mean you saw what happened last year early. 

[mvp 78]

29 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

only one day off for the first 21 days is really rough though, i mean you saw what happened last year early. 

The starting pitching was 3rd in fWAR through May 31st and 2nd through April 30th. 

The rotation was fantastic early on. 

[Cameron Tran]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

The starting pitching was 3rd in fWAR through May 31st and 2nd through April 30th. 

The rotation was fantastic early on. 

yeah and the Bello, Pivetta, and Whitlock all got hurt, were playing 16 games straight to start i think we'll probbaly see some bullpen games

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

yeah and the Bello, Pivetta, and Whitlock all got hurt, were playing 16 games straight to start i think we'll probbaly see some bullpen games

Adding a sixth man to the rotation wasn't going to stop the immovable object Garrett Whitlock from the unstoppable force Getting Injured.

Bello missed time early in '23, early in '24 and is slow to get ready in '25. This seems like a Bello problem. 

They can add a sixth man, but it's not going to prevent pitchers from getting hurt in the short term. It would only prevent them from wearing down in the long run, but would provide a much greater tax on the bullpen especially if the guys that are being added are unknown commodities like Fitts or Priester.

[Cameron Tran]

35 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Adding a sixth man to the rotation wasn't going to stop the immovable object Garrett Whitlock from the unstoppable force Getting Injured.

Bello missed time early in '23, early in '24 and is slow to get ready in '25. This seems like a Bello problem. 

They can add a sixth man, but it's not going to prevent pitchers from getting hurt in the short term. It would only prevent them from wearing down in the long run, but would provide a much greater tax on the bullpen especially if the guys that are being added are unknown commodities like Fitts or Priester.

thats true, but everyone is coming into this season with their own concerns. Bello and Crawford are already hurt, Crochet and Houck are both coming off career high and innings. Buehler hasnt thrown more than 85 innings in 3 years, giolito obviously didnt pitch last year. I think Cora plays it safe early and Fitts, Preister and Criswell all get spot starts and they all still have minor league options so he can be flexible

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

The starting pitching was 3rd in fWAR through May 31st and 2nd through April 30th. 

The rotation was fantastic early on. 

Another view:

19th in fWAR May 1st>

21st in fWAR  June1st >

(We were 23rd in 2023.)

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Another view:

19th in fWAR May 1st>

21st in fWAR  June1st >

(We were 23rd in 2023.)

They aren't going with a 6 man rotation if they don't have big league arms. The guys they brought in for the pen are pitching like dog s***. Everyone wants Winckowski sent to Siberia and endlessly complain about Wilson, Stock, et al. Taking an arm out of the pen is going to make that group even worse. 

[Bellhorn04]

The 6 man rotation seems like a bit of a white whale.

I mean, can anyone name the most successful teams that utilized one?  In fact, can anyone name any teams at all that have used one for an extended time?

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The 6 man rotation seems like a bit of a white whale.

I mean, can anyone name the most successful teams that utilized one?  In fact, can anyone name any teams at all that have used one for an extended time?

I think the Angels used it when they had Ohtani. Aside from that, it's been only used sparingly. If the Sox had the horses for it, sure. Now? Nah. 

[Old Red]

14 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They aren't going with a 6 man rotation if they don't have big league arms. The guys they brought in for the pen are pitching like dog s***. Everyone wants Winckowski sent to Siberia and endlessly complain about Wilson, Stock, et al. Taking an arm out of the pen is going to make that group even worse. 

Exactly! The BP was worn down the last few years as it is. One less arm in the pen, and the pen will wear down even faster.

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I think the Angels used it when they had Ohtani. Aside from that, it's been only used sparingly. If the Sox had the horses for it, sure. Now? Nah. 

I'm not even sure what an argument for it would look like.  If you've got a few guys dealing, wouldn't you rather see them every fifth game than every sixth game?  

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm not even sure what an argument for it would look like.  If you've got a few guys dealing, wouldn't you rather see them every fifth game than every sixth game?  

Right now how many of the projected 6 starters before ST began aren’t going to be ready? Certainly Kut Man.

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm not even sure what an argument for it would look like.  If you've got a few guys dealing, wouldn't you rather see them every fifth game than every sixth game?  

It's saving innings on Houck, Crochet, Giolito, et al and keeping them fresher for the end of the season and potentially the postseason. Would it work? Nobody knows! 

I think a 6 man rotation wouldn't solve the current issues with pitcher injuries. Maybe it could solve fatigue problems? I really can't say for sure because I've never played professionally. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

11 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm not even sure what an argument for it would look like.  If you've got a few guys dealing, wouldn't you rather see them every fifth game than every sixth game?  

When Dice K came to Boston there was talk that some starters go once a week in Japan and leagues don't play on Mondays. Small country, less travel, six-man rotation, Tuesday through Sunday...

[moonslav59]

If starters would go 6-7 innings, instead of 5-6 by starting every 6 days, it might be worth it, but they wouldn't.