Red Sox 2025 Starting Rotation

[Hugh2]

Sox will need pitching help at the deadline this year.  And yes, I think they will be in it. 

[dgalehouse]

You can't count on anything with pitchers these days. Hardly a day goes by without an MLB pitcher going on the injured list. 

[Larry Cook]

24 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

You can't count on anything with pitchers these days. Hardly a day goes by without an MLB pitcher going on the injured list. 

That is true, which is why depth is key to surviving a season. 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Rotation is: 

1.) crochet 

2.) giolita 

3.) bello 

4.) dobbins 

5.) Criswell 

ouch!!!! My 87 win prediction seems like a reach at this point 

Buehler is rumored to be coming back around May 19th.

Fitts will start facing live bats, soon. We may never see Crawford or Sandoval.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Buehler is rumored to be coming back around May 19th.

Fitts will start facing live bats, soon. We may never see Crawford or Sandoval.

"They're on pace to rejoin the rotation right after the Trade Deadline -- they'll be better starters than any we can acquire," President Kennedy will say in July...

"There's always a fine line between competitive and incompetent," CBO Breslow will spew, "and it lies in prefixes and suffixes. When you analyze the core semantically, it's all about compet."

Red Sox Analytics Dept. report: "Research shows back when starting pitchers expected to throw complete games that Williams and DiMaggio had higher career OPS facing starters the 4th time, compared to their 1st, 2nd and 3rd at bats. Since our batters can't hit bullpens in late innings, we'll emphasize taking more bad swings early to keep starters in games as long as possible."

"Just gotta get better at takin cara these kids," said Cora. "Right?"

 

[Bellhorn04]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Buehler is rumored to be coming back around May 19th.

Fitts will start facing live bats, soon. We may never see Crawford or Sandoval.

Why the stark pessimism about Sandoval?  Just general pessimism about the way things have been going for us?

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Why the stark pessimism about Sandoval? 

Three words: Paxton, Giolito, Hendriks.

(I could have added Sale I, Sale II, Sale III, Sale IV)

I'm setting my expectations to zero.

[notin]

14 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Three words: Paxton, Giolito, Hendriks.

(I could have added Sale I, Sale II, Sale III, Sale IV)

I'm setting my expectations to zero.

I didn’t expect Sandoval this year.  But I did/do expect Crawford back at some point…

[moonslav59]

I have more hope for Crawford. He is throwing in the bullpen, so maybe I was rash on him.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

30 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Three words: Paxton, Giolito, Hendriks.

(I could have added Sale I, Sale II, Sale III, Sale IV)

I'm setting my expectations to zero.

And you're setting all your Sales in the direction of the blowhards in the front office. 

No need for fossil fuels tonight. Just fossils like me watching...

[mvp 78]

24 minutes ago, notin said:

I didn’t expect Sandoval this year.  But I did/do expect Crawford back at some point…

I thought Crawford would be back by June, but really haven't been following where he's at. 

Sandoval most likely is out until next season. He could pitch this year, but the results would most likely be a little on the rougher side. 

[Larry Cook]

Getting buelher and fitts back will help both the rotation and the bullpen 

 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Getting buelher and fitts back will help both the rotation and the bullpen 

 

I think they may be our only hopes. (Maybe Guerrero. Maybe we add I Campbell or Burdi to the 40 and give one a chance.)

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think they may be our only hopes. (Maybe Guerrero. Maybe we add I Campbell or Burdi to the 40 and give one a chance.)

Shane Drohan sometime before the end of the year? 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Three words: Paxton, Giolito, Hendriks.

Burly, Hairy, Whoa.

Blood, Sweat, Fears.

Sixty-two million dollars.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Shane Drohan sometime before the end of the year? 

Could happen.

Maybe even a surging Mata (if it happen) could sneak in.

Early is probably a longshot.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Could happen.

Maybe even a surging Mata (if it happen) could sneak in.

Early is probably a longshot.

Mata has only had 2 appearances where he hasn't given up a run. I don't think he has a shot. I think it's just Kelly, Guerrero, Burdi, Campbell, Drohan, Mills, Stock and Winckowski.

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Mata has only had 2 appearances where he hasn't given up a run. I don't think he has a shot. I think it's just Kelly, Guerrero, Burdi, Campbell, Drohan, Mills, Stock and Winckowski.

Sounds about right... No Early chance?

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Sounds about right... No Early chance?

I doubt it. 

[Larry Cook]

Crochet - buehler - dobbins - fitts - bello! Just not getting a playoff feeling from this group 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

Crochet - buehler - dobbins - fitts - bello! Just not getting a playoff feeling from this group 

Right now, no.

It's a long season.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

Crochet - buehler - dobbins - fitts - bello! Just not getting a playoff feeling from this group 

Crochet then 4 days of BP killing.

[mvp 78]

11 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Crochet - buehler - dobbins - fitts - bello! Just not getting a playoff feeling from this group 

Bello could turn it around to be a 2/3 maybe. Buehler was pitching well before he went to the IL. Hard to say what Dobbins and Fitts are. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Bello could turn it around to be a 2/3 maybe. Buehler was pitching well before he went to the IL. Hard to say what Dobbins and Fitts are. 

Relatively new big leaguers? Neither is a nibbler, both are confident in their stuff, and they're not afraid to go after batters.

Dobbins leads all Sox starters in lowest BB9 at 1.4. Next is Buehler 2.4, and Fitts 2.6.

The rest of the rotation: Giolito 2.7, Crochet 3.0, Newcomb 3.3, Houck 3.5, and Bello 5.5 (really?).

[mvp 78]

I'm not worried about a 3 per 9 bb rate. That's like 2 bb's a start. Bello's is ROUGH. 

5.74 k/9

5.46 bb/9

1.05 k/bb 🤢 (2nd worst in MLB for a starter)

Old friend Quinn Priester is 4th worst in k/bb, FYI.

[Nick]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I'm not worried about a 3 per 9 bb rate. That's like 2 bb's a start. Bello's is ROUGH. 

5.74 k/9

5.46 bb/9

1.05 k/bb 🤢 (2nd worst in MLB for a starter)

Old friend Quinn Priester is 4th worst in k/bb, FYI.

I just hate watching Bello pitch....pretty much the bottom line.

There should be a betting line for 75 pitches over and under going into the 4th inning for Bello.

That would be the only way I'd enjoy watching him pitch these days.

His though process is I'm okay because I still have chance to turn a double play and get out of this. 

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Nick said:

I just hate watching Bello pitch....pretty much the bottom line.

There should be a betting line for 75 pitches over and under going into the 4th inning for Bello.

That would be the only way I'd enjoy watching him pitch these days.

His though process is I'm okay because I still have chance to turn a double play and get out of this. 

He's a pitch to contact guy that goes deep in every count. He should be looking for weak contact out of the hitter early in every count so he could go late into the game. Why is he constantly nibbling? IDK! It certainly is annoying.

[mvp 78]

 

[Kimmi]

On 5/20/2025 at 10:34 AM, mvp 78 said:

He's a pitch to contact guy that goes deep in every count. He should be looking for weak contact out of the hitter early in every count so he could go late into the game. Why is he constantly nibbling? IDK! It certainly is annoying.

Bello seems averse to throwing strikes this year.  His 1st pitch strike %, his overall strike %, and his 0-2 count % are all well below his career norms and well below MLB average.  What's he afraid of?  You're right, the nibbling is very annoying.

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Bello seems averse to throwing strikes this year.  His 1st pitch strike %, his overall strike %, and his 0-2 count % are all well below his career norms and well below MLB average.  What's he afraid of?  You're right, the nibbling is very annoying.

His k% and bb% and other peripherals are Clay Buchholz-esque. I feel gross for saying that, but I think that's where we are with Bello. Maybe he's a healthier Buchholz without the All Star ceiling?