Article: Three Key Contributors For The Boston Red Sox Continue To Rehab In Worcester

[Nick John]

On a rainy Tuesday night, the Worcester Red Sox took the field with three players from Boston rehabbing with them. Richard Fitts started for the WooSox, making his third and possibly final minor league start after the Red Sox optioned him to Worcester following his June 2 start against the Los Angeles Angels.

Fitts dominated the opposing Buffalo Bisons’ lineup during the start, lasting five innings on 77 pitches. Across the five frames, Fitts managed to keep the Bisons scoreless, limiting them to just two hits. Fitts also managed to strike out three batters as he mixed and matched six pitches throughout the start.

Fitts led with his fastball, tossing it 21 times and seeing it max out at 96.8 mph as it generated 10 swings. Of them, he managed two whiffs and only two were put back in play. The young right-hander used his sweeper, sinker, changeup, slider and curveball to play off of his fastball, though he struggled to get whiffs on all of his pitches. Of the 77 he threw, he only generated 39 swings, with nine of them being whiffs (23%), which is close to the rate he has managed to get in Boston this season (22.1%).

What may have been his best moment came in the fourth inning. Buffalo managed to load the bases with one out after Michael Stefanic singled to lead off the inning before Leo Jiménez and RJ Schreck were hit by pitches following a Joey Loperfido fly out. With the bases loaded and one out, Fitts buckled down as he got Orelvis Martinez to swing at an inside sinker that cracked his bat and led to an easy ground ball to third baseman Blaze Jordan, who got the runner out at home. Fitts followed it up with a four-pitch battle against Yohendrick Pinango that ended with the left fielder flying out to deep center field on a 95.7 mph fastball.

Fitts came back out for the fifth inning, having only one blemish in the inning as a comebacker to him couldn’t be turned into an out. With one out in the inning, Josh Rivera hit the ball back to Fitts, who appeared to block most of it with his glove. The pitcher couldn’t grip it properly and throw the runner out due to the slick conditions of the field making the ball slippery. After the play, Fitts waved off the training staff, telling them that he was just fine. Fitts managed to get the next two batters out, including Stefanic on a ground ball back to Fitts himself.  

Following Fitts’ departure after five innings and 77 pitches, the young right-hander was relieved by Chris Murphy, who was making his eighth rehab appearance as he continues to make his way back from Tommy John surgery. The left-hander has pitched for Greenville, Portland and Worcester as he made his third appearance with the Triple-A team.

Murphy struggled at first, allowing back-to-back hits in the form of a double by Loperfido and then a single by Jiménez that had runners at the corners. In the next at-bat, Murphy managed to get Schreck to roll over on a 74.6 mph curveball as the defense turned a double play. Despite the run scoring, Murphy finished his outing by striking out Martinez in an eight pitch at-bat.

In his one inning, Murphy tossed 15 pitches, using his fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. Of the 15 pitches thrown, 14 of them were his fastball, curveball and slider. As he ramps back up, Murphy saw his fastball reach a max velocity of 94.3 mph. Unfortunately, batters made hard contact against Murphy, with an average exit velocity of 103.7 mph when they swung and hit his pitches. After eight rehab appearances, Murphy has a 4.91 ERA in 11 innings, as he’s allowed six runs to score on 12 hits and six walks. He’s also managed to strike out 12 batters.

The final player to appear for the WooSox was Wilyer Abreu, who was in the lineup as the designated hitter. Abreu, who is recovering form a left oblique strain he suffered against the Yankees on June 8, ended up getting four at-bats before being pinch-hit for in the bottom of the eighth inning by Corey Rosier. In his four at-bats, the outfielder only reached base once with a fifth inning single to right field that drove Tyler McDonough in and made it a 2-0 game. In his first two at-bats, Abreu looked ready to return to action as he took a 92.6 mph fastball that was down and in and crushed it to center field only for it to be caught. His second at-bat was similar, as he worked the at-bat to get a 94.1 mph fastball that was middle-outside. Abreu drove it out to left field, but it died on the warning track and was caught for an out. In his fourth and final at-bat, Abreu popped out to the third baseman as he lifted an 86.5 mph cutter high in the air. 

Murphy and Abreu are likely to stick around for a few more games — at least through Thursday for Abreu, as many have said the team will activate him for Friday’s series opening game against the Giants. It’s also likely that Murphy will be in Worcester for quite some time until he shakes the rust off of his arm. Fitts may be the exception to the group, as there’s a chance he could be recalled to Boston now that he’s properly rehabbed, unlike when he first came off the injured list. It's purely speculative, but after Walker Buehler's difficult outing against the Seattle Mariners, the Red Sox could position Fitts to take over his spot in the rotation.

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