It's May 6, 35 games into the season, and 3 of 5 from the opening day rotation are still on the IL. However, Houck, Crawford, and Bello (on the IL) lead the Sox staff in IP.
Winckowski, Criswell, and Slaten all have more IP than Whitlock, whose return date is somewhere in the twilight zone.
In addition to Winckowski, Criswell, and Slaten, Anderson, Weissert, Bernardino, Martin, and Rodriguez each have pitched more innings than Pivetta. Thus has Cora declared Pivetta to start this week despite his lousy 3 inning stint last week for Worcester.
I'm astounded the Sox still have the lowest ERA in MLB, and I'm not alone.
Were we to poll talksoxers, I believe 100% of us would admit we had zero expectation this Sox pitching staff could lead MLB in ERA for even a week.