The Boston Red Sox’ starting rotation certainly looks a lot more reliable as star pitchers like Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler look to take the mound. This only adds to the depth of the starting pitching staff compared to last season, when they had to rely on three young starting pitchers from within the organization (Cutter Crawford, Tanner Hawk and Brayan Bello).
Red Sox analyst Jared Karavis commented on the rotation outlook Thursday on the MLB podcast “Underdog.” He said the team surprised him when Crawford, Hock and Bello made 30 starts as homegrown talents. He feels that with their resources and the addition of veteran campaigners like Crochet and Buehler, with the impending return of Lucas Giolito, the team looks much safer now.
“Now that the Red Sox rotation has a name, I’ve been using the words safer, more comfortable. I said starting 30 games is a great benchmark to reach, but I think the Red Sox are developing starting pitching.” It’s been a long time since we did that. If there was a year when the Red Sox had three straight-year starting pitchers who started 30 games, it’s like, “Okay, I can’t believe that.” It’s a thing.
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“I don’t believe in that, because he’s a Red Sox veteran pitcher. We don’t do that here. That’s why players like Gio, Buehler, Crochet, guys who came from outside the organization and were successful at the major league level. They’re in there, trustworthy names, and I feel a little bit better now,” Karabis said. (1:25:00)
The Red Sox rotation receives praise from all over MLB.
Evaluation of the Boston Red Sox’ move isn’t limited to Red Sox analysts like Jared Karavis, with other MLB executives weighing in on the conversation. Mark Feinsand covered some of the chatter in an article for MLB-dot-com.
The Red Sox’ addition was described as a “lottery”, with particular praise, as it was a move by the club that was not looking to spend a lot of money but was in the midst of a rebuild.
“Crochet is a good acquisition,” a National League executive said. “They’ve invested $41 million in Buehler and Giolito, both of which are lottery tickets.”
Another National League executive said, “Clubs with deep pockets should pursue a type of contract that has relatively low risk and high upside.” “We can get another playoff-caliber starter without jeopardizing future payroll.”
The Red Sox can only win 81 games in 2024. If the new additions can hit the ground running, Boston may have a shot at making the playoffs.
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Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee
