There were some big shocks in April, but absolutely no one (certainly not me) expected such mastery to come from the Red Sox rotation, and not after Boston had essentially spent the winter. ) I didn’t see it.
After a so-so (at best) 2023 season, the Sox signed their only rotation in Lucas Giolito, a previously reliable right-hander who turned out to need Tommy John surgery ( (This was again a surprise considering his background.) So we’re seeing incredible progress among the young people who remain.
With Giolito, Nick Pivetta and Brayan Bello on injured reserve, Boston’s rotation, which is completely unpopular outside of the front office, has allowed an MLB-best 13 of 32 games without an earned run. He has the best (all-time) ERA of 2.03 in MLB. . Statistically, it was the best start for a rotation since the 1972 Dodgers (1968 American League Indians).
Red Sox new pitching manager Andrew Bailey, who was a teammate of new general manager Craig Breslow in both Boston and Oakland, and like Breslow, is a former MLB reliever from Connecticut, is clearly interested in Cutter Crawford. (1.56 ERA), is one of MLB’s youngest rotations, helping to elevate the fortunes of Tanner Hawk (1.60), and the previously largely unknown Cooper Criswell (1.65).
Bailey has been rumored as a possible future manager, but he may be too valuable in his current role. (Alex Cora is also doing a great job, but Craig Counsell could be a coveted managerial free agent next year.)
For the record, Breslow had high praise for both players over the phone and said he was “not going to put a cap” on Bailey’s abilities.
Breslow said the key to his incredible success was emphasizing specific pitches and pitch designs and fine-tuning how he uses pitches. Red Sox pitchers throw only 12% of their fastballs, which is by far the lowest (per MLB Network).
“What we’re looking at is an optimized version of each of them,” Breslow said.
No one saw this coming, not even Jordan Montgomery. He hoped not to go to Boston because he wanted to win (and understandably, no one thought Boston would be).
The Red Sox also placed No. 2 on Shota Imanaga, the Cubs sensation who boasts the best ERA in MLB at 0.78. They’re the best they’ve ever been, but Imanaga obviously would have made them even better.
