The Boston Red Sox added starting pitchers Garrett Crochet, Patrick Sandoval and Walker Buhler to their staff this offseason, opening the door for manager Alex Cora to get creative before rosters are finalized.
Dependability in the pitching department wasn’t Boston’s strong suit last season as right-hander Lucas Giolito suffered a season-ending elbow injury in spring training. Giolito, last offseason’s highlight Red Sox signee, isn’t sold on the organization’s potential approach to adopting a six-man pitching rotation in 2025.
“I don’t love six-man rotations,” Giolito told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on Audcay’s “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “I feel like when I’m in a good groove of that four-day rest period, that feels right for me personally. If a team, whether it’d be the Red Sox or any other team were to be like, OK we’re doing a six-man rotation, I’m not gonna be holding a picket sign. … If it benefits the team, if they see that as the best way to go, I get it.”
Rotating through six arms has become a trend in recent years. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani last offseason, embraced the structure successfully as the league’s current reigning World Series champs. Theoretically, it’s a logical approach for a team striving to maintain as healthy a rotation as possible like the Red Sox. But on the flip side, it presents a challenge for pitchers.
Giolito has never pitched in a six-man rotation. The 34-year-old has logged eight big-league seasons, all of which slated Giolito for a regular five days of rest before re-taking the mound.
“Sometimes you get that five days of rest with rainouts or off days. That can be nice,” Giolito said, per the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “But to do that over and over again, and then those five days of rest with a rainout or off day are now turning into six days of rest because you’re in a six-man rotation. That just feels a little long. We’ll see. We all adapt to everything.”
Boston already has Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock and Richard Fitts as options — some of which Cora will need to consider moving to the bullpen. It isn’t necessarily a bad situation to be in, especially coming off a campaign in which the Red Sox’s playoff hopes were anchored by the starters and relievers.
It does, however, require deep examination before roles are cemented for Opening Day.
“We’re very, very open to a number of solutions,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Monday, per ESPN. “I don’t think it’s possible to have too much starting pitching depth, and we know we’re going to call on more than just five guys — whether that’s right out of the gates or at some point during the season. But the schedule early in the season potentially lends itself to maybe using a sixth starter.”
The Red Sox are over five weeks away until pitchers and catchers report for spring training.
