The Boston Red Sox last night dropped the first game of their four-game series against the Detroit Tigers with Nick Pivetta on the mound. This season the Red Sox starting rotation has combined for a 3.24 ERA which ranks fifth in all of baseball and fourth in the American League, a 3.58 FIP which is seventh in baseball and fourth in the American League, a 1.11 WHIP which is fourth in baseball and third in the American League, and 279 strikeouts which is 14th in baseball and tenth in the American League. One of those arms is Garrett Whitlock who is out for the season and the guy that has filled in for him is Cooper Criswell who this season has made eight starts and in those starts, he is 2-1 with a 3.96 ERA, a 3.76 FIP, a 1.16 WHIP, and 36 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. In his last three starts though he is 0-1 with a 7.62 ERA, a 3.59 FIP, a 1.54 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts in 13 innings. There’s an arm in Triple-A who just turned in his best start and hasn’t looked bad and that is the Red Sox seventh-ranked prospect by ITD Richard Fitts who the Red Sox acquired from the New York Yankees in the trade for Alex Verdugo. This season Fitts has made ten appearances with nine of those coming as starts this season going 4-1 with a 3.72 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and 41 strikeouts in 48.1 innings. In April he made five starts going 2-1 with a 3.91 ERA, a 1.30 WHIP, and 24 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. This month in the four starts he made he is 1-0 with a 3.85 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, and 15 strikeouts in 18.2 innings. On Wednesday he faced the Charlotte Knights going seven innings he allowed one run, it was unearned on one hit; he didn’t issue a walk and struck out seven. In six of his nine starts, he’s allowed less than two runs; in those other three starts he allowed more he allowed three, five, and six.
Criswell hasn’t pitched badly but at this point after eight starts his arm hasn’t looked right and with the Red Sox at where they are right now adding Fitts to the rotation isn’t a bad idea especially if the Red Sox see him as a future piece to the rotation which they must if they wanted him from the Yankees as part of the Verdugo trade. The idea of letting Criswell get his start against the Tigers is fine but after this series with the off day you can move the rotation a little bit, let Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta face the Atlanta Braves then bring Fitts up, and let him pitch Thursday against the Chicago White Sox, let him face a team that struggles to score runs as they average 2.8 runs per game. If he gets the start against the White Sox and can find a grove, he could be a nice piece to add to the rotation. You could also with the off day potentially let Fitts make his scheduled start on Tuesday against the Rochester Red Wings then let him start on the weekend and roll a rotation of Crawford, Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and let Fitts go on Saturday or Sunday. It can’t hurt to take a look at a prospect you have in your system who is one level away from joining you and see if he can be a part of what you’re trying to build for the future so let’s consider the call.
If now isn’t the time to call him up that also could make sense with the gauntlet of a schedule they have coming after the White Sox as they’ll play the MLB-leading Philadelphia Phillies for three games, then the American League-leading New York Yankees immediately following that. After those rough six games, they face the Toronto Blue Jays for six games with a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds in the middle of those two three-game series, maybe that’s the time to make the move but I don’t mind seeing Fitts face Chicago then face his former team at Fenway Park the following Friday if he pitches next Saturday talk about flaunting the piece you received from your rival if he’s able to continue what he’s done so far this season in Triple-A Worcester.
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