One Key Area Red Sox Rotation Needs To Make Improvement

The Red Sox rotation currently owns a 4.31 ERA, 23rd in baseball. The group has been better over the last two weeks, but it’s difficult to project if that will hold.

When Boston Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey was introduced before the 2024 season, he identified key areas for pitching success. One of the things he said was “stuff in the zone plays”.

If you can get swinging strikes on pitches in the strike zone, you’re probably a great pitcher. Some starting pitchers at the top of the league in zone-whiff rate are Tarik Skubal, Zack Wheeler, and Paul Skenes.

The Red Sox rotation currently ranks 25th in the category. If you remove Garrett Crochet’s numbers, the rank falls to 29th.

It’s easy to say, “just get more whiffs in the zone”, but much harder to do in practice. Velocity always plays, but without adding a player, the only in-season velocity gains you’ll see will likely be marginal.

Another potential way to improve would be pitch selection. Currently, the Red Sox rotation throws the 9th-highest rate of fastballs in early counts. Oftentimes, hitters are looking for fastballs early in at-bats. More off-speed and breaking pitches early on could provide easy strikes for Red Sox pitchers.

Kutter Crawford, Richard Fitts, and Kyle Harrison could each join the group at some point. Last season, Crawford and Harrison each excelled at in-zone whiffs, likely due to the quality of their fastballs. While the combination of pitchers that end up as starters is unclear, they could make a meaningful difference in getting ahead of hitters and solidifying the rotation.