Boston Red Sox Rumors: 3 starting pitchers to target via trade
National League help for Boston Red Sox
The St. Louis Cardinals 2023 season has been a disappointing one (sans a highlight sweep over the Red Sox in May). Stuck in last-place, the Cardinals could turn to sellers rather than buyers leading up to the trade deadline.
Starting pitcher Jack Flaherty has had his struggles in ’23 but perhaps a change of locale could lead to more consistent outings. Flaherty is 4-5 with a 4.95 ERA this season, with both ups and downs on the highlight reel.
In his last two starts, Flaherty has pitched 10.2 innings while allowing 20 hits and 12 runs. Slated to pitch on Sunday in London, Flaherty was scratched due to hip discomfort.
Prior to that, however, Flaherty looked to be righting the ship with three solid starts. He pitched 18.1 innings and allowed only two runs while striking out 18.
Flaherty brings a good strikeout rate to the table and would provide another quality arm. He is a free agent after the season but is definitely worth looking into, especially if other options for the Red Sox don’t pan out. But, more-so than say Giolito, Flaherty could truly be a short term solution for the rotation.
Despite the injuries and struggles, the rotation is actually holding together well with basically four starters (Bello, Whitlock, Paxton, and Kutter Crawford) and a bullpen day. Crawford was decent in Sunday’s loss to the White Sox, giving the Red Sox six innings while allowing four runs. Some of his starts, though, do turn into bullpen games and that’s tough on the relievers.
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Finding a true fifth-starter is needed to save on those bullpen arms, which have seen injuries of their own in the last month. A return of Sale and/or Houck will help too. So adding any of these three, or Bieber, to the rotation would do, and help Boston hang around the playoff picture deep into the season.