Inching towards July, the Boston Red Sox are hanging around the fringe of playoff discussion. Despite holding last-place in the A.L. East, Boston (40-39) has mostly used a strong offense and bullpen to keep the team hovering above .500.
Heading into the season, an asset for the Red Sox was the starting pitching, at least in terms of the number of arms readily available. Injuries and struggles have proven that to be false, with Chris Sale on the 60-day IL, Corey Kluber struggling — now on the IL, too — and Nick Pivetta in the bullpen.
Brayan Bello has turned into an ace and Garrett Whitlock is throwing well. The same can be said about James Paxton, with Tanner Houck coming into his own before a scary injury sidelined him. That said, starting pitching is still a need. Shane Bieber has been discussed as a trade target, so here are three other starting pitchers the Red Sox should consider acquiring before the August 1 trade deadline.
Recent opponent of Boston Red Sox
The next few weeks will determine if Boston is a big mover-and-shaker on the trade market. Hit a rough patch, and the team could be sellers. Or, if they continue to stay above .500, the action could be of the buying variety.
Even if Sale and Houck return in good form, depth for the rotation will be needed. And one option could be a pitcher the Red Sox recently faced.
Lucas Giolito of the Chicago White Sox took a hard-luck loss on Friday night against the Red Sox. The Chicago defense made a couple of errors and Giolito was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Bello, resulting in a 3-1 Boston win.
Giolito pitched six innings, allowing only one earned run and three hits while striking out 10. Working mostly with a four-seam fastball, changeup, and slider, Giolito is 5-5 in 2023, with a 3.41 ERA and 99 strikeouts.
June has been an especially good month for the righthander. In four starts, Giolito has pitched 24 innings while allowing only four earned runs. He’s rang up 30 strikeouts while walking eight.
In his seventh big-league season, Giolito owns a career record of 58-52 and will be a free agent later this year. But, he’s in the prime of his career and has put up 11-9 records the last two season and has 378 strikeouts in this span. Giolito is a perfect candidate to be traded for and, if acquired by the Red Sox, hopefully a long-term solution in the rotation.
Chicago teammate Lance Lynn could also be an option in a trade but it is another A.L. Central pitcher who should be considered by the Red Sox.
Boston Red Sox: A return of E-Rod?
In his second season with the Detroit Tigers, Eduardo Rodriguez was off to a start reminiscent of his later years with the Boston Red Sox. Rodriguez (4-4) posted a 2.13 ERA with 67 strikeouts before an injury to his index finger sidelined him for most of June.
Rodriguez recently threw a batting practice session and could be back to game-action very soon.
Adding a lefty would be beneficial for the Red Sox, especially with Sale’s timetable uncertain. Paxton is performing well as the lone lefty starter but there might be concern as he was pulled early from Saturday’s start with knee soreness.
Rodriguez enjoyed quite the success with Boston from 2015-2021. He picked up 64 wins with nearly 900 strikeouts during his time with the Red Sox. Tossing aside the 2020 season, which Rodriguez missed due to COVID-19 related myocarditis, Rodriguez finished strong with the Red Sox.
In 88 starts over his last three season with Boston, Rodriguez went 45-19 with 544 strikeouts. This included a stellar 2019, which he received Cy Young Award consideration.
This option might be considered a longshot, considering Rodriguez is the ace of the Tigers’ staff. Plus, there is the contract he signed prior to the 2022 season (Five years, 77 million) and a Detroit team hanging around the A.L. Central lead (5.5 games back) despite being 10 games under .500.
Still, I’d welcome back Rodriguez in a flash, considering the Red Sox should have kept him to begin with. If Boston is unable to swing a trade for a pitcher from the A.L. Central, they could always turn to the National League for help.
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.
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.