Last spring, the Boston Red Sox opened the season with no less than eight viable starting pitchers on their roster: Garret Crochett, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, Walker Buehler, Richard Fitts, Tanner Houck, Sean Newcomb, and Quinn Priester. By September, only the first three remained, as Buehler, Fitts, and Houck were injured or ineffective, and Newcomb and Priester were traded away early.
Boston felt forced to acquire more pitching at the deadline, leading to the acquisition of Dustin May, he of the 4.85 ERA with the Los Angeles Dodgers and lengthy injury history, to fill out the fifth slot. This is despite the previous procurement of Kyle Harrison in the Rafael Devers deal with the San Francisco Giants, and the call-ups of Cooper Criswell and Hunter Dobbins.
Now, the Red Sox boast seven potential starters in Crochett, Bello, Johan Oveido, Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray, Connelly Early, and Peyton Tolle, with 2023 workhorse Kutter Crawford working towards an April or May return. This could be the best rotation in baseball, but how likely is that to play out?
Boston Enters 2026 with a Plethora of Pitching Options
Crochett is coming off the best season of his career yet, finishing a strong second to Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in the American League Cy Young voting. However, he has also suffered issues with arm health during his career (missing all of 2022 and most of 2023), and pitched a league-leading 205.1 innings last year at the age of 25.
As undeniably great as he is, pitchers worked so hard so young that they risk premature exits from the game. Roughly 120 pitchers have tossed at least 180 innings in a season while under the age of 26 since the start of the millennium; half never pitched as well again, often seeing their careers disintegrate and arms break down.
Gray is the surest thing the Red Sox have on their staff, having long since proven himself to be a steady workhorse who provides quality pitching. Incidentally, he is one of those 120 hurlers to total more than 400 innings in his age 24 and 25 seasons. In two of the next three seasons, he struggled to meet replacement level before his career recovered.
Bello and Oviedo are similar entities, though have differing records. Both have enjoyed success at the major league level, though, without hitting their respective ceilings. Bello has slowly developed into a strong mid-rotation starter with flashes of brilliance, while Oviedo’s 2023 with the Pirates is a match for his new teammate’s 2024 campaign.
The difference, of course, is that Oviedo missed 2024 and most of 2025 following Tommy John surgery, while Bello has made 28, 30, and 28 starts in his three full seasons. While the Red Sox hope to raise the level of performance from both, Oviedo is likely facing his last, best chance to prove himself as a major league starting pitcher.
The other veteran pickup of this offseason, Ranger Suarez, is as dependable as Gray, though not with the same volume. As a member of the Philadelphia Phillies’ starting rotation over the past four and a half seasons, he has averaged about 25 starts a year and about 150 innings (Gray averages about 30 starts and 180 innings over the past three).
Presuming Crochett is one of those starters able to handle such a precocious workload without ill effects, the Red Sox can account for about 115 starts from their front four. Fangraphs projects Oviedo to make between 15 and 22 starts, which leaves 25-30 to be filled from depth.
Connelly Early and Peyton Tolle are highly regarded pitching prospects, and Early has already shown major league proficiency with five starts between September and October. Tolle, though possessing the higher ceiling, remains a work in progress and may operate primarily out of the bullpen as he adjusts to the bigs.
Obviously, when injuries inevitably occur, Early will be the first called upon. Fangraphs system sees him making up to 20 or so starts, with Tolle taking up the remainder of the surplus. Actually, Fangraphs gives priority to Patrick Sandoval, a former Angels starter who has not pitched since June 2024 or pitched well since 2022.
Will this be enough? Probably, but only so long as Crochett remains healthy and Oviedo proves capable of resuming his career. Should those questions be affirmed, it is easy to see the Boston Red Sox as possessing one of the strongest rotations since the 2011 Phillies (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt) and a full October.
In the worst plausible scenario, Crochett goes down after half a season or less, Oviedo’s inability to rediscover the strike zone leads to his being DFA’d by June, and Suarez will miss a month’s worth of action at some point. That would leave Gray, Bello, and two rookies to hold up the team, with disparate contributions from Crawford and Sandoval, who are returning from missed seasons.