Alex Cora kept insisting throughout spring training that starting pitching would be a strength of the Boston Red Sox. Few outside the organization felt the same way.
The Red Sox did not have an ace in their rotation after trading oft-injured left-hander Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves during the offseason. Instead. Boston had a rotation filled with pitchers who had yet to establish themselves as consistent winners in the major leagues.
Cora has proven to be correct, though – at least during the early stages of the season. The Red Sox starters are 9-3 with an MLB-best 1.73 ERA in 23 games.
That strong pitching has helped the Red Sox get off to a 13-10 start despite a full injured list. Boston is third place in the American League East, 2 ½ games behind the division-leading Baltimore Orioles, despite being almost universally pick to finish last when the season began.
“We’re pitching,” Cora said when asked his team’s start. “When you pitch at this level, you have a chance. You look at the years we’ve made it to the playoffs, we pitch. The years we didn’t pitch, we didn’t make it into the playoffs.”
Kutter Crawford is leading the way as he is 1-0 with an MLB-leading 0.66 ERA in five starts. The 28-year-old entered the season with a 4.74 ERA over his first three seasons.
The Red Sox used Crawford in relief when he first reached the major leagues although he had been a starter in the minor leagues. He whittled his arsenal to two pitches then but now has a five-pitch mix.
“That was wrong from our end,” Cora said of putting Crawford in a bullpen role. “This guy is a starter at the big-league level.”
Tanner Houck has also been outstanding with a 3-1 record and 1.35 ERA through five starts. He pitched a three-hit shutout last Thursday against the Guardians at Fenway Park and faces them against Tuesday night in Cleveland.
The Red Sox dropped Houck from the rotation during the 2022 season and sent him to the bullpen. He returned to starting last season but was just 6-10 with a 5.01 ERA in 21 games. This season, Houck has started living up to his pedigree as the Red Sox’s first-round draft pick in 2017.
A third starter, Brayan Bello, was signed to a six-year, $55-million contract in spring training after being a 12-game winner last year in his first full major-league season. Through five starts, he is 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA.
Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 1.96 in four starts) and Nick Pivetta (1-1, 0.82 in two starts) also began the season strong before being placed on the IL.
“Honestly, in spring training I saw how guys were throwing the ball, making adjustments, applying the concept of throwing their best stuff,” Cora said. “I know it’s early, that it’s really early, but they’re giving us a chance to win games. I do believe we’re going to continue to pitch well.”
The starting rotation has also helped offset the Red Sox missing four regulars who are on the IL – first baseman Triston Casas, second baseman Vaughn Grissom, shortstop Trevor Story and outfielder Tyler O’Neill. Furthermore, third baseman Rafael Devers has been in and out of the lineup all season because of a knee injury.
Yet the Red Sox have been able to stay afloat while relying on such young players as second baseman Enmanuel Valdez, shortstop/center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela and right fielder Wilyer Abreu. Rafaela was signed to an eight-year, $50-million contract two weeks ago.
“Youth can work to your advantage sometimes,” Cora said. “They don’t know any better. Some of them, they just show up every day, willing to work.”
