If you went to sleep during the Red Sox‘s bizarre ninth-inning rain delay, with the team ahead, 4-3 after a home run from Alex Bregman and a go-ahead hit by Roman Anthony, you woke up to some rough news: Jordan Hicks, one of the prized returns of the Rafael Devers trade, came in a gave the game away, hitting two batters and allowing two hits while registering just one out.
Hicks is now 1-7 on the season and 0-2 in nine appearances for the Red Sox.
It won’t be Hicks who pays the price after a massively disappointing loss, though. That is likely to fall to starter Richard Fitts, who was knocked around over 4.0 innings, giving up three walks and four hits, including a home run. The Red Sox bullpen is already tattered and struggling with injuries, badly in need of a lengthy performance from the starters.
Fitts did not deliver. He will, according to MassLive, be heading down to Worcester after Monday and it is unclear whether he will get another crack in the Red Sox rotation.
Richard Fitts Might Not Be Back
That was the note from Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo of MassLive. After Monday’s loss, he wrote, “The Red Sox are all but certain to call up a fresh arm to take Richard Fitts’ roster spot on a temporary basis before Tuesday’s game. The more pressing question is who will fill his rotation spot permanently.”
Indeed, the Red Sox will drop Fitts down to at least give themselves another bullpen arm, which is badly needed with Aroldis Chapman on the shelf, and Hicks unreliable.
Said Red Sox manager Alex Cora: “We need an arm here, We’ll see how we make it work.”
Cora was not impressed with Fitts’ outing. ““He (Fitts) got hit hard today,” he said. “There were a lot of loud outs. We walked Christian, the eighth hitter. Then the homer … He’s been inconsistent.”
Red Sox Seeking Pitching Depth
Fitts was considered one of the Red Sox’s prized depth pieces in the rotation entering the season, but was injured after three very good starts to open the year and has not been the same since. He is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA in four July starts.
Once Fitts is sent down to Triple-A, the hope for the Red Sox is that the team will acquire another starter at the Thursday trade deadline. With Garrett Crochet, Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello and, likely, Walker Buehler in the rotation, the Red Sox badly need back-end help in the rotation.
Assuming they get it via trade–and assuming there are no significant pitching injuries that follow–Fitts might not be needed again this season.
Injuries Have Dragged Down Red Sox Rotation
The Red Sox have been fortunate that the top tier of their rotation has held up all season, but the back end has been a mess. Tanner Houck, who has been working his way back to Boston after a miserable start and a strained right pronator, had a significant setback in his rehab and can’t be relied on to return.
Patrick Sandoval, too, has hit a snag in his return from an elbow injury. Kutter Crawford had surgery on his wrist as he was rehabbing. Hunter Dobbins tore his ACL and will be out for the season.
Boston is decidedly thin now in the rotation, and will need a starter–maybe two–at Thursday’s deadline.
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