For the Boston Red Sox to bounce back from their subpar start to the 2025 season, their starting pitching must take a giant step forward.
While offseason acquisition Garrett Crochet has lived up to his ace expectations, he hasn't had much help behind him in the rotation. Tanner Houck entered the season as the No. 2 starter, but he was one of the league's worst pitchers before being placed on the injured list. Brayan Bello hasn't impressed since returning from injury, and Lucas Giolito has been shelled in two of his four outings.
Walker Buehler -- another key offseason addition -- hasn't pitched since April 26 due to a shoulder issue. Richard Fitts has been on the IL since mid-April with a pectoral strain. Kutter Crawford hasn't pitched at all due to a knee injury that landed him on the 60-day IL.
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SIGN UP HERE Boston's rotation has been among the club's biggest disappointments over the first two months of the campaign. The group ranks 24th in MLB with a 4.45 ERA and 25th with a 1.41 WHIP.
Those struggles have reached a new level since the calendar flipped to May. The Red Sox are 6-10 with Houck and Giolito combining for an 8.65 ERA in their six appearances this month.
"They need to step up," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of his starting pitchers, per Rob Bradford of WEEI. "That's the bottom line. We have to step up as a rotation. It's not only Garrett, it's everybody. We have to do a better job as a group."
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Hunter Dobbins, Boston's No. 13 ranked prospect who entered the season at Triple-A Worcester, has been the team's most reliable starter after Crochet. The 25-year-old right-hander has a 3.90 ERA and 1.30 WHIP through five starts.
As promising as Dobbins has looked to start his big-league career -- minus his worst outing thus far last Wednesday -- the Red Sox are in trouble if he's their No. 2 starter. The veterans have to figure it out in the coming months, otherwise, it'll be the same old story for a club that has reached the postseason just once since its 2018 World Series title.
It's worth noting that Buehler is expected to return on Tuesday, and he looked like a strong candidate for that No. 2 role before his IL stint. Fitts, who was rock-solid in his three starts, also could be back in the mix soon. But if they can't return to form, the following starters must turn it around to keep Boston's playoff hopes alive:
Tanner Houck
Coming off an All-Star season, Houck was expected to form a 1-2 punch atop the rotation with Crochet. Now, the Red Sox simply hope to get any semblance of value out of the 28-year-old after his disastrous start to the season.
Houck last pitched on May 12 against the Detroit Tigers, allowing 11 runs on nine hits and three walks over just 2.1 innings. He became the first pitcher in MLB history to allow 11 or more runs in a start of fewer than three innings twice in the same season.
The Red Sox subsequently placed Houck on the 15-day IL with a right flexor strain, and it's unclear if he'll get another opportunity to start on the mound this season. If he does, he'll have a short leash, and that's tremendously disappointing given what we saw from him in the first half of 2024.
Brayan Bello
Bello missed the start of the season due to a right shoulder strain. He debuted against the Seattle Mariners on April 22 and was solid, allowing one earned run on four hits and three walks across five innings.
The 26-year-old entered Sunday's start vs. Atlanta with a 2.33 ERA over five outings. The Braves lit him up for seven runs on 10 hits and five walks in his 4.1 innings of work.
Bello's ERA ballooned to 4.02, which is closer to what Red Sox fans have come to expect out of the young righty. The organization's former top pitching prospect has a career 4.39 ERA.
The biggest issue for Bello has been his command, as he has walked 19 batters in 31.1 innings this season. He also continues to underwhelm in the strikeout department, with his 14.1 K percentage in the fifth percentile among big-leaguers and his swing-and-miss percentage (19.0) in the 12th percentile.
With Houck's status uncertain, Giolito looking more like a No. 4 or 5 in his first season back from Tommy John, and both Buehler and Fitts already battling injuries, Bello may have the best chance to emerge as Boston's No. 2 starter. For that to happen, his command and consistency have to improve.
Lucas Giolito
Giolito missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and had a delayed start to 2025 due to a hamstring strain. The good news is he finally looks healthy, but the bad news is the Red Sox can't count on him to be anything more than a back-end rotation arm.
The 30-year-old has a 7.08 ERA over his first four starts with the club. In his latest outing Saturday against Atlanta, he allowed six runs on eight hits and two walks across four innings.
Giolito has alternated encouraging and abysmal starts since debuting on April 30, so it's unclear which version of him we should expect for the remainder of the season. Nonetheless, the Red Sox need more consistency out of the veteran righty with so many glaring question marks on the pitching staff.