Over the course of the offseason, Boston Red Sox GM Craig Breslow mentioned that he’s confident in the pitching depth that this team has. And in a way, he’s upgraded it via trades and free agency. The current Opening Day projected rotation looks like this:
While they did lose some promising younger pitchers in the process, such as Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts, there’s still really promising depth in there. Even though the projected rotation doesn’t include them at this moment, it’s highly expected that top prospects Payton Tolle and Connelly Early will contribute a good amount this season. This also doesn’t include the minor league depth that they have at pitchers.
Where Will These Three Pitchers End Up?
However, even with those seven, there are still some names that can contribute that are up in the air right now in terms of whether or not they’ll have a spot with this current team. Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, and Patrick Sandoval are all quality major league starters, with no clear path to break the rotation. So the question begs: what happens with these three?
Kutter Crawford
Crawford was drafted in 2017 out of Florida Gulf Coast. He came up to Boston around 2021, going back and forth between the starting rotation and the bullpen. He last pitched in 2024, which ended up being a disaster year for him. In 33 starts, he had a record of 9-16 while giving up an MLB-leading 34 home runs. In those 33 appearances, 23 of them were starts in which he gave up multiple runs. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get much run support in those losses. The Sox only scored three or more runs in two of their 16 losses.
Other than a disastrous 2024, he’s a decent pitcher. And there’s a possibility a role change could be beneficial for him. Looking at his splits, the more he sees a batter in the game, the more trouble he has. He has an OBA of .260 the third time through the order, compared to .218 through the second time. While the home run totals are higher the first two times, the average is higher the third time around.
Crawford is currently recovering from wrist surgery, but he signed a one-year deal to avoid arbitration. His five-pitch arsenal includes a deadly split finger that has a .192 OBA and a 40.4 Whiff%. If he comes back from the injury with the same effect on his pitches, there might be a conversation to be had about moving him to the bullpen. In 2023, he had eight bullpen appearances, five of which he allowed three hits or fewer. He was also able to notch two holds in those outings as well. They do have a surplus of righties in there, but he could definitely occupy a spot.
Tanner Houck
Houck is definitely a tricky option. Debuting in 2020, he has been a below-average to average pitcher for the first few years of his career. Then came 2024, where Houck started really well with an 8-6 record, including a three-hit shutout against the Cleveland Guardians. This great start earned him an appearance in the All-Star Game, one of two Red Sox to be an All-Star that year.
Unfortunately, after that, things started to spiral. Post All-Star break, he went 1-4 the rest of the season. His 2025 campaign wasn’t much better. He only pitched in nine games before getting injured and requiring Tommy John surgery as a result, as 2025 was a career low for him. Houck became the first pitcher in nearly two decades to have multiple starts of 11 or more earned runs against him. As of March 9th, he is on the 60-day IL and expected to come back in September.
Houck has four pitches that he uses, often relying on secondary pitches, as he uses his four-seamer the least of all four. In 2025, it was the sinker, and the sweeper in 2024. In a bigger sample size, his sweeper was actually his most effective in 2024. It had batters missing at a 30.2% rate (and 32.4% in 2025). Weirdly enough, the OBA is higher than the xOBA, or the expected batting average. For example, batters hit .305 against his sweeper this past season, but the xOBA was .279. So it could also just be bad luck for him. Either way, the hope is that post-injury, he can get back to his all-star form.
Given the return timetable post injury, the solution here would just be to let him recover and come back naturally. With the amount of pitching they do have now, they’re not in desperate need of another. But who knows? Come September, due to an injury, disappointing performances, or a stellar rehab stint from him, Houck may see Major League time in the 2026 season. At the very least, he should be on the 40-man roster. After this season, decisions can be made about his future. But there shouldn’t be a rush to get him back yet.
Patrick Sandoval
Sandoval came over from the Angels in the 2024 offseason, but has not pitched for the Red Sox yet due to his recovery process from a torn UCL in June 2024. Like Houck and Crawford, his previous season (2024 in his case) was not perfect by any means. He went 2-8 with an ERA of 5.08 in about 80 innings. His best year was in 2022, where he produced a 3.3 WAR and a 2.91 ERA, holding batters to a batting average of .246.
His pitch assortment includes a heavy use of a changeup and slider combo (28.3% and 24.7%, respectively). While his changeup was very good in 2024, it was actually his curve that batters struggled with the most. Going against his curve, batters only hit .118 against Sandoval. He’s also got a whiff rate of 25% or higher on 3 different pitches:
- Curve: 27.9%
- Sweeper: 28.1%
- Changeup: 39%
While he won’t be back for Opening Day, Sandoval is projected to come back the earliest out of these three. However, that might make getting a solid spot in the rotation hard. So that leaves two options: Boston can either test the left-hander out in the bullpen, which would fill a need for the time being. If that doesn’t work, though, they might have to trade him. Cora’s not open to a bigger rotation, and he’s in the mix of the next guy up with about four other pitchers. It seems like it won’t work out here. Someone like the San Diego Padres or Colorado Rockies may be interested.
The Red Sox in 2026 have plenty of pitching to go around, whether it’s in the rotation, the minors, or the guys waiting in the wings. Crawford, Houck, and Sandoval are all similar in a way. They’re all guys coming off injuries waiting to start contributing again. Now, it’s up to Alex Cora to decide where they land with this team.
Main Photo Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
