Red Sox Get $18.25 Million Starting Rotation Update

The Boston Red Sox added a few hurlers this past offseason but it sounds like one of the additions won't make his team debut this season.

When Boston signed Patrick Sandoval to a two-year, $18.25 million deal, they knew he wouldn't be able to help at least in the first half of the season. He started 16 games for the Los Angeles Angels last year. He had season-ending surgery and is still recovering from his elbow injury. Sandoval has thrown bullpens but had to switch to playing catch, per MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo.

"Patrick Sandoval has been slower than expected and has gone from throwing bullpens to just playing catch. His return this year is doubtful," Cotillo said towards the end of July.

On Sunday, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow shared that the Red Sox aren't expected to get Sandoval back this season, as shared by WEEI's Rob Bradford.

"Breslow said he is not expecting Patrick Sandoval to pitch in 2025," Bradford shared.

Sandoval is a six-year big league veteran with a 4.01 career ERA in 107 total appearances -- including 100 starts. The best season of his career came in 2022. That season, Sandoval logged a 2.91 ERA in 27 starts to go along with a 151-to-60 strikeout-to-walk ratio in a career-high 148 2/3 innings pitched.

The Red Sox are going to be fortunate to have him at some point, but that likely won't be until 2026. Next season, Sandoval is under contract for $12.75 million. Hopefully, he continues to make progress.