Red Sox Get 'Best Possible' Injury News About 25-Year-Old Amid Rotation Struggles

As Monday night's disaster against the Tampa Bay Rays showed, the Boston Red Sox have serious question marks in the starting rotation.

Even putting aside 2024 All-Star Tanner Houck's disastrous start to the season, the Red Sox have to be worried about the state of their rotation. Walker Buehler has had two bad starts and one good one, while Sean Newcomb has been nothing more than a roster filler.

Richard Fitts had been one of the bright spots early on, but he recently became the fourth Red Sox starter to hit the injured list since February. He was pulled in the sixth inning of his scoreless start against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, immediately motioning to the dugout after delivering a pitch.

The Red Sox quickly placed Fitts on the 15-day injured list with a right pectoral injury, and he went in for an MRI on Monday. And at a time when they sorely needed some good news about their rotation, it appears they got it.

According to multiple reports, including Christopher Smith of MassLive, Fitts suffered a mild pectoral strain, which is about the best result the Red Sox could have hoped for. There's still no timetable for his return, but he avoided any major structural damage.

“So it’s not as bad as what we thought,” manager Alex Cora said Monday, per Smith. “Obviously timetable, we don’t know yet. But out of the bad news, it’s the best possible result.”

Fitts, 25, had pitched to a 3.18 ERA through three starts, allowing six earned runs, striking out 13, and walking five across 17 innings. He now owns a 2.39 career ERA in seven starts with the Red Sox.

Help should be on the way soon in the form of Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello, both of whom are on rehab assignments with Triple-A Worcester. Giolito is pitching Tuesday and will then likely require one more rehab outing, while Bello expects Wednesday's outing to be his last before rejoining the big-league club.

Fitts will be a major loss, but hopefully not a long-term one.