Red Sox Urged To Make Drastic Pitching Change To Solve 1st Inning Crisis

The Boston Red Sox's starting pitching has been a disaster lately, and the problem lies in the very first inning.

On the season, the Red Sox have a 7.04 team ERA in the first frame, which is second-worst in Major League Baseball behind only the Colorado Rockies. Ace Garrett Crochet sometimes gets clipped for a first-inning home run, but the real problem is starters two through five.

In four games since Crochet's last start, Red Sox starters have allowed 15 first-inning runs. Walker Buehler allowed two home runs to New York Yankees batters on Friday night in a five-run first that turned into a 9-6 loss.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and one baseball writer believes the Red Sox need to make a fairly dramatic change to their starting pitching strategy.

After the loss on Friday, Christopher Kline of FanSided urged the Red Sox to attempt the "opener" strategy, using one of their relief pitchers for the first inning or two before turning the game over to one of the current starters to handle the bulk innings of the game.

"Obviously the Red Sox aren't going to pitch a reliever in front of Garrett Crochet, but Hunter Dobbins? Brayan Bello? Lucas Giolito? Definitely Buehler... all these guys have struggled to pitch deep into games," Kline wrote.

"We don't see very many teams deploy the opener strategy, especially not on a regular basis, but the logic is sound for a Red Sox team that just can't seem to keep a lid on the scoreboard in the first inning. It's hard to win when your injury-ravaged lineup is constantly fighting uphill."

The Red Sox are sadly no stranger to the opener strategy, but that's more because a couple of years ago, they didn't have enough starters to fill out a rotation. It got so bad at one point in 2023 that they were using openers two out of every five games for several weeks on end.

Brennan Bernardino spent a lot of time that season as an opener for Boston, and Zack Kelly would probably figure into the strategy as well with the bullpen as currently constructed.

There may be nothing that can save the 30-35 Red Sox, and there may also be nothing that can prevent guys like Giolito and Buehler from getting shelled. But this move could still be worth a try.