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Boston Red Sox Searching for Controllable Starting Pitching

By Josh Sippie

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The Boston Red Sox continue their search for a controllable starting pitcher as they have turned to the Cleveland Indians about Carlos Carrasco as well as the San Diego Padres about Tyson Ross. Jerry Crasnick tweeted the initial interest:

The Red Sox are far beyond any hope of contention but, little known fact, you still have to field a team, and the Red Sox are struggling to do that, as their starting pitching is currently the third worst in the Major Leagues.

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The Boston Red Sox “quiet” interest is centered on Carrasco and Ross, neither of which would be groundbreaking deals, but they would be solid enough to give this Red Sox rotation a bit of life going forward. Both Ross and Carrasco have been effective this year and play for teams that are on the down and out, like the Red Sox.

If the Red Sox want Carrasco, they are going to have to fend off the Chicago Cubs, who Ken Rosenthal notes as being another club that is in ongoing talks to land the Indians middleman.

The Blue Jays were also in on Carrasco but once you get David Price, you can put your worries aside.

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Since joining the Indians, Carrasco has been an unsung hero of that rotation, as he has put up a pretty stoic line of 3.07 ERA, 10.0 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, and 0.64 HR/9 in 196 1/3 innings. Those kinds of stats indicate more than just a controllable arm, and yet that is all he is valued at and the Red Sox would be well-served to take him at that valuation.

Tyson Ross is similarly “unsung” with a stat line that looks pretty impressive, a 3.07 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. His 60% ground ball rate is also a valuable asset seeing as how no one has of yet hit a ground ball home run.

Both options are not going to be overly expensive, yet their value to the Red Sox could be extensive, given their poor starting rotation quality thus far into the season. The Red Sox and their fan base are a proud gathering, so any sort of deal that increases their chances of winning, even just for pride points, will go a long way.

Next: DBacks must wait for Chapman

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