Boston Red Sox: Breaking down their 2021 pitching staff
By Sean Basile
Boston’s top three pitchers all have major question marks. What’s going to make it interesting is the additions of Garrett Richards and Matt Andriese who should both work between the rotation and bullpen this year, especially once Sale comes back.
Andriese was actually not half bad last year for the Angels despite posting a 4.50 ERA. He hit the 60th percentile in fastball spin and the 73rd in curveball spin. He was also in the 60-70th percentile ranges in all of the “expected” categories such as xERA, xBA, and so on while also landing himself in the 64th percentile in K-rate. He’s not overpowering nor is his stuff top of the line, but he’s been managing to make quality pitches that put him in the best position to get outs.
Andriese is a really good long relief/spot starter guy and once he settles into that definitive role, I think he’s going to be a really nice addition to this Boston Red Sox staff.
Garrett Richards has the best spin rate on the team. He landed in the 98th percentile last year in fastball spin and the 100th in curveball spin. Plus, his velocity on his fastball ticked up from 94.1 in 2019 to 95.1 in 2020 while he was with the Padres working out of their pen for most of the year.
Like Andriese, I think Richards is going to find himself looking better in a relief role, though keep an eye on him to make some noise in the rotation as well with the comeback he’s seemingly made from all those years of injury.
The data says guys like E-Rod and Eovaldi are not as great as our eyes tell us- plus they both have health and control questions to them. Chris Sale is in a similar boat with everybody wondering how he’s going to look once he comes back. And then we have guys like Garrett Richards and Matt Andriese who don’t look half bad when we go into their breakdowns, but who we also know can be hit or miss.