Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Boston Red Sox Starters Have Been Dominant to Start 2024

Originally posted on Inside The Diamonds | Last updated 4/20/24

The Boston Red Sox last night won the first game of their three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The win was led by four home runs which were hit by Wilyer Abreu, Triston Casas, Rob Refsnyder, and Ceddanne Rafaela. They were also led by a dominant start from Brayan Bello as he went six shutout innings allowing just one hit; he walked two and struck out seven. The Red Sox lead all of baseball with a 1.72 ERA, and their starting rotation consisting of Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and despite being injured right now Garrett Whitlock and Nick Pivetta combine for a 1.64 ERA. The pitching staff was supposed to be an issue for this team but new pitching coach Andrew Bailey has transformed them into a dominant group through the first 21 games of the season.

Red Sox Starting Rotation

Brayan Bello

Bello through five starts is 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA, a 4.10 FIP, a 1.05 WHIP, a 1.4 HR/9, a 2.4 BB/9, and an 8.8 K/9. Bello relies on three pitches throwing his sinker 39.7%, his changeup 34.1%, and his slider 26.1% of the time.

Kutter Crawford

Crawford has made four starts and will make his fifth today. He is 0-0 with a major league-best 0.42 ERA, a 2.22 FIP, a 0.79 WHIP, a 0.0 HR/9, a 3.4 BB/9, and a 10.1 K/9. He relies on six pitches throwing a four seamer 30.1%, a sweeper 28.4%, a cutter 27.3%, a split finger 6.5%, a knuckle curve 6.5%, and a slider 1.1%

Tanner Houck

Houck through four starts is 3-1 with a 1.35 ERA, a 2.04 FIP, a 0.90 WHIP, a 0.3 HR/9, a 0.7 BB/9, and a 9.5 K/9. Houck has five pitches throwing a slider 43.3%, a sinker 32.1%, a split finger 18.4%, a cutter 5.9%, and a four seamer 0.3%.

Nick Pivetta

Pivetta only made two starts before landing on the Injured List going 1-1 with a 0.82 ERA, a 2.29 FIP, a 0.81 WHIP, a 0.8 HR/9, a 0.8 BB/9, and a 10.6 K/9. He throws five pitches, a four seamer 32.8%, a sweeper 26.4%, a cutter 20.7%, curveball 16.7%, and a slider 3.4%

Garrett Whitlock

Whitlock just landed on the Injured List with an oblique injury. In his first four starts, he was 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA, a 3.37 FIP, a 1.14 WHIP, a 0.5 HR/9, a 3.4 BB/9, and an 8.3 K/9. Whitlock relies on five pitches throwing a changeup 28.3%, a sinker 22.7%, a cutter 19.3%, a slider 15.3%, and a sweeper 14.3%.