Will Red Sox Tweak Starting Pitching Rotation? Alex Cora Opens Up

While the Red Sox largely have been troubled by a quiet offense of late, their starting pitching hasn’t been doing the club any favors either.

Garrett Richards was dealt his seventh loss of the season Tuesday night when Boston fell 4-2 to the Tigers in Detroit. It was another short outing for Richards, who labored through four innings. You’d have to go all the way back to June 1 for the last time the right-hander completed six frames. Fellow back-end-of-the-rotation arm Martín Pérez has been equally pedestrian, as he’s only completed six once dating back to June 8.

Changes to Boston’s rotation do not appear to be imminent, but manager Alex Cora made it clear after the series opener it’s something he’s discussed with his coaching staff.

“We’re talking about it, and if we have to make adjustments, we will,” Cora told reporters, per MLB.com. “We still believe in these guys. We do believe that they can go five, six innings for us just like they did early in the season and put us in a good spot to win.”

An obvious impending tweak to the rotation will come in the form of Chris Sale, who very well could make his final rehab start Saturday. The ripple effect of Sale’s return remains to be seen, however. The Red Sox could bump someone out of the rotation, or perhaps Cora would prefer a six-man crew for the final month and a half of the regular season.

As for the present, Eduardo Rodríguez will try to help Boston get back in the win column Wednesday night. NESN will have complete coverage of the Red Sox-Tigers clash beginning at 6 p.m. ET.