Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom assured fans where expectations stand with the team, along with the goal of this season on Tuesday.
“We’re trying to make the postseason. So, whatever that means — we’re going to explore a lot of stuff,” Bloom said, as seen on NESN’s pregame coverage. “Some of them might be things people expect, some of them might not be. But you know, we want to get this group into the postseason.”
Boston (49-49) suffered their fourth loss in five games on Tuesday, falling to last place in the American League East division. One area in need of improvement, most notably in the month of July, is the Red Sox starting pitching rotation.
With injuries to veteran starting arms such as Chris Sale, Rich Hill and Michael Wacha, the team has resorted to calling upon Triple-A affiliate arms to fill the void. Unfortunately, for the Red Sox, that hasn’t panned out in Boston’s favor.
In the month of July, Red Sox starters have gone 0-12 with a 7.85 ERA — allowing 82 earned runs off 126 hits (13 home runs) and 44 walks through 94 innings pitched. That won’t cut it for a team trying to punch their ticket to the postseason.
Here are five starting pitching options the team could target by the Aug. 2 deadline:
Luis Castillo, RHP — Cincinnati Reds
Perhaps the most buzz-generating pitcher on the trade market this year, Castillo has delivered the strongest showing of his career during his 2022 campaign.
Castillo, 29, has progressively improved month by month this season, notching a 1.29 ERA for the month of July in three starts. In his last five starts, the righty has allowed three earned runs through 18 combined innings pitched, registering a 0.96 ERA.
Johnny Cueto, RHP — Chicago White Sox
One of baseball’s most reliable right-handed arms since joining the White Sox starting rotation in May.
Cueto, 36, has made 12 starts for the White Sox this season. Within those 12 starts, the 15-year veteran has registered 10 appearances of six innings or more while only surpassing three earned runs just one time. This season, Cuteo has gone 4-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 81 innings pitched.
Frankie Montas, RHP — Oakland Athletics
Another right-handed veteran putting together a career year.
Montas, 29, has made 19 starts for the Athletics this season — going 4-9 with a 3.18 ERA in 104 1/3 innings pitched. That record, however, is deceiving, considering Montas has allowed four or more earned runs in just two of his last 14 starts.
In his last five, Montas is 1-2 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 innings pitched.
Pablo Lopez, RHP — Miami Marlins
Pitching a career-high 116 innings by the month of July, Lopez has had his strongest season in year five in the big leagues.
Lopez, 26, recovered in the month of July, following a rough showing in June in which the righty allowed 17 earned runs through a span of five starts (5.43 ERA). However, through five starts in July, Lopez has allowed 10 earned — posting a 3.18 ERA for Miami.
Overall, Lopez has gone 7-5 with a 3.03 ERA in 20 games for the Marlins this year.
Noah Syndergaard, RHP — Los Angeles Angels
While Syndergaard hasn’t pitched to the standard in which he once did on a night in and night out basis with the New York Mets, the seven-year veteran certainly has shown enough to generate trade interest from teams in need of a mid-level arm. Considering he’s signed to a one-year deal with the Angels, it’s likely that Los Angeles will look to deal Syndergaard amid a year of no playoff contention.
Syndergaard, 29, is 5-8 this season with a 3.83 ERA in 15 starting appearances.
The Aug. 2 MLB Trade Deadline is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.
