Newly Acquired Red Sox Pitcher Gets Intriguing Prospect Ranking

The Red Sox acquired three pitchers from the New York Yankees in exchange for Alex Verdugo on Tuesday night, and one of those hurlers is already seen as one of Boston’s best pitching prospects.

Richard Fitts, who turns 24 later this month, wears that label almost immediately as he slots in as the No. 10 overall prospect in the Red Sox farm system by MLB Pipeline and the organization’s second-best pitching prospect only behind Wikelman Gonzalez.

It’s clear why Fitts has the most upside out of the trio of arms the Red Sox landed from their archrival. Fitts is coming off a season in which he went 11-5 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.140 WHIP in 27 starts with Double-A Somerset to earn Eastern League Pitcher of the Year honors.

Greg Weissert, who has bounced back and forth from the big leagues and Triple-A the past two seasons, doesn’t own an accolade like that while the other pitcher the Red Sox obtained in Nicholas Judice is viewed as a long-term project.

The Red Sox have highly touted prospects in their system, but nearly all of them are position players, leaving them in need of youthful arms they could potentially lean on in the future.

Fitts may never be a big-league star, but he could develop into a reliable starter in the back-half of the rotation, especially with his ability to consistently pound the strike zone. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound right-hander finished sixth in all of minor league baseball in walk rate last season, per MLB.com.

Trading for Fitts gives the Red Sox another solid pitching prospect they can groom for the future, and it’s especially needed after Boston lost one of its pitchers who showed potential in the minors this past season in Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft.