The Red Sox are in the playoff mix with one month left, but their rotation is starting to wobble at the wrong time.
Boston has a shot to climb even higher in the standings and maybe even pass the New York Yankees for the top Wild Card spot. That push would look a lot safer with more stability on the mound.
Sonny Gray has faded down the stretch enough that the Red Sox pushed back his September 1 start to give him extra rest. Ranger Suarez has also slipped since Boston brought him back from the injured list on July 26, posting a 5.01 ERA across his last seven starts.
Jake Bennett and Payton Tolle are both rookies without postseason experience, and Patrick Sandoval is still working his way back after a nearly two-year recovery from UCL surgery.
That backdrop makes the trade deadline feel like a missed chance. Boston moved Connelly Early and Tyler Uberstine, which only thinned out the depth further, and the staff is especially light on right-handers.
Gray is the lone righty in the rotation. Two starters who changed teams at the deadline would have made sense as reinforcements for a staff that looks like it’s running low on fuel.
José Soriano was one of them. The Toronto Blue Jays surprised some people by making a big move for the former Los Angeles Angels right-hander, who has two more years of control after 2026.
That kind of deal would have required a serious investment from Boston, but Soriano has shown enough to make the idea tempting. Over four seasons, including his rookie year as a reliever, he owns a 3.75 ERA.
This season, between the Angels and Blue Jays, he has a 3.45 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 149 strikeouts and 67 walks over 151.1 innings. His lower-quartile walk rate is still a concern, but he continues to keep hitters from doing major damage.
Clay Holmes is the other arm the Red Sox could have used. Before the 2025 season, he signed a three-year, $38 million contract with the New York Mets, and Boston fans know him best from his run as the Yankees’ closer, which didn’t go so well.
The Mets moved him back into a starting role, and he has thrived since being traded to the Chicago Cubs after the deadline. Holmes has put up a 2.09 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over 81.2 innings this season, and he has been even sharper in Chicago, allowing just five runs on 20 hits across 29 innings.
In Other News...
Red Sox Pitching Reinforcements Are Near But One Return Just Got Murkier
Help is lining up for Bostons bullpen as September approaches, with Garrett Crochet and Tanner Houck both moving toward returns after injury rehabs. Crochet could start bullpen sessions soon and is slated to come back in a relief role, while Houck has already thrown a simulated game and is expected to fill long relief once he is ready.
Justin Slatens path has become less straightforward. His rehab was recently adjusted because of lingering elbow soreness, which pushes back his timetable and leaves the Red Sox with one more uncertainty in a relief mix that already figures to be in flux as the calendar turns. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Already Have A Painful New Question About Adley Rutschman
The Red Sox made a hefty bet when they brought Adley Rutschman over from Baltimore, sending three top prospects, including pitcher Anthony Eyanson, to the Orioles in the deal. Boston had to expect an adjustment period, but the early returns have been uneven: Rutschman has played only 15 games for the club and, before the injury, had not exactly found a groove at the plate.
Now the bigger issue is less about the price tag and more about what comes next. Rutschman is sidelined with a hyperextended elbow, leaving Boston to wait on both his availability and his production while the prospects it gave up have looked strong in the minors. For a team that moved real talent to get a proven name, that is the kind of comparison that can start feeling uncomfortable quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Deadline Verdict Centers On One Newcomer Delivering Fast
The Red Sox spent the deadline making two of their biggest bets in very different ways, and the early returns have already started to shape how the move is being judged. Adley Rutschman arrived from Baltimore in a four-prospect deal that also sent Carlos Narvaez the other way, giving Boston the kind of established catcher it rarely gets without paying a heavy price. Since the trade, though, Rutschman has not provided much at the plate, leaving the move in the early stages of a wait-and-see phase.
Erik Miller has given the front office a much cleaner first impression. The left-hander came over in a separate deal for Marcelo Mayer and has been excellent out of the bullpen, pairing a low ERA with a strong strikeout-to-walk ratio. With team control running through 2029 and a track record that now stretches back to his 2024 debut, Miller already looks like the kind of arm Boston can build around while the bigger questions around the deadline haul keep unfolding. [Read more 🡒]