The Red Sox’s deadline splash for Adley Rutschman changed the shape of the organization’s pitching depth chart in a hurry. Boston gave up two of its top arms, Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, and suddenly the system’s pitching picture looks a lot thinner at the top.
With Eyanson and Witherspoon gone, the only Red Sox pitchers still sitting in MLB Pipeline’s top 10 are Juan Valera at No. 5, Sadbiel Delzine at No.
6, Marcus Phillips at No. 8, and John Holobetz at No. 10.
Valera is in High-A but is out for the foreseeable future after Tommy John surgery earlier this season. Delzine has looked good, but he has only made two starts in Single-A.
Phillips is also in High-A and dealing with command issues, even if the stuff is intriguing.
That leaves Holobetz as the one closest to the majors. He’s the only one above High-A, and he just made his Triple-A debut, which pushes the Pottstown kid into the spotlight as Boston’s nearest pitching prospect to the big leagues.
Holobetz originally came to the Red Sox as the player to be named later in the Quinn Priester deal, and he didn’t stay hidden for long. He climbed quickly to Double-A and turned into a name worth tracking.
The right-hander doesn’t win with pure flash. His fastball and sinker are solid, but he sits in the low-90s and doesn’t overwhelm anyone with velocity.
His secondary pitches are fine, but none of them jumps out as a true difference-maker. The changeup, though, stands out as the pitch that could give him something extra.
What really defines Holobetz is control. Last season, he threw 124 2/3 innings and posted an 8.66 K/9 with a 1.44 BB/9. This year, the walks have climbed to a still-strong 2.66 BB/9, but the strikeouts have jumped too, all the way to 10.52 K/9.
Across 17 games and 15 starts in Double-A this season, the 24-year-old put up a 4.33 ERA, a .236 BAA, and a 1.22 WHIP. He struck out 93 and walked 25 in 79 innings. Then in his Triple-A debut last week, he allowed one run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings, struck out six, and didn’t issue a walk.
Boston’s pitching depth is in an odd place right now. Garrett Crochet is still a ways away from returning, and Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford have been out all year. That opens the door for Holobetz to be one of the first names in line if the Red Sox need a spot start from Triple-A.
The expectation isn’t that he’ll arrive with fireworks. His swing-and-miss has ticked up this season, but it’s been built on command more than overpowering stuff.
That may not translate into huge strikeout totals in the majors. Still, he looks like the kind of pitcher who can give you five-plus innings and keep traffic off the bases.
He’s the sort of arm that would probably draw a lot of “WHO?” from fans when he gets the call. But if he keeps pitching like this, it wouldn’t take long for those same fans to warm up to him as a back-end rotation option.
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Red Sox Trade Is Already Creating A Debate Boston Fans Dread
The Adley Rutschman trade is already under the microscope in Boston, and one of the young arms coming back to Baltimore wasted little time giving the deal some early shape. Anthony Eyanson, now in the Orioles system, made his debut for the Chesapeake Baysox and worked five innings while giving up two runs on four hits and a walk, with nine strikeouts. For Red Sox fans still sorting through what it means to part with a star catcher, every first appearance from the other side of the deal feels like part of the same running evaluation.
Kyson Witherspoon was also on the mound for his first start in the Orioles organization the same day, adding another layer to a trade that will be judged for years rather than weeks. Boston moved Rutschman because it believed the long-term return could help reshape the roster, but early outings from the prospects are only fueling the uneasy debate that comes with any big deadline deal. The real answer is still far off, and that is exactly what makes these first impressions matter so much. [Read more 🡒]
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Now the broader question is no longer just when Casas comes back, but what Boston does next. The club has other names in the mix for first base, including Willson Contreras and prospects Kristian Campbell and Jack Winnay, which leaves the Red Sox looking at a spot that once seemed like it might be settled and instead feels very much up for grabs. [Read more 🡒]