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The Boston Red Sox haven't gotten off to the best of starts to the 2025 season, with Rafael Devers' slump from the plate dominating the headlines. But help is on the way for the Red Sox as they move to 2-4 on the year after an impressive 3-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday which was buoyed by an ace-level start from Garrett Crochet, who pitched eight innings and struck out eight in a shutout victory.
Crochet is having to do some very heavy lifting for the Red Sox rotation, and he's certainly capable of doing so. In fact, both Red Sox wins thus far in 2025 have come during Crochet's starts. But Boston is going to get a few starting pitching reinforcements in no time, with Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello receiving positive updates in their road to recovery from injury.
Giolito looked very good in his rehab start with Triple-A Worcester, as he allowed just one hit and one walk in 2.1 innings of work while striking out two, as per Christopher Smith of Mass Live. He also had his entire repertoire in display, as he threw his four-seamer, changeup, slider, and curveball at least once, and his fastball topped out at 94.7 mph on a night where he averaged 93.2 on his heater, as noted by Smith.
Meanwhile, manager Alex Cora said that “everything went well” in Bello's rehab start for Triple-A, although he did allow four runs on four hits and two walks in 2.1 innings of work. The good news is that his fastball looked good at 97.3 mph.
Red Sox's rotation to receive a boost shortly
The first go-around for the Red Sox's current starting rotation wasn't very promising. The likes of Walker Buehler, Tanner Houck, Sean Newcomb, and Richard Fitts all underwent their fair share of struggles in their season debut, and with the Red Sox offense sputtering to start the year, this is not the kind of play Boston envisioned prior to the start of the season. Of course, we are only six games in, and the Red Sox have plenty of time to figure it out.
It's not quite clear when Giolito will be returning to the big-league roster, but this performance suggests that he is getting very close to making his season debut for the Red Sox. On the other hand, the Red Sox are going to be cautious with Bello, as Smith noted that Boston is going to be requiring him to make three more rehab starts before receiving the big-league call.
