The Red Sox are planning to select the contract of right-hander Richard Fitts tomorrow, according to Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. Per Smith, there’s a “really great chance” Fitts starts tomorrow’s game against the White Sox, though it’s also possible he’s used as a bulk reliever behind an Opener. The club’s 40-man roster is currently at capacity, meaning corresponding moves will be necessary to accommodate Fitts’s addition to both the 40-man and active rosters before tomorrow’s game.
Fitts, 24, was a sixth-round pick by the Yankees in the 2021 draft. After making his pro debut the following year, he reached the Double-A level with New York last year and delivered an impressive season with a 3.48 ERA in 152 2/3 innings of work across 27 starts where Fitts struck out 25.9% of batters faced. Over the offseason, Fitts was shipped to Boston alongside right-hander Greg Weissert and pitching prospect Nicholas Judice in the trade that sent Alex Verdugo to the Yankees.
It’s a trade that now looks rather lopsided in favor of the Red Sox, as Verdugo has struggled to an 84 wRC+ with New York this year and his lackluster performance has even prompted the club to consider bumping him from the lineup to accommodate top prospect Jasson Dominguez, though that has not happened to this point. Meanwhile, Weissert has provided the Red Sox with solid middle relief this year with a 3.81 ERA and 4.14 FIP in 52 innings of work. Now Fitts is set to join him in the majors coming off what has been a solid season at Triple-A, albeit not one as impressive as he posted at Double-A with the Yankees last year. In 116 2/3 innings of work this year, Fitts has posted a 4.17 ERA with a 22.6% strikeout rate against a 7.5% walk rate, as well as a career-best 42.4% grounder rate.
The right-hander will now make his way to Boston and look to carry that success he’s seen in the upper minors over into his major league debut. Should he start tomorrow’s game as expected, he’ll pitch opposite White Sox right-hander Chris Flexen, who sports a 5.36 ERA in 29 appearances with Chicago this year. While the Red Sox have a full rotation featuring Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Cooper Criswell at the moment, the club will now be able to offer their regular rotation extra rest ahead of a pair of tough series against the Orioles and Yankees next week by slotting Fitts in for a spot start.
Of course, the Red Sox are longshots to make the postseason at this point with a lackluster record of 72-70. Fangraphs gives the club a 9.9% chance to make the playoffs, although in order to do so they would need to run down either the Twins (76-66) or Royals (78-65) to capture an AL Wild Card spot with the AL East almost certainly out of reach. Even if getting their regular starters an additional day of rest ahead of a tough stretch of the schedule is unlikely to make an impact in the standings, however, it’s worth noting that the Red Sox would’ve needed to add Fitts to the 40-man roster this offseason even if they didn’t want him to get him big league exposure down the stretch in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, from which he’ll need to be protected this winter.
So he Fitts very well in Boston’s immediate plans.
Fitts and starts
A-bout time. He’s been on fire at AAA last few starts and a pleasure to watch.
john – He should have been called up in August instead of wasting their time on guys like Paxton, Hill and Ramirez.
Fitts earned this call up after having a good August. He had a rough July where he had a 7.94 ERA in 17 IP with 15 ERs, only 12 SOs and 6 HRs. His August was much better where he had a 2.89 ERA in 28 IP with 9 ERs, 32 SOs and 6 HRs.
And we’re off….if Dick Fitts….?
Why wouldn’t Fitts fit? Obviously the RS believe Fitts fits for the time being or else they wouldn’t try to fit Fitts into the rotation at this point.
24 years old, eh? I doubt it, narc.
narc as in narcissist or narc as in narcotic? Kids and their short-hand slang these days sheesh.
Ignorant – Not even worth trying to figure out some of the things written here.
Fitts is from Alabama, not the DR. Absolutely zero reason to question his age.
lol I questioned his age because he looks 40 in his profile picture, narc.
Finally, although probably should have just done this instead of signing Hill.
There’s something to be said for the slightly lesser pressure of not being called up as the expected savior of the wild card chase though.
The Red Sox have a better chance of getting the wild card in a game of “Concentration” from the 1960s that getting into the 2024 post-season. Cora blew it for them. Get used to it. You have three more years of this.
Yeah, it’s all on the manager…
This is a good time to give Fitts a test. He had some rough spots in AAA this year, but has been pitching well lately.
You trolling is actually more predictable.
There’s no harm in having him finish off the year facing some mlb quality hitting, it’s a short enough sample it wouldn’t rock his confidence if things don’t go well, and, will bookend nicely with opening in big league camp next spring. Combined it’ll give a good feeler both into the offseason and into next season if he should compete to make the jump in ’25 given the question marks in the rotation as it currently sits (and Henry’s purse strings tight shut to scrimp for a Cs bid.
GA: Good to see you. Agreed. Fitts reportedly needed to develop a third pitch when he came to the Red Sox. I’m not sure how to check on what he has been throwing lately, but hopefully he has been able to do that.
His parents knew exactly what they were doing when they named him.
Fitting…
I don’t know what I ever did here for people to be so hateful, but whatever. I have a right to my opinion. So many snowflakes on here. Thought I’d just say that. I have nothing baseball related to post because all I do is get criticized. People read one thing I say and assume they know everything about me. I have a lot to say, but I’m holding back.
I’d rather put my passion into actually watching the Sox and enjoying life, not living up to the petty words of opposition from people here who think they know everything.
I’d rather put my passion into my real life and watching the Sox rather than fall to the words of petty members here who think they know everything.
The fluff this guy vague-posting about?
So they got rid of dick mountain, now they’re gonna have Dick Fitts
Red Sox be having Fitts right now
Never forget that they denied us a staff with both Dick Fitts and Dick Mountain.
That’s that creepy voyeur neighbor with a video camera from American Beauty.
Ricky Fitts
If the pitcher fitts- the Red Sox will acquit, nicely
Love the inter-generational cultural reference. I was raising the roof; granny was going “hey-ho”…
Ignorant – Ironically we can thank the 1800’s British military for all these attempts at humor.
They coined the slang word by comparing it to a man’s second brain and little soldier, helmeted and ready for war.
The best I’ve experienced was attending a Reds game. After Jason Larue bagged his third hit, a gaggle of fans behind home plate started in with “Larue! Larue! Larue is on fire!!”
Adding a hurler such as Fitts, is well suited to pair uo with the surly nature of Red Sox Fandom these days with re the pen. A nice combo really: Fitts and the Tantrums
Dumpster, I’m not sure where you’re going with your comment. Most Sox fans are upset with the lies and prices given the operating and revenue funds they create for ownership. Sometimes you need to spend for the short term while you plan long term. Fans don’t care about what’s on the books already since they will not lower prices. Thus, we simply want ownership to reinvest in THIS team and not put Sox revenue in their other interests. Iis that too much to ask?
Dewey….Yup that’s the price of being the 3rd biggest sports conglomerate in the world. Many hands in the revenue pot. FSG ranks 2nd in MLB, the Liberty Media group who own the Atlanta Braves is the biggest conglomerate. They are ran by a corporate board, a lot like the Blue Jays. What is the central asset of FSG? Liverpool FC? Red Sox? Might still be Boston but Liverpool is coming…It would of been the Commanders if they accepted his bid.
King, if they don’t spend this off season, I actually envision a backlash. They were forced to overspend in my view by the fans to re-sign Devers but then they proved it was a one-off. The young team they said they were waiting for will be here in 25 yet they have to greatly improve defense, pitching and righty bats. This involves smart trades and spending again. The smart trades part is what worries me. The team does fine on smaller trades but always seems to have to add more players or simply screws it up. I’m still wondering after seeing Grissom what they saw to take him AND agree to pay the freight on Sales. Sales was a risk so some money was inevitable but the whole thing given his upside if healthy? I had overestimated Grissom and while it’s a small sample size, he’s done NOTHING to suggest he’s the future answer.
LFC is by far the better and more successful brand world wide … in terms eqaully of support and attendance ( roughly averaging 45-50 k per match ) and international coverage – their matches are shown in 144 nations whereas the Red Sox are known and followed mainly in North America. Soccer is far more followed globally than Baseball which isn’t even the number 1 sport in the US nowadays.
bum – The biggest problem, and biggest concern right now, is the Red Sox are owned by investors who don’t give a crap about winning. All they care about is profit, the bottom line.
If given the choice between making a $70M profit this year and missing the playoffs, or making the playoffs with a $50M profit, John Henry will choose the no postseason $70M profit every time.
BTW Liberty Media no longer owns the Braves, last year Atlanta Braves Holdings began trading on the Nasdaq.
dewey – The backlash began last year and has intensified this year. Look at the huge amount of empty seats at Fenway. They can fudge attendance figures all they want, when this year’s revenue and profit is reported next April you can expect another sizable drop.
The only question is how far a drop they will tolerate before they start spending again. At what point will they realize they can make a larger profit by putting a more competitive team on the field, instead of constantly reducing payroll.
French – I agree with most of what you wrote, but attendance support?
LFC draws 950,000 a year.
Red Sox draws 2.7M a year
The backlash began last year and has intensified this year. Look at the huge amount of empty seats at Fenway.
===================
This is false. The Red Sox average attendance per game is as follows:
2022: 32,409
2023: 32,989
2024: 32,897
baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2024-misc.sh…
Fever, and what about NESN and radio? I changed from T-Mobile and will not get the MLB package for free next year. If they don’t spend, I don’t spend …
Tickets sold or tickets purchased? You see the empty seats on the screen. There never was that issue until now.
dewey – In a world where every corporation is always trying to rip us off, T-Mobile is a godsend.
I’ve had them since they acquired Sprint.
$30 a month unlimited everything.
Free food every week on their app.
Lots of good discounts on hotels, car rentals, etc.
And free MLB.TV
Best deal evah!
Why you switch?
dewey – Not sure what you mean? What’s the difference between purchased and sold?
It is tickets sold which should be close to actual game attendance.
Hmmm, do hope the Reds can afford to bring Mo back while retaining Trent, Diaz and Darwin. So yeah, if Fenway mgmt gotta cut corners somewhere, why not the staff. Too bad about Mooky tho
FPG I agree with ya, I think Henry took some heavy losses somewhere and is using the team to try to recoup. Maybe it’s the lost money from when the UK was completely shut down and they got nothing from Liverpool? Players still had to be paid even if they weren’t playing. Acquiring the Pittsburgh Penguins could not of been cheap. Imagine how he would be if he succeeded in getting the Commanders?….
I’d like to see the Red Sox be a publicly traded company like the Knicks or apparently the Braves or be sold to the city of Boston like the Green Bay Packers.
I switched from T-Mobile because they got hacked and my financial information got leaked. They found my SSN sold on the dark web in 2021.
bum – Me too, but I don’t foresee FSG relinquishing control until Fenway Corners is complete. When that happens John Henry will be 83 and hopefully will want out.
bum – Oh man, sorry to hear. Hacking is everywhere though, that’s why I try to leave as little of a digital footprint as possible.
How did you find out? I never received a notification, and Sprint became T-Mobile by then.
I pay $15 a month for monitoring of my credit and anything to do with my SSN through LifeLock
Dewey- There truly is a way to make a statement in that regard, but it will never happen. Attendance at Fenway has been outstanding since the mid 60’s. Current ownership knows they can do pretty much anything and draw 2m+ easy, with some of the highest seating prices in the game.
It would take more spine than the base has to force Henry, or how he has become the last few years to change and he knows it am sad to say.
It’s become faairly obvious it’s keep good enough teems to contend (also spend enough), but forget about previous to say.. 2018 levels.
john – Sox were 7th-8th just a few years ago, but have since dropped to 11th in attendance last year and this year.
Now that every NL team is required to play in Fenway every other year, that will boost attendance even though the Yankees and Jays each play 3 less games at Fenway every year.
But revenue is far more important than attendance. As recently as 2019 it was impossible to get Sox tickets at below face value, now you can get tickets at a fraction of face value …. and I mean directly from the team too.
Can’t wait to see what this year’s final revenue figure is.
dewey – Spot on!!!
Dewey: I’m pretty happy that the Red Sox are staying away from long, expensive contracts for older free agents which leads to a lower payroll. These contracts usually go bad and hold back a team for years. I think they are likely keeping financial flexibility so they can fill holes with free agents when players like Anthony and Teel are up with the Red Sox. It is hard for me to call the Red Sox cheap when their CBT player payroll is over $200M every year and you see them sign Devers to a 11 year/$331M deal. Cheap teams don’t do those things.
All, it’s the lies like full throttle that I’m talking about and spending to actually try to compete. The moves they’ve made since 2019 when they re-signed Sale were simply minimal. We used to prey on other teams now we just pray…
I think baseball has been working to keep large market teams from preying on small market teams. The Devers deal is certainly not minimal. The Story deal and the Yoshida are also not minimal. I think they will likely stay away from longer, expensive deals except when it comes to locking up younger players. This will result is a lower total payroll at least until they lock up more young talent.
There was a garage punk band here in my hometown who played with Nirvana back in the day called Fitz of Depression.
Ignorant – I go way back when it comes to Seattle punk bands …. ever heard of The Fartz?
If the Richard Fitts…. Play him…. I know it’s only white Sox but better hop on board before wagon begins to pick up steam!!!!
olm – If EVER there was a perfect situation to break in a rookie pitcher, it’s pitching at Fenway against the 2024 ChiSox!!
I still think if he went by his middle name and called himself “Logan Fitts”, it might sound better. His parents would have been well-advised to name him something else.
I have a friend whose mom’s name was Ada and she married a guy whose last name was Fish…true story.
I went to college with a guy named Fisch. I’ve never met his wife though.
dewey – I met a guy whose name was Michael Hunt, really felt sorry for him.
Even if fitts bombs out, that trade was still fine. Good riddance to the clubhouse cancer that is verdugo. Now Yankees fans see what he is. In fact he’s been worse than usual this year.
Fitts today: 5.2 IP, 2R, 0ER, 6H, 2Ks, 1BB, 66 pitches
Well Fitts did okay.. got out of trouble a few times.. but again it’s not like he was facing a contender… for that matter not even facing St Mary’s of Florida LLWS champion team… positive momentum going forward.