After Suffering Key Injuries, Where can the Red Sox Turn Next for Pitching Help?

The Red Sox pitching situation has been pretty ugly. With injuries to David Price, Tyler Thornburg and most recently Steven Wright, the team has exhausted almost all options. The team has used Brian Johnson and Kyle Kendricks for spot starts already along with rotating in Ben Taylor, Noe Ramirez and Brandon Workman from Pawtucket into the bullpen.

            After having mediocre success so far, where can the Red Sox turn next?

            Henry Owens is still an option. Owens has pitched well this season in Pawtucket, pitching to a 3-0 record in five starts along with a 1.35 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 26.2 innings. Jake Peavy is still a free agent. Peavy pitched for the Red Sox for parts of the 2013 and 2014 seasons. He combined for a 5-10 record with a 4.48 ERA in 30 starts during that time. Peavy isn’t the best option, but would provide some veteran experience the team otherwis would not get from internal options.

            Swinging a trade could be another option.

            There are short-term options such as R.A. Dickey, Jeremy Hellickson and Ricky Nolasco. All three veteran pitchers are set to hit free agency following the 2017 season and currently pitch for a team under .500.

            There are more long-term options such as Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox, Sonny Gray of the Oakland A’s and Julio Teheran of the Atlanta Braves. All three have been mentioned in trade talks before with various amounts of willingness from their organization to move them.

            The team could sit back and wait for Price to return as well. Price is almost ready to begin his rehab assignment. It isn’t a move that will catch headlines, but it would show that the front office has patience and believes in the organization’s options. The team also has a shallow pool of prospects to deal which could impact their decision. Minorleagueball.com ranked the Red Sox as the 24^th best farm system in baseball. The team dealt top prospects Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Manuel Margot and Anderson Espinoza in the last year.

            Wherever help may come, we can expect general manager Dave Dombrowski to stay actively looking throughout the month of May. With a couple of key injuries and especially after losing Wright for the season, the team’s pitching depth has gotten extremely thin. But as the team expects Price to return soon, and Carson Smith to return in June from Tommy John Surgery, the two could very well be all the help the team needs. Whatever route Dombrowski may choose, we do know that the organization will evaluate every available option.