Will Red Sox deploy a 6-man rotation in 2025?

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOSTON -- With a plethora of starting pitchers suddenly at their disposal, the Red Sox might alleviate the logjam by going with a six-man rotation, something the club has never done for more than short spurts in a season.

In a vacuum, the six-man rotation doesn’t always make sense, because many pitchers tend to like the routine of a five-man rotation.

But when you look at the starters employed by the Red Sox, there is definitely a case for it.

Garrett Crochet, the recently acquired lefty who the Red Sox envision as their new ace, is coming off his first full season as a starting pitcher -- and his workload was reduced down the stretch, keeping him at 146 innings in 2024.

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Tanner Houck, an ace and an All-Star in the first half (2.54 ERA) of last season, dipped in the second half (4.23 ERA) while developing right shoulder fatigue as he threw a career-high 178 2/3 innings. Perhaps the extra day of rest would allow him to keep thriving for a full season.

Lucas Giolito didn’t pitch at all last season after undergoing an internal bracing procedure on his right elbow. Though Giolito was pleased to log a career-high 184 1/3 innings in his last healthy season of 2023, easing back in with a six-man rotation after a lost year could help him.

Walker Buehler, the World Series hero who signed a one-year, $21.05 million contract with Boston just after Christmas, spent most of last year trying to get back in a groove after missing all of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery. Finally, in the playoffs, everything clicked for Buehler. With a less-taxing starting routine, perhaps Buehler could be in fine form all season. Buehler pitched as part of a six-man rotation at times with the Dodgers.

“I've always been fine with the five-day [routine] in years that I've been healthy or when we go on five or six,” Buehler said. “It doesn't really matter to me. Obviously I've experienced both and been a part of both. So when we talked about [signing with the Red Sox], it was like, there is a potential that we would do [a] six-man [rotation].

“If that's something they want to go to, I'm obviously open to it or kind of accustomed to it. But there's also some pride in trying to go and make 32 [starts] and throw 200 [innings]. And I know given my injury history, that that's kind of a different deal. But I have done that. So I think there's pros and cons to both. And I think at the end of the year, that six-man probably paid some dividends for us [with the Dodgers], but also you've got to get there.”

Brayan Bello took a slight step back in 2024 after a strong ’23. He threw 157 innings in ’23 and 162 1/3 in ’24. Consistency is the biggest thing Bello lacks. Pitching on a six-day routine could enable him to find more of it.

Finally, there is Kutter Crawford, who led the Majors with 33 starts last season. On a traditional depth chart, Crawford could be headed for the bullpen, though he has proven he can start. A six-man rotation could keep him starting.

Cooper Criswell and No. 10 prospect Richard Fitts give Boston additional depth options in the rotation should someone else get injured, and lefty free-agent acquisition Patrick Sandoval could be ready to go by the second half of the season as he comes back from Tommy John.

“I think we have had some conversations,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “[Manager] Alex [Cora], [pitching coach Andrew Bailey] and I, we've batted around some ideas. I think we'll need to get to Spring Training, see how everyone reports and make a decision from there.”

At this point, all options are in play.

“I mean, philosophically, I am supportive of anything we can do to keep our best players on the field performing at a really high level, and this potentially could be one of them,” Breslow said. “It necessitates particular construction of a bullpen as well, right? We need to have relievers who are capable of throwing multiple innings. I think we have that when you think about guys like [Josh] Winckowski, guys like [Garrett] Whitlock, who has done this in the past, Criswell, who kind of bounced back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen. And so I do think that we're well positioned to implement a six-man rotation, if that's the direction that we want to go.”