Red Sox rotation persevering through injuries

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.

The Red Sox's starting pitching is depleted at the moment, with three rotation members currently on the injured list, but that doesn’t mean the standards are going to lower for whomever takes the ball for manager Alex Cora and pitching coach Andrew Bailey on a daily basis.

“Like I said before, we’re going to keep going. That’s where we are. We’re going to pitch. We will pitch,” Cora said.

The first few weeks of the season have been historic for a Boston rotation that has a 1.73 ERA -- the lowest for the club in the first 25 games of a season since 1913, when earned runs became official in both leagues. In fact, that ERA is the lowest for any team through 25 games in the divisional era (since 1969), beating out the 1978 Oakland Athletics (1.79 ERA).

Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford -- the two pitchers still active from the season-opening rotation -- have been brilliant.

Nick Pivetta made two starts before being shut down by a flexor strain in his right elbow. Garrett Whitlock made four starts before a right oblique injury sent him to the injured list.

And the latest loss is Brayan Bello, who made five starts before joining his friends on the IL on Wednesday with right lat tightness.

Just as Josh Winckowski stepped into the rotation and helped the club to a 6-1 victory on Sunday, Cooper Criswell fired five shutout innings in Wednesday’s 8-0 win over the Guardians.

Bello was scheduled to start Thursday’s finale in Cleveland, but veteran Chase Anderson will step into that slot.

The Red Sox are proving to be unflappable in large part due to the leadership of Cora and Bailey.

“We move on to the next day,” said Bailey. “Obviously we’re invested in all of our players and taking the information from the medical staff and making the best decision with the player as best we can. That’s all we can do. And working to attack and win every ballgame that’s in front of us.

“Obviously with Bello and Whit and Pivetta coming back hopefully soon, we’ve got to really lean on our guys who are here and put them in position to succeed both from a workflow standpoint and from a strategy perspective. Our group is really talented, and we’re excited for them to go out and get the opportunity and make the most of it.”

Boston’s newly-formed pitching factory, led by Bailey, director of pitching Justin Willard and game-planning coordinator Jason Varitek, is turning into an impressive model of consistency.

“When teams come in to play us or we go somewhere to play, we want to be viewed as a team that’s going to attack the zone and be in count leverage throughout the at-bats,” said Bailey. “As a staff, we want swings. Swings are positive outcomes for pitchers, historically. A ball in play, it’s most likely going to be an out. We know the damage goes down as the at-bat goes on and we drive count leverage. Attacking the zone early and often and filling the zone up with your best stuff and getting strike one is highly important to sustained success.”

The program will help guide the starting pitchers who fill in. And if the Red Sox can weather this stretch of missing Bello, Whitlock and Pivetta, they could be poised to go on a run when they are back to full strength.

“We have a good game plan,” Cora said. “They throw the thing over the plate with good stuff and it moves. We’re going to keep working. Like I said, it’s hard [with pitchers out], I get it. But we have to continue. Nobody is going to feel sorry for the Red Sox.”