This prospect Fit(t)s with Red Sox

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 -- There were many occasions both this season and last when the Red Sox needed a temporary starting pitcher and would go with a bullpen game.

The fact that they reversed that trend on Sunday and called up their No. 13 prospect, Richard Fitts, for his MLB debut served as a sign that the team has developed another viable option in the upper Minors.

Fitts backed the organization’s faith in him by firing 5 2/3 solid innings against the White Sox in which he scattered six hits and two unearned runs while walking one and striking out two.

He threw 31 fastballs, 21 sliders, 12 sweepers and two splitters.

“Stuff was really good,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He spun it. Did a good job throwing strikes. There was traffic. He made some pitches. He had a blast. It was fun to watch.”

When Craig Breslow was hired as the team’s chief baseball officer 10 months ago, one of his biggest goals was to even out the imbalance that exists within a farm system that is loaded with highly touted position players but is lighter on the pitching side. That process takes time and remains a work on progress.

Fitts represented the start of that mission. On Dec. 5, Breslow traded Alex Verdugo to the Yankees for Fitts, reliever Greg Weissert and another Minor League righty in Nicholas Judice.

After starting his integration into Boston’s pitching program during the team’s Rookie Development Program over the winter, Fitts continued that process with Spring Training and earned a regular rotation spot with Triple-A Worcester, where he's made 24 appearances this season, including 23 starts, going 9-5 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.

“It’s been a huge development year for me,” Fitts said. “My physical development has come a long way, but a lot of it has been emotional -- you know, the mental side of the game. And I feel like I’ve [become] a lot better of a pitcher this year, just in Worcester and through that whole staff. And I really feel like I can get guys out, even if it’s not striking guys out, but finding a way to get them out any way that can.”

What Cora liked even more than the stuff was the poise that the 24-year-old Fitts showed in multiple ways in his debut. First, he picked off Luis Robert Jr. in the top of the first, swiftly erasing the first hit against him in his career. And in the fourth, Fitts got himself out of a first-and-third, one-out jam, handling a grounder back to the box and starting a 1-6-3 double play.

“There were two things that he did today that tell me that he’s going to be that good of a big leaguer,” Cora said. “The pickoff, [bench coach] Ramon [Vazquez] put it on, and he was patient, waited and got the guy out at first.

“And then the first and third, the ground ball with one out. There’s a lot of big leaguers that will panic in that situation, catch it and run the guy out at third and won’t turn the double play. He didn’t hesitate. Those two plays tell me where he’s at mentally. He knows what he needs to do to compete at this level.”

Considering that Fitts found out he was making Sunday’s start on relatively short notice, he had an impressive group of about 20 supporters who flew in from his native Alabama to Boston for the game.

“Yeah, it was pretty crazy,” said Fitts. “I was just telling them, like, ‘Hey, I don’t know for sure if I’m going to start, but there’s a possibility if you all want to come and try to find a way.' I had friends and all my family; they were so fast to find their plans. I can’t be more thankful for them.”

About an hour after the game, Fitts was still in full uniform, joined on the historic Fenway Park field by his family and friends.

“Today was really special, just because I got to share it with my family,” said Fitts. “I’m really honored to be a Red Sox today, and hopefully for a long time.”