TORONTO — When Garrett Whitlock was ruled out for the season after undergoing elbow surgery, it appeared right-hander Cooper Criswell would have the chance to establish himself in the Red Sox rotation for the rest of the season. With that in mind, it came as a surprise to see Criswell packing up his locker and departing Rogers Centre before Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays.
With setup man Chris Martin ready to be active after missing 14 games due to anxiety, the Red Sox made the somewhat surprising decision to option Criswell to Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday afternoon. The righty, who has made 11 starts for Boston this season, had been on the active roster since April 13 — and had seemingly pitched well enough to keep his spot. But with an eye on roster flexibility and a generous upcoming schedule, the Red Sox decided to send him down to Worcester, where he began the year.
Beginning Thursday, Boston has three days off in a 12-day span (and four in 19 days). That will allow manager Alex Cora to manipulate his rotation so that his top four starters — Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta — pitch most of the Sox’ upcoming games. Houck (Tuesday) and Bello (Wednesday) will finish off the current series in Toronto before Crawford (Thursday) and Pivetta (Friday) pitch on regular rest this weekend in Cincinnati. The Red Sox will need a starter for Sunday’s series finale against the Reds but have two long relievers with plenty of big league rotation experience on the roster in Chase Anderson and Brad Keller.
“Maximizing the roster, understanding that there’s a few off days coming up, that’s the reason,” Cora said.
Criswell, who signed a one-year, $1 million free agent deal with the Sox in December, took over a rotation spot in mid-April and remained part of the starting five when Pivetta, Bello and Whitlock all went down with injuries. Criswell excelled to a 2.10 ERA in his first six games with the Red Sox winning all five of his starts in that span. It has been rougher sledding since, with Criswell pitching to a 6.15 ERA (despite a 3.45 FIP) and allowing 29 hits in 26 ⅓ innings over his last six outings since May 16. He has given Boston at least five innings just twice in that span and needed 88 pitches to get through four innings Saturday against the Yankees, when he allowed two runs on three hits while punching out six.
In total, Criswell has a 4.15 ERA (and 3.69 FIP) in 52 innings and the Red Sox are 8-4 when he starts.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Cora said of the message to Criswell. “This is not a decision about him struggling here. It’s more about maximizing the roster.”
In all likelihood, Criswell will get another chance to start in the majors sooner rather than later; if the Red Sox do buy at the trade deadline, then targeting a fifth starter makes sense. Josh Winckowski is being stretched out at Triple-A as a depth option while prospect Richard Fitts has also pitched well and Shane Drohan is back in the organization after the White Sox picked him in the Rule 5 draft and returned him last week. Criswell, though, remains the top depth option in the system.
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By plugging in a fifth starter Sunday, the Red Sox can use the off days ahead of them to use a four-man rotation, on full rest, for the next couple of weeks. They wouldn’t need a fifth starter again until early July, when Criswell can come back after his minimum 15 days in the minors (he can replace an injured player in that span).
Cora also celebrated the return of Martin, who said Monday he’s feeling better mentally and is ready to contribute after working through things for the last couple of weeks.
“He’s one of our best arms and if the situation shows there in the seventh or eighth, we’ll use him,” Cora said.
Cora commended martin for being open about his mental health issues.
“It’s where we’re at now and I’m glad it’s happening,” he said. “First thing’s first, to be honest about it and use this platform the right way, I think it’s very important. He has the left shoulder issue, so easily, we could have said, ‘Yeah, it’s the left shoulder.’ But he wanted to be honest with everybody. I appreciate that and I tip my hat to him. I think him opening up probably helped a lot of people out there.”
