SEATTLE — With the trade deadline behind them, the Red Sox are now looking forward to getting some major reinforcements to their pitching staff off the injured list in the coming weeks — and they could get creative in doing so.
Manager Alex Cora said he expects Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock to rejoin the team by mid-August and that Boston might welcome all three pitchers back by the time they start a long road trip in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 15. Sale, who made his first rehab start for the WooSox on Tuesday, will pitch again at Triple-A on Sunday and could rejoin the major league club at the end of its long homestand next weekend. Houck will make his first rehab start for Worcester on Saturday in Syracuse. Whitlock is also close to rehabbing and could pitch for the WooSox either Sunday (in relief of Sale) or Tuesday (once the WooSox return home).
Sale will be a starter, Cora said, but the Red Sox still haven’t decided on roles for Houck and Whitlock, each of whom have worked as starters and relievers in the past. Houck will throw 40-45 pitches Saturday then progress to the 60-65 range in his second rehab outing. It’s possible Whitlock returns as a reliever in the role he has had more success in so far as a big leaguer.
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With healthy starters Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and James Paxton all pitching well and bulk relievers Nick Pivetta and Chris Murphy dominating on bullpen days in recent weeks, the Red Sox may find themselves with more capable arms than spots once the rotation is at full strength. With that in mind, Cora expects some creative thinking down the stretch. Using openers before starters, like the Giants have this season is one possibility.
“There’s a good chance we piggyback somebody with Chris (Sale),” Cora said. “Then, obviously we’ve still got Murph, we’ve got Pivetta. We’ll see what we do with (Whitlock). It’s interesting until it doesn’t work. I do believe most of these guys have done it before. Most of these guys have done it before, the multi-inning thing, so if it works out for us, why not?
“The only thing we know for sure is that Chris is going to start,” Cora said. “After that, we’ve got to see where we’re at roster-wise and schedule-wise and see what we’re gonna do. The one thing we don’t want to run into is to have these guys and all of the sudden they’re limited and it puts us in a bad spot bullpen-wise. … Role-wise, we’ll decide what we do later on.”
The Red Sox are off Thursday before beginning a 10-game homestand during which the Blue Jays (three games), Royals (4) and Tigers (3) will come to Boston. They’ll have Aug. 14 off before a stretch of 16 games in 16 days that includes a three-city road trip to New York, Washington and Houston and home visits from the Astros and Dodgers. Cora hopes to have his staff at full strength by the beginning of the second stretch.
“If everything goes well, hopefully by Washington and New York, everybody’s back,” he said.
