Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom recently discussed the club's starting pitching depth ahead of the trade deadline.
Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom addressed the elephant in the room at a recent press conference: the team's pitching rotation.
In 2023, the Red Sox's starting pitching lineup has a combined ERA of 4.80. If Boston wants to be serious about making a playoff push, that number has to go down. The MLB trade deadline is coming up in a little over a month, and many fans are preemptively assuming the Red Sox will reinforce their pitching rotation to stay competitive.
Currently sitting in dead last in the AL East, Boston isn't guaranteed to be buyers at the deadline, and Bloom's answer to those hopeful fans was like popping a balloon:
"You have to constantly be on the lookout to add and constantly pushing yourself to see if you can get more out of the guys that are in-house because if you can help somebody take that leap to where they really become a viable part of that mix, it just gives you that many more options moving forward."
Essentially, Bloom suggests that the club could look internally rather than externally to fix their pitching woes, a much less exciting solution altogether.
Chaim Bloom says Red Sox may not reach out externally to solve pitching woes
What appeared to be one of the team's greatest assets has become a weakness in recent weeks as injuries continue to decimate the Red Sox's pitching corps. Chris Sale and Corey Kluber have both landed on the injured list, and the team got a frightful scare after James Paxton's injury.
Plentiful external options include Tigers' Eduardo Rodriguez and Cardinals' Jack Flaherty, though as Bloom said, almost every other team is looking for pitching help and the best guys are "going to be hotly contested."
Does that mean Boston isn't willing to put up a fight?
The Red Sox could instead take a closer look at some of their developing prospects, albeit any youngster's ability to make an immediate impact in the majors may be minimal.
We'll see what Bloom and the Red Sox actually choose to do on August 1.