New Red Sox trade acquisition 'controlled the game' when facing Portland this past season
When the Red Sox made their first big move during the winter meetings, fans were thrown for a surprise when it happened to be with the New York Yankees.
The return for Alex Verdugo netted three arms from New York’s system. Nicholas Judice was an 8th round draft pick this past year and didn’t appear in any games yet. The other two pitchers, Greg Weissert and Richard Fitts, are very well-known by the Red Sox due to facing the Red Sox minor league affiliates over the years.
Fitts immediately slides in as the third best pitching prospect in Boston’s system, according to SoxProspects.com. He is coming off a year for Double-A Somerset where he went 11-5 and posted a 3.48 ERA alongside a 1.140 WHIP. The right-hander started 27 games this past season, with 4 of those starts coming against the Portland Sea Dogs.
Red Sox prospect Alex Binelas played in 3 of those 4 games in which Fitts started against Portland. Among his at-bats against Fitts, Binelas homered in a game in May. He recalled facing Fitts about what he saw when he stood in the batter’s box against him.
“I remember he controlled the game well when he pitched.” Binelas said on facing Fitts. “He threw strikes and commanded multiple plus pitches in the zone that he threw at any time and in any count.”
While Fitts ended up not being able to pick up a win in his four starts against Portland in 2023, he still left an impression on a team with guys like Binelas and quite a few of the top prospects in the system.
Fitts is projected to fill one of the open WooSox rotation spots to begin 2024. While I am sure this rotation will change a couple more times as trades and free agents are added, Fitts showed he could hang at the Double-A level and would benefit from some Triple-A time. With Shane Drohan now out of the rotation, it seems like a logical swap.
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