With the Red Sox having a less than ideal season (last place in the AL East) a youth movement has slowly started to take over Boston. Guys like Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, and Christian Vazquez have all come onto the team and played in a considerable amount of games. Unfortunately, they haven’t managed to make an impact on the team’s record. Webster has struggled mightily on the mound, Betts hasn’t had enough time to catch much momentum, and Bogaerts has been in a slump since around May.
While the Red Sox have been doing their best to give the younger talent some playing time, they could be missing out on a stud currently proving their worth down in Pawtucket; Anthony Ranaudo.
Ranaudo, 24, has already landed two starts with the MLB team (viewed as audition starts for next year’s rotation). In his debut against the Angels, Ranuado went six strong innings, giving up just two earned runs on four-hits. His second start was a little rockier, giving up four-runs over six. Two starts is clearly not a large enough sample size to decide whether Ranaudo has what it takes to decide whether he can be a formidable starter. But apparently the Sox don’t think it’s the right time to find that out, as Anthony has found himself back in the minors, where he’s putting together an incredible season: 14-4, 2.46 ERA, 7.38 K/9, and a 1.18 WHIP. He’s been one of the best pitchers in both the Red Sox’ system, and in the International League (AAA).
At 6’7″, the righty out of LSU has the build and makeup to be a successful rotation piece down the line for Boston. While it’s safe to say Anthony will be in the rotation on Opening Day 2015, but he looks more than ready to be an impact starting now. So, why isn’t he? The rotation as it stands now is a mixed bag of struggling veteran Clay Buchholz (5.94 ERA) recently acquired Joe Kelly (4.67 ERA between Boston and St. Louis) youngster Allen Webster (with a disappointing 4.73 ERA) and Rubby De La Rosa, who is one of the only members of the Sox’ starting pitching staff having a breakout year with a 3.79 ERA over 12 starts (and even not that is too great). Basically, there isn’t a ton of competition keeping Ranaudo out of the everyday rotation.
Keeping a guy like Allen Webster in the rotation and watching him struggle is a bit of a questionable decision, especially if Ranaudo could be in the same spot, dealing quality starts. Sure, the Red Sox are nowhere near contention and most likely wont be making a heroic last-month push to take the division, so it’s not like the desperately need to win every game. But if they can plug in Ranaudo, have him prove that he can be a regular in the majors, why not? Now maybe Ranaudo’s ceiling is only as a number three starter, or maybe it’s higher, or even lower. But as of right now, he might be their best option just based on one impressive major league performance. With the rosters opening up in September, it’s likely that Ranaudo sees himself called up, and gets a chance to start a few games that may not have much meaning to Boston at the time.
With the Sox being a less than competitive team with several holes on the roster, look for more guys such as Ranaudo to receive playing time as Boston begins to rebuild their team.