Starting Pitching Depth is the Key to Today’s MLB
Ranger Suarez adds to a growing stable of Red Sox starters
The Los Angeles Dodgers have won the last two World Series, and in each of those years, 17 pitchers started games during the regular season. Sure, there are a few openers in there but last year their roster included Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, and Tony Gonsolin, all legit starters. They were so deep, in fact, that they made Sasaki the playoff closer and all he did was pitch in 9 playoff games with a 0.84 ERA and 3 saves.
Starter depth didn’t used to be a thing. In the olden days, you expected to have a 4-man staff that started most of your games. 300 innings pitched was not unheard of. For the 1975 Baltimore Orioles, four pitchers stared 142 games. Jim Palmer pitched 323 innings and won the Cy Young:
Please take note of the K/9 number. Palmer’s was 5.4. Pitchers threw nowhere near as hard as they do today and relied on ground ball outs. Can you imagine a modern starter throwing 300+ innings?
Maybe the greatest pitching staff of all time was the 1993 Atlanta Braves:
Again, the top 4 pitchers started 142 games. Greg Maddux won the Cy Young with an ERA of 2.36 and a K/9 of 6.6. No fire throwers in that staff either. Even so, Smoltz struck out 208 and Maddux 197.
Nowadays, starter depth is key, primarily due to the exponential increase in arm injuries caused by high velocity, maximum effort throwing. The Dodgers have provided the blueprint to solve this problem, and the Red Sox seem to be taking it to heart, even though they have seemed to trade away many of their young controllable pitching prospects this offseason. With the Ranger Suarez signing, the Red Sox have 11 starters who have started an MLB game, plus a few promising minor league prospects:
Again, look at those K/9s. The Red Sox have valued hard throwers since the Theo Epstein days. The Red Sox were 16th in both strikeouts and K/9 in 2025, so it’s obvious that Craig Breslow wanted to address that with the additions of Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez, and Johan Oviedo. Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval, returning from injuries last year, are also hard throwing strikeout artists.
Of course, with such reward comes elevated risk of arm injuries. Tanner Houck will probably not pitch in 2026 after Tommy John surgery. Brayan Bello is their one pitch-to-contact guy, possessing a very good two-seamer. Payton Tolle is a hard thrower, where Connelly Early is a more deceptive pitcher. They will both probably be in the bullpen unless there are more starter injuries. To make a deep playoff run, starter health is paramount.
The Red Sox seem to have finally got their number two starter, which is very important in a playoff series. An opponent will probably not be thrilled to face Crochet and Suarez at the start of a series. Health will be an issue all year long, but this starting rotation is poised to make a run as one of the best in the AL. Now, just fix the offense.