Nathan Eovaldi returns to Fenway Park
This has not been a good recent run when it comes to digesting the starting pitching - both present and future - for the Red Sox. Brayan Bello? Sure. James Paxton? OK.
But if there was ever a slap-in-the-face dose of reality when it comes to the Red Sox' starting pitching situation it would have been Tuesday.
Not only were the Red Sox forced to six pitchers in their 6-2 loss to the Rangers - Brennan Bernardino, Kaleb Ort, Chris Murphy, Justin Garza, Brandon Walter and Tayler Scott - but sitting in the other dugout was a symbol of starting pitching stability, former Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi.
Chris Sale and Tanner Houck are out until August. Garrett Whitlock has another elbow injury. Corey Kluber isn't an option. Nick Pivetta's home seems to be now in the bullpen. And even fast-rising-prospect Shane Drohan saw his trip to the big leagues slowed by a recent ailment (although he did return Monday).
Somewhat surprisingly, the Red Sox current uncomfortable lot in life - sitting five games out of the last Wild Card spot - shouldn't be blamed in this starting pitching conundrum. Since June 1, the group as a whole has the fifth-best ERA in baseball (3.75). The bigger issue during this 15-16 run has been scoring, with the Sox landing at No. 18 in runs over that stretch.
But, as Tuesday highlighted, you can only exist with this sort of makeshift rotation so long. Along with potentially living with early-game deficits, the bullpen simply can't sustain such a dynamic.
So, what is the short-term solution?
At least one interesting option has suddenly emerged. His name is Kyle Barraclough, a 33-year-old pitcher who the Red Sox recently signed out of Independent baseball after having pitched for six big league organizaitons.
Barraclough, who was once a lock-down reliever for the Marlins before bouncing from the Nationals to the Giants to the Twins to the Angels - is living life as a starter for the first time. And, judging by the initial results, the role is suiting him just fine.
He has now made three starts for the Triple-A WooSox, allowing just four runs over 17 innings. Barraclough's most recent start came Tuesday night in Worcester where he carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. In that came, not only did the righty allow just the one hit over six frames, but he struck out 10 in the process.
Barraclough isn't going to blow anybody away with radar gun readings, with a fastball living in the low 90 mph range. It's a fastball he throws a majority of the time, leaning on a slider/cutter for his second option while now integrating a newly-developed changeup.
But perhaps the one piece of the puzzle that made the Red Sox take notice was the spin rate on his fastball, which lives in the 90th percentile of all big league pitchers.
Is this Rich Hill circa 2015 all over again? (Remember that run, when the re-launched his career with four standout September starts after being signed out of Independent ball). That might be a stretch. But what it might be is a partial solution to what is becoming a painful problem.