While this Boston Red Sox season has not given fans a lot to be excited about overall, the starting rotation certainly has. Offseason additions Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray have been worth every penny; Suarez is an All-Star and Gray should be. Rookies Payton Tolle and Connelly Early (pre-injury) have more than lived up to the hype.
Jake Bennett may have been flying under the radar compared to his bigger-name colleagues, but that might be changing as he continues to pile up quality starts.
The latest came Wednesday night in Chicago, as Bennett shut down the American League Central-leading White Sox with seven shutout innings to lead the Red Sox to their fifth straight win, tying their season-best winning streak and handing the White Sox their first series loss at home since April. He did it on an uber-efficient 81 pitches while striking out four and surrendering just four hits and one walk.
It was Bennett's fourth straight quality start (six or more innings with three or fewer runs), and his fifth straight start allowing two or fewer runs. He now has a 2.64 ERA through his first eight MLB starts this season. The Red Sox as a team now have 15 quality starts in their last 18 games.
The Red Sox acquired the 25-year-old Bennett this offseason, although the move understandably didn't garner nearly the attention that the additions of Suarez and Gray did. In fact, it seemed like a bit of an odd move on the surface, as it was a 1-for-1 trade for 23-year-old starter Luis Perales, who was one of Boston's top prospects before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024.
Bennett underwent his own Tommy John surgery in 2023, but he returned with a strong 2025 season while pitching at three different levels in the Washington Nationals organization. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and company were betting that Bennett was closer to being big league-ready than Perales, with potentially a safer floor given his excellent command.
So far, that bet is paying off big-time. Bennett had a dominant 1.60 ERA in nine starts with Triple-A Worcester earlier this season, and he has continued to roll in Boston since making his major-league debut on May 1.
Bennett's initial call-up came amid injuries to Gray and Garrett Crochet. After going back to Worcester for another month, he got a second call when Brayan Bello pitched his way out of the rotation.
Far from staying in the rotation out of sheer necessity, Bennett has instead earned his keep and doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. Since his return to Boston on June 10, he has the fourth-best WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched) among all MLB starters at 0.80, behind only Seattle's Logan Gilbert, Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski and Detroit's Troy Melton.
"Same as what he usually does," interim manager Chad Tracy said of Bennett. "He just went out there and ho-hum pounded the strike zone. It was just really good. He just pounded the strike zone. Was working ahead in the count. Got strike one, was ahead in the count, stayed ahead in the count. Off-speed for swing and miss. It was just another really, really good outing."
While Bennett's performance, a fifth straight win, and a series win against a first-place team were all major positives, it wasn't all good news for the Red Sox Wednesday night. All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras and second baseman Anthony Seigler both left the game injured in the third inning.
Contreras fouled a ball off his left foot that sent him tumbling to the ground. On the very next pitch, Seigler scored from third on a wild pitch, but collided with Chicago catcher Kyle Teel at the plate and stayed down hurt. Seigler was immediately removed from the game. Contreras finished his at-bat and did take the field to start the bottom of the inning, but was quickly removed when it became clear he was struggling to move around.
The Red Sox announced Contreras had a left foot contusion and Seigler had a right trapezius contusion. Tracy said both were doing better after the game and that the team would know more about their statuses on Thursday.
"They're doing OK," Tracy said. "Willson when he got inside was able to put weight on it and move around a lot better, so that's good. Seigler, it's like a bruised trap. He kind of got hung up and slammed into his neck. Almost said he felt like a stinger in football. So, both of them are doing better now. We'll see how they come in tomorrow."
The Red Sox will go for the sweep on Thursday with a 2:10 p.m. first pitch. Patrick Sandoval makes his Red Sox debut on the mound, pitching in his first major-league game since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2024.
