Richard Fitts departs strong start for Red Sox, placed on 15-day IL
Red Sox pitcher Richard Fitts was having the best outing of his career on Saturday, until the Boston righty was bitten by the injury bug in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox.
Fitts had tossed five shutout innings for Boston and was back out for the sixth, but was hurt after he threw a 2-2 sweeper to Miguel Vargas. Fitts immediately grabbed under his throwing arm after he delivered the pitch, and called for help from the Boston bench.
Boston's trainer and manager Alex Cora tended to Fitts on the mound for a moment before he was pulled from the outing. The Red Sox announced the 25-year-old was dealing with "right shoulder pain," and Cora said Fitts would return to Boston and undergo an MRI on Monday.
On Sunday, the team placed Fitts on the 15-day injured list with a right pectoral strain. In a corresponding move, the team called up right-handed pitcher Michael Fulmer.
Fitts threw the ball incredibly well on Saturday, as he struck out a career-high five batters and allowed just two hits to the White Sox. He threw 54 of his 76 pitches for strikes and issued just one walk. With the outing, Fitts lowered his ERA to 3.18 for the season.
Boston was up 2-0 at the time of Fitts' departure, but reliever Zack Kelly surrendered a two-run homer to Luis Robert Jr. shortly after taking over in the bottom of the sixth. The Red Sox lost, 3-2, on a walk-off RBI single by Brooks Baldwin off Aroldis Chapman.
Red Sox rotation
Losing Fitts for an extended period of time would continue to test Boston's starting depth, considering Fitts was in the rotation to help fill the void left by the injured Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito. Both have been starting for the Worcester Red Sox to get big-league ready after missing a large chunk of Spring Training.
Bello may be ready to start for Boston soon, but Triple-A righty Hunter Dobbins could get called up should the Red Sox need to fill Fitts' spot in the rotation. Cooper Criswell is also an option in Worcester.
