Richard Fitts earned his first profession win on Monday night time after permitting three runs (two earned) on 5 hits and one stroll with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings pitched because the Boston Pink Sox defeated the Colorado Rockies, 9-3.
On Tuesday afternoon, Fitts was optioned to Triple-A Worcester.
The timing is unlucky for the 25-year-old right-hander, however the transfer isn’t surprising, as Alex Speier of The Boston Globe famous that fellow starter Hunter Dobbins is slated to be activated from the injured record this week.
Fitts’ six punchouts matched his career-high (set on June 25 in opposition to the Los Angeles Angels) and Monday was his sixth straight begin permitting only one stroll, after issuing 4 free passes on April 7 vs. the Toronto Blue Jays.
Monday was the 2021 sixth-round choose’s twelfth profession begin, and whereas he’d gone solely 0-4 throughout the earlier 11 outings, the Pink Sox had gone 0-10 till lastly incomes a win throughout a Fitts begin within the suspended sport in opposition to the Cincinnati Reds final week.
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Regardless of being winless getting into Monday’s contest, Fitts has posted stable numbers throughout his brief profession in Boston. The Alabama native went 0-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 20 2/3 innings overlaying 4 begins in his first style of the large leagues in 2024 and he’s now 1-3 with a 4.28 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 33 2/3 innings (eight begins) in 2025.
The Fitts demotion wasn’t the one transfer made by the Pink Sox on Tuesday, as additionally they referred to as up reduction pitcher Isaiah Campbell from Worcester and transferred reliever Liam Hendriks to the 60-day IL.
Campbell has but to pitch within the majors this 12 months and made eight appearances with Boston in 2024, permitting 13 runs (12 earned) on 14 hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings pitched.
Hendriks signed with the Pink Sox in February 2024 however missed all of final season as a result of an elbow harm. He went 0-2 with a 6.59 ERA throughout 14 outings this spring earlier than touchdown on the IL in late Could as a result of proper hip irritation.
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Fitts will doubtless stay a fixture of the rotation, however with six video games remaining till the All-Star break, Boston elected so as to add an extra reliever in Campbell, with Dobbins — a recent starter — ready within the wings as a substitute of carrying a starter who wouldn’t pitch throughout the bulk of the aforementioned stretch after Monday’s begin.
