The Boston Red Sox: Ground ball merchants.
On Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Richard Fitts and prospect Brandon Clarke.
There's some debate as to whether or not Gray is a true No. 2 pitcher or a high-end No. 3, but no matter what the perception of him is, he's a guy who comes to Boston with a real resume and pedigree.
A three-time All-Star, he finished second in the American League Cy Young voting in 2023. He's been successful at just about every stop he's been in, from Oakland to Cincinnati to Minnesota to St. Louis.
Unless the Red Sox make an unexpected move for another starting pitcher, it looks like he'll pair with Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello at the top of the Boston rotation.
The interesting fact about this rotation
As noted by ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney, this gives the Red Sox an extremely groundball-heavy rotation.
Last season, Bryan Bello posted a groundball % of 49.8 -- 10th best in the majors. Garrett Crochet was at 48.3%, 11th best. Now the Red Sox add Sonny Gray, whose GB % was 43.9, the 19th best in the big leagues.
Digging deeper and talking out loud
As noted in the video player above:
So the Red Sox clearly have a rotation that is full of ground ball merchants. The question is why? Is this kind of a happy accident? Just in terms of: this is who the Red Sox already had, and they went out and got a guy who they thought was the best pitcher available, who also just happens to be good at getting ground balls? Or is this a conscious effort by the Red Sox to combat a couple of trends that might be working against them? Right?
Major League Baseball offensive players are trying to hit the ball in the air more than ever before. Hitting coaches are teaching launch angle. They are teaching how to get the ball in the air. Are the Red Sox making a direct effort to halt that, to beat that? Are they making a direct effort to get hitters to hit the ball on the ground, because it's a lot harder to be beaten when the ball is on the ground versus in the air?
Secondly, are the Red Sox also looking to kind of mitigate the effects of their division? Toronto is a hitters haven. Yankee Stadium is a hitter's haven. Even Fenway is a hitter's haven, at least in terms of to left field and right field down the lines. Right? Balls that get hit in the air in this division go out of the ballpark. Are the Red Sox looking to say, 'hey, we know this, so let's go get guys who get the ball on the ground, because it will mitigate the effects of playing in this division in these homer happy ballparks? It's a very interesting strategy and I'd love to know the reasoning behind it. Is it intentional or coincidence?
What's next
The Red Sox will reconvene with the rest of the baseball world at the winter meetings from Dec. 7-10.
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