Patrick Sandoval gets lit up in Pittsburgh

Sandoval gave up eight hits despite allowing just two hard-hit balls, as the Boston’s infield defense was not at its best tonight. The Red Sox dropped to 5-1 in Sandoval’s six starts. Sandoval is 1-1 with a 3.30 ERA during that span. He’s due to face the Pirates on Sunday, if the Red Sox are willing to let him work on four days’ rest. They weren’t last Sunday, which is why they used a bullpen game that day instead.

It’s the first win credited to Sandoval, but the Red Sox have gone 5-0 in his starts since he was activated last month, with Sandoval amassing a 3.38 ERA and a 25/10 K/BB in 24 innings. He has another kind matchup coming up against the A’s at home on Sunday.

The runs both came on solo homers. Sandoval allowed only three other hits and finished the night with 18 whiffs and a fine 36 percent CSW. In four turns to date, he’s done a nice job of keeping the Red Sox in games without showing a ton of fantasy potential. He has a 3.32 ERA and a 20/6 K/BB in 19 innings. That has yet to get him a win, but Boston is now 4-0 with him on the mound. He’ll likely face the White Sox next week.

Sandoval allowed a single and a double with one out in the fourth. He was given the chance to face George Springer afterwards and got a popup for out No. 2, but he was pulled with Alejandro Kirk up and a potential win one out away. Sandoval has a 3.21 ERA in three starts, all of which have seen him get between 13 and 15 outs and all of which have resulted in no-decisions for him and wins for the Red Sox. He figures to make his next start Wednesday in Sacramento.

It appears the Red Sox are going to give Ranger Suarez a couple extra days to rest while battling an illness before activating him from the injured list. Sandoval has allowed six runs over 9 1/3 innings of work across a pair of starts since making his season debut earlier this month.

The three-run fourth could have been worse, but Yandy Díaz was thrown out at the plate to end the frame. Sandoval struck out five and walked only one, so that’s good. He gave up the nine hits but only five hard-hit balls. The Red Sox figure to stick with him for now and start him against the Blue Jays on Friday.

Sandoval got through four scoreless before giving up a single to Luisangel Acuña to start the fifth. Drew Romo tried to bunt him over afterwards, only to pop it up foul for an out. Acuña went on to advance to second on a wild pitch and steal third while Sandoval was walking Chase Meridoth. Sandoval was pulled at that point, and Acuña went on to score on a swinging bunt. Sandoval struck out five and walked just the one. He averaged a rather stunning 94.3 mph with his fastball. That’s an improvement on his career-best 93.7 mph from 2024, before he hurt his elbow, and a big step forward from the 92.8 mph he averaged in six outings in Triple-A. If he keeps that up, he could be at least a streaming option in mixed leagues. There’s a good chance we’ll see him again in the series against the Rays after the break.

Sandoval is expected to make his Boston debut at some point later this week, most likely against the White Sox on Thursday, in place of an injured Connelly Early (elbow). The 29-year-old southpaw will be making his first start in the majors since June 21, 2024. He spent the last two years working his way back from Tommy John surgery. He’s always possessed enough strikeout potential to be interesting for fantasy purposes and he struck out seven over five shutout innings for Double-A Portland in his final minor league rehab outing over the weekend. A wait-and-see approach seems preferable for fantasy managers in shallow mixed leagues, but he’s a name to watch coming out of the All-Star break in deeper formats.

After sending Connelly Early to the IL, the Red Sox won’t need a fifth starter until July 11, so this may only wind up being a one-game trial for whoever gets the elevation. Tracy said the team would choose either Sandoval or Brayan Bello. That said, the context of Sandoval nearing the end of his 30-day rehab window for players on the IL sure makes it seem like Sandoval will be the first choice if he escapes his Saturday start feeling well.

Sandoval struck out three and walked one while throwing 40 of his 60 pitches for strikes. He sat 92.8 mph on his four-seam fastball, which is about a tick below where we saw him last, and he had just one whiff on nine swings on his changeup. That being said, he commanded the zone well with most of his six pitches and allowed an average exit velocity of 82.8 mph on balls in play. He hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since 2024, but it’s looking like he will be ready to join the Red Sox in some capacity around the All-Star break. However, MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reports that teams are already scouting Sandoval’s minor league appearances in the hopes of trading for him since Boston has a full rotation.