Richard

Fitts

There was some hope that Fitts, who came over from the Red Sox in a trade this offseason, would immediately get a shot in the rotation, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The 26-year-old posted a 5.79 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and a 9/3 K/BB ratio over 9 1/3 innings and will be in the Triple-A rotation. That means that both of Michael McGreevy and Kyle Leahy have won a spot in the Cardinals’ rotation.

Fitts struck out five opposing hitters in the ballgame but also issued three free passes. He left two men on before reaching his pitch limit in the second inning — and they both rode home on Joey Wiemer’s three-run blast. Fitts generated 11 swings and misses on 78 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 31 percent. He has struggled in his battle for a rotation spot this spring, posting a 5.79 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a 9/3 K/BB ratio over 9 1/3 innings.

This is a setback for Fitts after two strong outings to begin the spring, but it is nice that his velocity was back up some. His average fastball dipped from 97.6 mph in his spring debut to 96.6 mph last week, but it was back up to 97.3 mph today. That’s 1.4 mph better than his 2025 average. It’s probably going to come down to Kyle Leahy and Fitts for the fifth spot in the Cardinals’ rotation.

Fitts wasn’t quite as strong today as he was last time out, but his 96.6-mph average with his fastball was still a little higher than last year’s average. He should be right in the mix for the fifth spot in the Cardinals’ rotation.

Fitts, who missed the end of last season with elbow neuritis, was throwing heat today; he topped out at 98.6 mph and averaged 97.6 mph with his fastball. Last year, he averaged 95.9 mph for the Red Sox. If that sticks, he’ll be a more attractive fifth starter candidate in the competition with Kyle Leahy and others.

This seems like a good break for Fitts, who figured to have major issues cracking Boston’s rotation going forward. The path to a spot is much clearer in St. Louis. Fitts is thus far 2-5 with a 3.97 ERA and a 49/23 K/BB in 65 2/3 innings as a major leaguer. His ceiling is limited and he missed the final five weeks of 2025 with neuritis, but he has a chance to be a solid enough fourth or fifth starter.

Fitts was a huge riser in the Red Sox system in 2025 after coming over from the Yankees a few years ago for Alex Verdugo. Fitts added velocity to his fastball and deepened his pitch mix, which put him on the big league radar; however, he battled injuries and posted just a 5.00 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 40/16 K/BB ratio in 45 innings for the Red Sox in 2025. Even in his strong minor league season in 2024, he posted a 4.17 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 111/37 K/BB ratio in 116 2/3 innings at Triple-A. He could be a potential back-of-the-rotation starter, but he has yet to show the strikeout upside and solid WHIP to be more than that.

Per Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Cardinals will receive prospect left-hander Brandon Clarke and right-hander Richard Fitts. Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom made no secret that the club was shopping Gray, but the veteran right-hander had to waive his no-trade clause in order to facilitate a trade. Evidently, he had no issues going to Boston. Gray turned 36 earlier this month and is coming off a 4.28 ERA with 201 strikeouts over 180 2/3 innings in 2025. Gray was previously owed $35 million in 2026, with a $5 million buyout of his $30 million club option for 2027. However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the deal is being reworked, so Gray will get a $31 million salary in 2026, with mutual option buyout of $10 million. Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, the Cardinals are picking up $20 million of the $41 million guarantee.

There’s a lot going on with Boston’s rotation mix at the moment. The only certainty is that May will take the ball at some point on Friday or Saturday in the series. Top prospect Payton Tolle is making a bulk relief appearance on Friday for Triple-A Worcester with some combination of Kyle Harrison or Richard Fitts (biceps) in play to handle the other contest. It’s nearly impossible to speculate how the Red Sox are going to handle this quagmire with so many moving parts.

Fitts left last night’s game after feeling something in his forearm while throwing a pitch. The Red Sox will need to look elsewhere for a fifth starter this weekend and could turn to Kyle Harrison, who many thought would be the choice over Fitts on Monday.