The temptation exists to ask the question: Where would the Red Sox be without their starting pitchers?
But given the state of things, the answer would be: exactly where they are now -- in last place in their division.
That's because the offense has underperformed in a big way, and the bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster -- at least, late in games, when it counts the most.
They haven't hit and they haven't been able to preserve late-inning leads, so what the starters have done is almost inconsequential. And that may be the biggest indictment of all. Starting pitching is supposed to be hugely important, and yet the lack of thump from the lineup and the failings of the relief staff have made the work of the starters damn near irrelevant.
The fact of the matter, however, is that the Red Sox starters have been quite good. Very good, in fact, with a handful of exceptions.
Case in point: Nick Pivetta on Friday night at Globe LIfe Field. Pivetta was masterful over seven innings, nicked for just one run on three hits. He walked just one and threw just 85 pitches. That he was able to go as deep as he did will allow the Red Sox to stay with their plan for a bullpen game Sunday, since they only needed two innings of mop-up relief from Kutter Crawford to close things out.
Pivetta showed superb command of his fastball, and worked his curveball in the bottom part of the zone to keep the Rangers off-balance. He never faced more than four hitters in any one inning and only twice did the Rangers get a baserunner as far as second base against him.
It's easy to forget, too, that, for the most part, this has been the rule rather than the exception for Red Sox starters this season. Friday marked the 15th time that a Red Sox starter yielded two runs or fewer. In that 20-game stretch, Boston's starting pitchers have compiled an ERA of 2.44.
For the season, the Red Sox entered Friday's action with a 3.44 ERA from their starters, the fourth-best figure in the American League.
And like Pivetta himself -- who had a 10.03 ERA after his first three outings -- the rotation has been trending upward since the first few weeks. Rich Hill, who returns to the active roster and the mound Saturday, has been better in his last three starts than he was in his first three.
Michael Wacha and Nate Eovaldi have been solid from the start. Both Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock have been yanked back-and-forth between the rotation and the bullpen depending on need and availability, but have mostly kept the team in games.
The problem has been the lack of support for the starters, but of late, there's evidence to suggest that, too, is changing. On the current road trip, the Red Sox have scored 19 runs. The Big Three of Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, and J.D. Martinez has been productive all season long, but now they're starting to get some help from other parts of the order.
Catcher Christian Vazquez had an RBI single from the eighth spot Friday. Franchy Cordero delivered a run-scoring double, just his second extra-base hit since being called up. Trevor Story has five RBI in the last three games.
The rotation was hardly a perceived strength of the Sox when the season began, especially with Chris Sale sidelined for the first three months. But it's hard to argue with what the rotation has provided in the first 32 games. If you knew that the Sox would have an ERA of 3.40 through the first five weeks, you never would have imagined the Sox would be a dozen games out of first. Then again, no one could have predicted that the offense would be so frustrating, or that the bullpen could figure out a way to lose five games in walk-off fashion, either.
Wacha should return to the rotation soon, having been sidelined with intercostal irritation. Hill returns Saturday after a bout with COVID. At mid-season looms the promise of a return by Sale, and thereafter, James Paxton, whose rehab from Tommy John surgery was recently interrupted with some elbow soreness that the Red Sox maintain isn't a major concern.
The healthier the pitching staff gets as whole, the more opportunity there is for Whitlock and Houck to contribute as multi-inning relievers, able to impact numerous games per week.
If the Red Sox can continue to mash as they have in the last week, and the bullpen acquires some semblance of order at the back end, the rotation's contributions could become more valuable, and not, as has been the case since the beginning of the season, exist as mere window dressing.
Of course, the way things have gone for the Sox this season, the minute the offense and bullpen click, the rotation will stumble, creating another issue.
If, on the other hand, the rotation can keep it going, the Sox might have a pathway out of this ditch into which they've driven.