Red Sox rumors: Boston linked to Pirates right-handed starter, WooSox add veteran catcher to mix, Vaughn Grissom’s time up?

The Red Sox need to bolster their rotation and have reportedly been on the phone with the Pirates.

Boston has inquired about right-handed starter Mitch Keller, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles. 

“Multiple teams still remain interested, with the Yankees, Cubs, Mets, and Red Sox all having reached out,” Hiles writes. “The Pirates could also look to move Keller this offseason, a notion one source claims could give the club better odds of landing an established big-league hitter in return.”

Craig Breslow reaching out to the Pirates about Keller isn’t surprising, considering the Sox would prefer to acquire a controllable starter. The 2023 All-Star is having a solid season for the Pirates, posting a 3.69 ERA in 22 starts and owning a 3.44 FIP. His strikeout rate is down (18.8%), which is the lowest of his career. His fastball is also down from two seasons ago. Keller’s heater has averaged 94 mph this season while also adding in a sweeper, slider, two-seamer, curveball, and changeup.

According to FanGraphs’ Michael Rosen, the 29-year-old's “four-seamer has returned 1.4 runs per 100 pitches thrown, identical to Jacob deGrom’s heater. It’s been particularly tough on righties: Even though it misses hardly any bats (it has just a 8.8% swinging strike rate), righties are slugging just .218 off the pitch.”

Pittsburgh doesn’t have to move Keller and is comfortable keeping the righty unless they land a steep package.

“Yeah, I think the leadership certainly and just the proven performance,” Ben Cherington said about Hiles. “If we’re going to be better in 2026, we need more of that, not less. We would only contemplate giving up something that’s seemingly more proven if we really believe that they give us a better chance to be better by next year.”

Keller is in the second year of a five-year, $77-million deal, giving the Red Sox team control through 2028, with a $15.4 million AAV if he were acquired before Thursday’s trade deadline.

The Red Sox and Pirates are no strangers to trading with one another. Before the trade deadline last year, the Sox sent infield prospect Nick Yorke for righty Quinn Priester. Boston also traded Enmanuel Valdez and Chase Shugart to the Pirates in separate deals before the start of this season.

Teams want excellent starting pitching before Thursday’s deadline and have already been making moves. The Tigers acquired both Chris Paddack and Randy Dobnak from the Twins for a prospect. Detroit settling on lesser names might be a clear sign of how expensive starters are and a reason why Breslow could be pivoting to Keller over the likes of Joe Ryan.

Keller would join the Red Sox’ rotation as the No. 2 starter behind Crochet, and he would have the third-best ERA in the rotation at 3.69. Crochet owns a 2.23 ERA, and Brayan Bello ranks second with a 3.32 ERA. The rotation is in need of another starter, with Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Hunter Dobbins, and Patrick Sandoval all on the injured list.

Richard Fitts was demoted back to Worcester after a rough start on Monday night in Minnesota. The righty was hit hard in four innings, resulting in Alex Cora dipping into the bullpen early. The Sox used five relievers, which resulted in a need for a fresh arm ahead of Tuesday’s game with Minnesota. Boston recalled Cooper Criswell from the WooSox to fill Fitts’ spot on the roster.

Criswell and Kyle Harrison were the two top choices, but the front office elected to go with the lanky righty.

The results from Fitts have been inconsistent, with his ERA sitting at 4.83 in 10 starts, and he has pitched poorly in back-to-back outings. The Twins' weak bottom of the lineup feasted on Fitts when No. 8 hitter and former Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez walked before No. 9 hitter DeShawn Keirsey Jr. crushed a two-run homer. He entered the game going 7-for-71 (.099) at the plate.

“He (Fitts) got hit hard today,” said Cora. “There were a lot of loud outs. We walked Christian, the eighth hitter. Then the homer ... He’s been inconsistent.”

Fitts hasn’t exactly looked great since the Red Sox rushed him back from the IL earlier this season. He made an abbreviated start (three innings) at Milwaukee on May 27. He was shellacked for six runs in a single inning against the Angels in his next outing before being optioned back to the WooSox.

This will be the third time he’s been sent back to the minors this season.

“I think I’ve got really good stuff, but I’m not getting the results I should with the stuff that I have,” Fitts said. “Really frustrated with that.”

WOOSOX ADD ANOTHER CATCHER

The Red Sox added some veteran catching depth down in Worcester when they signed Chadwick Tromp to a minor league deal.

The 30-year-old has appeared in 67 major league games across parts of six seasons (2020-25) with the Giants, Braves, and Orioles. He appeared in eight games for the Braves and Orioles this season, going 3-for-21 with one home run and one double.

“Chadwick, I know from managing against him, is a very veteran catcher with a very good understanding of what he wants to do,” Worcester skipper Chad Tracy said to reporters at Polar Park on Tuesday. “Has his own routines. He’s solid. And I know that there’s been times over the course of the last few months that his name’s come up where I know we were pushing to try to get him even before. So to have him in-house is great. Between him and Seby, we’re in really good shape with catching.”

Boston assigned catcher Ronaldo Hernández, who they added on July 17, to Double-A Portland to make room for Tromp. He played in just four games for the WooSox.

“That was kind of his choice," Tracy said. “Obviously we signed him 10 days ago and presented him with that option, being that it was so quick. And he is going, which helps our Double-A team a lot, and it helps our depth in general. If anything happens here, I know I have a guy. There’s a guy in Double A that I absolutely trust to come back."

VAUGHN GRISSOM'S DAYS NUMBERED?

When the Red Sox needed another infielder after Marcelo Mayer went on the IL with a wrist issue, they opted to recall David Hamilton versus infielder Vaughn Grissom.  

Grissom has clearly lost favor with the organization, and his days are numbered.

“I don’t really expect much more opportunity here just because decisions that were made were made, and it kind of didn’t involve me. I mean, all those decisions, they make sense in a way, but I guess it sucks a little bit,” Grissom said to MassLive’s Katie Morrison-O’Day at Polar Park on Tuesday.

It’s been anything other than a storybook fairytale for Grissom since he was acquired for Chris Sale on Dec. 30, 2023.

Injuries plagued Grissom beginning last January when he tweaked his groin during “Story Camp” and then suffered injuries to both his hamstrings, followed by getting sick with the flu, and ending the year with the WooSox.

“I wouldn’t change last year for anything,” Grissom said about his tumultuous first year in the Red Sox organization to the Boston Sports Journal on before WooSox Opening Day. “It would have been great if it had rolled out a different way. I learned a lot about myself that I feel like I’m going to need for the rest of my career. I’m learning what I need to do to prepare myself. I learned a lot of things. If it had happened this year, it could have been worse. There are a lot of ways to look at it, but I’d rather see the greater in it.”

Grissom has played all over the infield for the WooSox, including first base after Triston Casas went down with a season-ending knee injury. Unfortunately, that hasn’t led to any new opportunities with the Red Sox, and it’s abundantly clear his time with the organization is running out.

“I’m happy that he continues to show up and be ready to post and and do his thing here for the time being...he’s taken the challenge this year head-on and and is really a different-looking player than he was last year,” Tracy said of his infielder.

He's been with Worcester all season and has seen other teammates get the call to Boston over him. 

“I feel locked in,” Grissom said. “I feel like it’s that time of year when you start figuring out what works for you and what doesn’t, and I’m feeling good.”