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Red Sox rookie starter’s strange day includes quality start and win, then demotion to AAA
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- Red Sox rookie starter’s strange day includes quality start and win, then demotion to AAA
BOSTON — The start of Hunter Dobbins' 2025 season has been unconventional , to say the least, and the strangeness continued Friday with a fantastic start followed by a demotion.
Dobbins allowed just two runs (one earned) on three hits in six quality innings against the White Sox in his second big league career start, then was informed after the 10-3 Boston win that he's heading back to Triple-A Worcester. For a rookie who has bounced back and forth between not just the majors and minors so far this year, but also the rotation and bullpen, it was more of the same.
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The Red Sox needed a starter Friday to take the spot of Richard Fitts , who hit the injured list last weekend with a mild pectoral strain. Instead of moving ace Garrett Crochet up a day to pitch on regular rest, the Sox called upon Dobbins for a spot start knowing his stay on the big league roster would be a short one. H e took the spot of reliever Michael Fulmer on Friday afternoon after arriving at Boston but was lopped off the big league team following the game because the Red Sox need a spot for veteran reliever Liam Hendriks , who is expected to be activated for his long-awaited team debut Saturday.
Dobbins' fate was pre-determined before he pitched against Chicago , and for him, it's a shame that was the case. The righty did everything in his power to claim a spot in the big leagues and along the way became the first Red Sox starter to record a win in his first two starts since Tanner Houck won his first three at the end of 2020.
Dobbins, who also won his big league debut on April 6, now has a 2.45 ERA through 11 big league innings. On Friday, he flashed a fastball that averaged 95 mph and recorded six strikeouts.
"He's a good pitcher," said manager Alex Cora. "He's got good stuff. He has commanded the fastball, which is very important at this level. He uses it inside, outside, up in the zone. Uses his secondary stuff when he needs to. You saw it. Today was about the fastball. He was ahead in the count most of the night and he gave us more than enough."
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Dobbins retired 18 of the 23 batters he faced Friday and benefited from an early lead. Trevor Story 's first three-run homer of the night put the Red Sox up almost instantly and the club tacked on runs in the third and fourth. Dobbins, historically a fast worker, pitched at a breakneck pace, having entered the day with an average 13.2-second pitch tempo, which ranked him among the top 20 fastest workers in baseball on the season. He manipulated a White Sox lineup quickly and effectively and had a better outing than his debut against the Cardinals, when he allowed eight hits in five innings.
"I really wasn't happy with how I was pitching from behind a lot last outing," Dobbins said. "I ended up giving up some hits, trying to get back in the counts, so I just wanted to really attack the zone today. We found the fastball was getting weak contact. I was able to get ahead with counts with it. It wasn't really the game plan, but that's how the game went today, so we kind of went with it.
"I try to work fast," he added. "I've found that I pound the zone a lot better when I'm that fast tempo, takes the pitch clock out of it and having to worry about that and think about it. I like to get the ball and throw it as quickly as I can."
Dobbins entered spring training on the cusp of the majors after reaching Worcester for a four-start cameo in 2024. He originally was not a consideration to break camp with the big league team even though three starters ( Brayan Bello , Kutter Crawford and Lucas Giolito ) began the season on the injured list. Fitts, Sean Newcomb , Quinn Priester and Cooper Criswell all looked like they were ahead of Dobbins on the depth chart to begin the year but a path became evident thanks to a long list of factors that included the trade of Priester to Milwaukee , Criswell's early-season struggles, Fitts' injury and a busy early-season schedule that now has the Sox playing 15 games in 15 days.
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Dobbins has embraced a "go with the flow" mentality so far, largely out of necessity. The 25-year-old's first outing of the year came in relief on April 1 because the Red Sox needed Bello to make a rehab outing for the WooSox. Dobbins' next appearance came in the majors, as a starter, on short notice. He then made a three-inning appearance a week later in Worcester, though that was in relief, too, because Boston wanted Hendriks to pitch the first inning in a rehab game. Five days later, Dobbins was back on the mound in the majors as a starter.
"I don't think I've had really a week where I've had a normal routine yet, but I think that's going to benefit me in the long run," he said. "If the big league club needs me to keep making starts, obviously, I'm gonna be here ready to go. Coming out of the bullpen down in Worcester, we'll start learning how to do that again. It just kind of opens up that opportunity where, if late in the season comes around and they need me out of the bullpen, I'm gonna be prepared for it."
For now, Dobbins will head back to Triple-A as depth for a rotation group that's expected to undergo a lot of change in the coming days and weeks. Bello is supposed to join Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler and Newcomb in the mix early next week, with Giolito not too far behind . Barring some surprise injury, Dobbins' next couple outings should be for Worcester.
On Friday, though, he showed he's ready for the next call to be made.
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"No matter where you're at, what town, what stadium, it's the same game," Dobbins said. "I'm throwing the baseball the same distance over the same size plate. You've just got to be getting your routine the best you can, be ready to go. Obviously, when you have this kind of crowd behind you, it's a little bit easier to settle in and get the job done."
