Red Sox rookie aiming to be ‘longtime starter in big leagues,’ so he now has 6 pitches

Richard Fitts said his “focus was on the big picture” during the offseason after four strong starts in the majors last year.

Red Sox starter Richard Fitts pitches during the first inning against the Yankees on Sept. 13. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)AP

What exactly does that mean?

“Ultimately trying to be a longtime starter in the big leagues,“ Fitts said at JetBlue Park on Friday.

To help him do that, the 25-year-old righty knew he needed to expand his pitch mix. He allowed just four earned runs in 20 ⅔ innings (1.74 ERA) in his first four big league starts.

“So I worked on throwing a two-seam fastball this year just to get off the four-seam a little bit,” Fitts said.

That’s not all.

“Then a curveball, too,” Fitts said. “So I’m throwing some things in there, seeing how it plays in spring training.”

Fitts is now up to six pitches.

“My guy on MLB The Show is going to be pretty crazy,” Fitts joked.

So what’s the entire repertoire?

“I’ve got a four-seam, two-seam, a changeup, sweeper, gyro slider, curveball. I think that’s it.”

Fitts had an impressive 32.0% chase percentage in his four starts. He also limited hard contact (1.4% barrel percentage, 33.3% hard hit percentage), 88.5 mph average exit velocity).

Most impressively, he walked into Yankee Stadium in his second big league start and tossed 5 scoreless innings.

“That was a fun game for me,” Fitts said. “Just being drafted by that team and being able to play there in my second start and my first road start ever, it was really cool.”

Fitts was a Yankees' sixth round pick out of Auburn in 2021. Boston acquired him in the Alex Verdugo trade Dec. 5, 2023.

“My fastball velo was ticked up a little bit (vs. the Yankees,” he said. “Juiced up a little bit. It’s cool to play against those guys.”

Maintaining high fastball velocity is important for him. It’s something he has stressed since being traded to Boston. He said he wants to be 95+ mph. It’s also something manager Alex Cora stressed earlier in camp.

His fastball averaged 94.5 mph in his four starts for Boston last year. Opponents went 6-for-30 (.200) with two doubles and four singles against it.

He said he wants to see his average fastball velo increase from where it was in those four starts.

“I think it’s still a small sample size and I’m not happy with it,” Fitts said. “I want it to be better. But I don’t think I’ll ever be upset with throwing a fastball in the big leagues. I’m just happy to be able to throw in the big leagues and get guys out.”

Fitts' Baseball Savant page doesn’t list him throwing a changeup last year but he said some thought it was a split-finger fastball.

He changed his changeup’s movement profile during last season.

“I went on the trend of a kick change a little bit,” Fitts said. “I started playing around with it last year. It’s where it’s basically spiking the changeup. A lot of guys are throwing it across the league right now.

“So I started throwing that and started getting almost like a splitter movement,” Fitts added. “Because I think that’s what people were calling it on the broadcasts and stuff.”

Sure, he wants to be a longtime big league starter but he’s willing to do anything now.

“I let Bails (pitching coach Andrew Bailey) and everybody know that I want to do everything I can to be in the big leagues and helping us win games,” he said. “Ultimately I think winning comes first. And if that’s me waiting for my opportunity to start, then that’s what I’m happy to do. And every day that I get an opportunity to play in the big leagues is a good day. And so if that’s sitting further away from home plate in the bullpen waiting for my chance, then I’ll do whatever I can.”

He credited catcher Connor Wong for much of his success last year.

“I think a lot of that has to do with Wong being behind the plate for me,” Fitts said. “I came in and I can do a little bit of scouting reports in Triple A but I don’t know anything about these hitters really other than watching them on ESPN and MLB Network. I got in the first day and Wong took over for me and basically said, ‘Here’s what I’ve got for you' and we went and rolled with it. I think I shook two or three times in the four starts I had. ... He’s a great game-caller and I trust him fully.”