Hunter Dobbins had the (second) most important start of the season for the Red Sox

What will his role on the 2025 be going forward?

Hunter Dobbins… I was not familiar with your game. Well, I was familiar with your minor league game. But I must admit, when I learned that you’d be starting the second game of a doubleheader as the 27th man, I wasn’t necessarily excited.

Perhaps it was the fact that Dobbins has only 24 IP in Triple-A — and it’s true that he definitely could use some more development at that level. But honestly, after the mix and command I saw, I think Dobbins should slot in as Boston’s No. 5 starter until its pitching staff is back to full strength. He was better than either outing we’ve seen from Sean Newcomb (though I think we all really do want that guy to succeed) and has a really good mix that can be elevated with more Triple-A/major league development.

I mean, the difference between his fastball and curve was just baffling to watch. The two pitches had an average 14 mph difference over his outing. He was able to effectively stack these and play off his other breaking balls (which were both good and bridged well with a nice splinker) to get a 30% whiff rate in his major league debut.

For reference, Jack Leiter, Sandy Alcantara and Charlie Morton all have a Whiff% around 30% this season and Garrett Crochet, unsurprisingly, leads all qualified Red Sox in that statistic at 27.7%. Six of his 14 whiffs came on the aforementioned curveball which he threw in the zone only 25% of the time. His fastball, sweeper and curve were all very similar in terms of spin rate, and may have been effectively tunneled to fool hitters with the giant discrepancy in movement between the three.

Obviously, one start of five innings isn’t anything upon which to make rash decisions or true judgments. But having that kind of performance on about a day’s notice that you’d be making your major league debut in primetime is impressive regardless.

And genuinely, the Red Sox needed a start like this from an unlikely contributor. Outside of Garret Crochet, Boston’s rotation has left much to be desired. And while the comeback win this afternoon definitely set the tone for tonight, it was less than convincing and another bland start for Newcomb. While it was a bit of a rocky start, Dobbins used Boston’s five-run bottom of the second to fuel three confident innings for a 25-year-old rookie. And perhaps the bounceback after a crowded first made it even more impressive, as we’ve seen it difficult for pitchers outside of Richard Fitts to adapt throughout a game that may not start out on the best foot for them.

While the Red Sox could have secured a victory probably regardless of who was on the mound, Dobbins’ performance was much needed to bring a spark to the rest of the rotation as we head into a new series. I’m hoping this can pass on to Richard Fitts who will start today after missing his scheduled start Saturday and Newcomb and Dobbins slotting in for the double-header. Already Fitts has shown the most promise, in my opinion, of the rest of the rotation outside of Crochet, and a strong start from him to transition back to Crochet at the top could seriously propel a Red Sox team that is already on a solid roll.

Whether Dobbins slots in as a spot starter or bullpen piece for the rest of the season, he’s an example of just one of many pitchers that Boston has in its system that could provide these kinds of quality innings, which shows how different things really are compared to the past two or three seasons. I’m excited to see what else he can do after more than five Triple-A appearances as he continues to tinker with Boston’s pitching coaches. He could really be something special.