Richard Fitts

Once the dust settles this offseason, Fitts may not project to crack Boston's Opening Day rotation, but he appears ready to step up when a need arises. The 24-year-old righty struggled to miss bats in his four-start run in the majors (6.4 SwStr%, nine Ks in 20.2 IP), but he also limited hard contact (1.4 Barrel%) en route to a 1.74 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. The ERA estimators were split on his work (xERA, FIP in favor, xFIP, SIERRA against), but his pitches popped on the Stuff+ model, particularly his mid-80s slider (121 Stuff+), while Location+ (104) and Pitching+ (106) were also bullish on Fitts. He logged a 4.17 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a 15.0 K-BB% in 116.2 innings over 24 appearances at Triple-A. Fitts has logged over 135 innings in back-to-back seasons and could make double-digit starts in the majors this year with a slight chance at a breakout. Read Past Outlooks