Red Sox linked to $13 million AL East rival star pitcher to replace Dustin May in backend of rotation originally appeared on The Sporting News

The Boston Red Sox are having trouble with their starting rotation; outside of the Big Three of Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, and Lucas Giolito, they have no quality starters.

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Fansided’s Christopher Kline believes the Sox could get a quality backend of the rotation in Baltimore Orioles star Tomoyuki Sugano, who he believes will leave the team this offseason.

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Sugano won’t pile up strikeouts, but he can pitch to contact and eat innings, with a varied pitch arsenal at his disposal. He also plans to pitch in 2026, although it’s probably not with the Orioles for… reasons. Sugano is a 35-year-old rookie. He’s on an accelerated competitive timeline in MLB and he won’t want to stick around a losing situation unless there’s a hearty contract on the table. Baltimore would probably regret letting Sugano walk to a nearby rival like New York or Boston, which feels distinctly plausible, as his ceiling is higher than his numbers suggest. Sugano was putting up ace-like numbers for a solid stretch before the All-Star break,” Kline wrote.

While Sugano’s season numbers of a 10-9 record, 4.45 ERA, 103 strikeouts, and WHIP of 1.336 don’t seem all that great, they’re much better than the Sox’ current fifth starter, Dustin May.

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With the Sox, May has a record of 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA and only 26 strikeouts in six appearances. He never fit in, and probably will be let go after this season.

Enter Sugano. He’s got a mid-four ERA, but he’s able to eat innings, and has shown that his numbers do not necessarily reflect his talent. Hopefully the Sox take a run at him with a short deal, either one or two years, and lock down that end of the rotation.

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