BALTIMORE — The Red Sox haven’t named a starter for Saturday vs. the Pirates after demoting Walker Buehler to the bullpen and placing Richard Fitts on the injured list Tuesday.
Fitts left Monday’s game with right biceps tightness and has been diagnosed with right arm neuritis.
“We’ll take it day by day. We’ve got our three (starters) lined up for this series and then we’ll see what we do over the weekend,” manager Alex Cora said before Boston’s game against the Orioles on Tuesday.
Lucas Giolito started Tuesday’s game for Boston, with Brayan Bello scheduled to start Wednesday and Garrett Crochet scheduled for Thursday’s series finale.
Dustin May’s rotation turn is Friday when the Red Sox return to Fenway Park to open a three-game series against the Pirates. But Boston could always push back May to Saturday and slot in a spot starter for Friday instead of Saturday.
“There’s going to be conversations during the week and then we’ll decide what we do,” Cora said.
When asked if top Red Sox pitching prospect Payton Tolle is a candidate, Cora didn’t rule it out but he also didn’t say much.
“We haven’t talked about that but there’s guys available down there that I think can do the job here at the big league level,” Cora said.
Kyle Harrison is a candidate (and possibly the leading candidate) on short rest Saturday after the Red Sox held him to just three innings and 38 pitches Tuesday against Durham. The 24-year-old lefty, who Boston acquired from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade, already is on the 40-man roster.
Harrison has a 3.65 ERA in 11 starts for the WooSox, including a 2.25 ERA in five starts in August.
Tolle, who Baseball America ranks No. 40 on its Top 100 list, would need to be added to the 40-man roster. He is scheduled to start for Triple-A Worcester on Thursday, meaning he would be available Friday or Saturday if Boston wanted to use him.
Tolle has made three starts for the WooSox since being promoted from Double-A Portland on Aug. 6. He allowed six runs in the first inning of his first start. Since then, he has allowed just one run in 14 innings. Opponents have batted .193 against him. He was up to 98.6 mph with his fastball this past Friday.
He’s already pitched 91 ⅔ innings this season, which is his first year of pro ball after being a second round pick out of TCU in 2024.
A Red Sox official said the team is monitoring all minor league pitchers’ innings at this point of the season, along with other factors. It’s unclear whether the Red Sox would stay away from Tolle as a starter in September simply because of managing workload.
Righty Tyler Uberstine is scheduled to pitch for Worcester on Friday. As with Tolle, the Red Sox would need to add Uberstine to the 40-man roster if they decide to give him a spot start Friday or Saturday. The 26-year-old has a 3.70 ERA in 21 outings (17 starts) for the WooSox. He’s overcome significant odds in his career after pitching seven innings as a high school senior and receiving no college scholarship offers.
Depth starter Cooper Criswell is not an option after being placed on Worcester’s injured list last week with right elbow inflammation.
“We’ve still got options down there,” Cora said. “Obviously less than a week ago but we feel good where we’re at.”
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