Red Sox Reportedly Widen Pitching Search Beyond Yoshinobu Yamamoto

The Red Sox are reportedly casting a wide net in their search for starting pitching, with Japanese free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto regarded as perhaps the top target but far from the only one under consideration.

Pitching was one of the biggest problems for Boston in a disappointing 2023 season. The staff's combined 4.52 ERA was worse than the MLB team average of 4.33. Starters were an especially weak point, producing quality starts only 29 percent of the time, one of the lowest rates in the majors.

That record has made the offseason priority plain: add arms, with a particular focus on starters. Boston Globe Red Sox reporter Alex Speier said on MLB Network on Thursday that the club has operated with great secrecy since Craig Breslow arrived as Chief Baseball Officer at the start of November.

Speier named another Japanese pitcher, Shōta Imanaga, as someone of "considerable interest" to Boston. He said the team found Imanaga's pitch characteristics from Japan "quite fascinating." He also noted that Imanaga did not receive a qualifying offer, which means a team signing him would not have to give up a draft pick, an additional point in his favor.

Imanaga is 30 and a two-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star. He led Japan's Central League in strikeouts in 2023 with 174 over 148 innings. Like Yamamoto, he has never pitched in the major leagues.

New York Post reporter Jon Heyman also listed Boston as a possible suitor for Imanaga. He named two other free agent starters, Lucas Giolito and Jordan Montgomery, as pitchers the Red Sox could pursue. Heyman described the club as being "in on every pitcher."

Speier said the focus on pitching is overwhelming. "The lineup additions are really entirely secondary," he said, adding that Boston's pitching has been "disastrous" and that the organization lacks upper-level starters ready to join the big league roster. As a result, he said, most of the team's resources are likely to go toward pitching.