Red Sox's Reported Offseason Target Throws No-Hitter Amid Historic Stretch

Boston could desperately use the young flamethrower

Scott Neville | Sep 9, 2023

Red Sox's Reported Offseason Target Throws No-Hitter Amid Historic Stretch /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are going to have some stellar options to pick from when attempting to rebuild their starting rotation this offseason.

One of the more all-around enticing options is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a Japanese ace who is on an absolute tear for the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

The recently-turned 25-year-old just completed the second no-hitter of his career, striking out eight with a walk and hit batsman.

After the accomplishment, Yamamoto is 14-5 with a 1.26 ERA, 145-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 0.88 WHIP in 143 innings pitched this season.

Yamamoto reportedly has not allowed a run in 42 consecutive innings pitched as he gears up to make his transition to Major League Baseball.

There will be league-wide interest in the right-hander but the Red Sox are expected to be heavily in the mix. Boston has been seen scouting Yamamoto frequently and all signs point toward a hefty offer being made this offseason.

Few teams have a more pressing need for a young, controllable ace than the Red Sox. The Red Sox's experiments to move Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock to the rotation have failed. They'll also be losing James Paxton in free agency. Chris Sale is an injury-prone shell of himself. Brayan Bello is the only reliable arm in the rotation heading into 2024.

If Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has any interest in being employed beyond next season, he'll make a push for some pitching.

Fortunately, the Red Sox will have a reset luxury tax to spend freely. Japanese pitchers also cannot have a qualifying offer attached so Bloom would not have to give up his beloved draft picks to acquire Yamamoto's services.

As for Yamamoto's interest? Most importantly, Boston will have the financial flexibility to be a top bidder. The Red Sox also employ Yamamotos' former Buffaloes and World Baseball Classic teammate: Masataka Yoshida.

The Red Sox have no reason to not be the highest bidder for Yamamoto. He's the rare player who helps the team in the short and long term, which has long been Bloom's mission.

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Published Sep 9, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu