Red Sox
Dobbins suffered the injury when he went to cover first base on a ground ball in the Red Sox’ win over the Rays on Friday.
Hunter Dobbins’s return from his recent elbow injury was not only short-lived, but it was also his final outing of the 2025 season.
The Red Sox’ right-handed pitcher has suffered an ACL tear in their 5-4 win over the Rays on Friday, the team announced Saturday. While the team didn’t include a rehab timetable in its announcement, Dobbins told reporters that his season is over. He also said that he tore the same ACL when he played football in high school.
To replace Dobbins in the starting rotation, the Red Sox have called up fellow right-handed pitcher Richard Fitts. He’ll replace Dobbins’s spot in the rotation and will likely make a start in the series against the Phillies following the All-Star break.
Dobbins suffered the injury while running to cover first base on a groundball hit by Chandler Simpson in the second inning of Friday’s game. After recording the out, Dobbins began to limp. He tried to remain in the game, throwing a warmup pitch in between batters, but the pain was too much for him to continue.
“He said he felt it when he jumped for the throw and when he landed, so we’ll see,” Cora told reporters of Dobbins’s injury.
The 25-year-old Dobbins helped stabilize the backend of the Red Sox’ rotation as some of the other team’s pitchers struggled or dealt with injuries in the first three months of the season. He went 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA over 13 outings (11 starts), logging a 1.279 WHIP and 45 strikeouts in 61 innings pitched. He notably picked up two wins against the Yankees in June, allowing just three runs over 12 innings in those two starts as he made off-field headlines for quotes he made about the Red Sox’ top rival. A recent elbow injury sidelined Dobbins for a three weeks.
Now, the Red Sox’ need to fortify their starting rotation is even more imperative. Garrett Crochet has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, while Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello have been strong as of late. Questions linger beyond those three, though. Walker Buehler’s been solid in his last two starts, but he had nearly a month of rough outings that preceded that. Tanner Houck is working his way back from injury, but he was arguably among the worst pitchers in baseball before hitting the injured list.
As for Fitts, he’s had an inconsistent year and has also missed time due to a pectoral injury. There’s also Kyle Harrison, the left-handed pitcher whom the Red Sox acquired in the Rafael Devers trade, but he’s posted a 7.62 ERA in three starts with Triple-A Worcester.
Entering Saturday, Boston’s starting pitchers ranked 18th in ERA (4.13) and 23rd in WHIP (1.34).
Dobbins’s injury is also the second season-ending knee injury suffered by a Red Sox player this season. Triston Casas tore his patellar tendon while running to first after he hit a ground ball in May.
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