The Boston Red Sox ultimately decided that Richard Fitts didn’t need another rehab appearance in the minor leagues.
Instead, Fitts’ next start will come Tuesday night with the Red Sox taking on the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field.
The Red Sox activated Fitts off the injured list prior to the contest and made room for the 25-year-old righthander on the active roster by optioning Zack Kelly back to Triple-A Worcester.
Fitts last pitched for Boston on April 12 but was sidelined for over a month due to a right pectoral strain. His only rehab outing came with Double-A Portland last week when he pitched three scoreless innings and allowed four hits and no walks while striking out two.
Fitts tossed just 38 pitches in that appearance, so he likely won’t be in line to take on a maximum workload against the Brewers. The Red Sox, who had an opening in their rotation after multiple postponements this past weekend, only used Garrett Whitlock in relief in the series opener, putting their bullpen in much better shape than it has been of late.
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The Red Sox received two quality starts and a scoreless outing from Fitts before he went on the IL. Fitts, who owns a 3.18 ERA on the season, didn’t allow a run in five frames with five strikeouts in his last start in the majors against the Chicago White Sox. He has seven big-league starts in his career and surrendered 33 hits and 10 earned runs in 17 innings.
The Red Sox certainly will need Fitts to give them a lift as they have lost three games in a row to slip two games under .500 on the season.
First pitch between the Red Sox and the Brewers is set for 7:40 p.m. ET. You can catch complete coverage of the game on NESN.
