The Cardinals acquired Fitts and Brandon Clarke from the Red Sox on Tuesday in exchange for Sonny Gray and cash considerations, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Fitts made 14 starts and one relief appearance for the Red Sox the past two years, collecting a 3.97 ERA and 49:23 K:BB over 65.2 innings. The right-hander is under team control through 2031 and stands a good chance to open the season in the Cardinals' rotation. Fitts ended the season on the injured list with right arm neuritis, but he entered the offseason without limitations.
Red Sox's Richard Fitts: Enters winter with no limitations
Rotowire
Fitts (arm) heads into the winter with no limitations, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
Fitts, who missed the final 30 games of the season due to right arm neuritis, is throwing again and should have a normal offseason, per Boston chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Injuries to projected rotation members during the spring opened a spot for Fitts early on before he landed on the IL with a pectoral strain. Pending the team's offseason moves -- re-sign Lucas Giolito or add a viable free agent -- Fitts will be part of a group competing for a spot at the back end of the rotation or the bullpen.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora indicated Friday that he was not optimistic Fitts (arm) would return before the end of the season, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.
Fitts has been sidelined since late August with inflammation in his brachial plexus, which is a bundle of nerves that begin in the spinal cord and extends through the shoulder and arm. He has yet to resume throwing, and there's no indication he'll be cleared to do so anytime soon. If Fitts' season is indeed over, he'll finish with a 5.00 ERA and 40:16 K:BB over 45 innings covering 10 starts and one relief appearance.
Fitts (arm) was diagnosed Tuesday with inflammation in his brachial plexus following an MRI, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.
According to Healey, the brachial plexus, is a bundle of nerves that begin in the spinal cord and extend through his shoulder and arm, and the finding from Fitts' MRI weren't anything unexpected. The Red Sox aren't yet putting a timeline on Fitts' return, as the team will wait and see how he responds to rest and treatment before clearing him to start throwing again.
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