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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BOSTON – After a cup of coffee at Fenway Park last season, Richard Fitts will get to pitch in the legendary ballpark much more frequently in the 2025 season.

The Boston Red Sox named Fitts to their starting pitching rotation to begin the 2025 regular season.

A native of Helena, Fitts is currently listed as No. 4 in the opening rotation of the year. He will make his first start of the 2025 regular season on Sunday, March 30 at 1:35 p.m. against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Fitts made his major league debut with the Red Sox on Sept. 8, 2024 against the Chicago White Sox, finishing the game with no earned runs in 5.2 innings while taking a no decision.

He then made three more starts, including a pair of five-inning shutouts against the New York Yankees on Sept. 13 at Yankee Stadium and the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 20 at Fenway Park.

Fitts earned his first loss in his final start of the regular season on Sept. 25 against the Toronto Blue Jays, and facing a road environment, he allowed four runs off six hits and two walks across five innings.

In all, Fitts finished the season with an 0-1 record, 1.74 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in four starts, allowing just four runs off six hits and seven walks in 20.2 innings. He also earned nine strikeouts.

Fitts came over to the Red Sox organization in December 2023 in a rare trade between them and the rival New York Yankees. Boston sent outfielder Alex Verdugo, who is now with the Atlanta Braves, to the Bronx in exchange for Fitts and two other right-handed pitchers.

He was drafted in the sixth round by the Yankees out of Auburn in 2021. In 2023, he was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year after going 11-5 with a 3.48 ERA and 163 strikeouts as a member of the Double-A Somerset Patriots.