This story was excerpted from Ian Browne¡¯s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOSTON -- With a plethora of starting pitchers suddenly at their disposal, the Red Sox might alleviate the logjam by going with a six-man rotation, something the club has never done for more than short spurts in a season.

In a vacuum, the six-man rotation doesn¡¯t always make sense, because many pitchers tend to like the routine of a five-man rotation.

But when you look at the starters employed by the Red Sox, there is definitely a case for it.

Garrett Crochet, the recently acquired lefty who the Red Sox envision as their new ace, is coming off his first full season as a starting pitcher -- and his workload was reduced down the stretch, keeping him at 146 innings in 2024.

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Tanner Houck, an ace and an All-Star in the first half (2.54 ERA) of last season, dipped in the second half (4.23 ERA) while developing right shoulder fatigue as he threw a career-high 178 2/3 innings. Perhaps the extra day of rest would allow him to keep thriving for a full season.

Lucas Giolito didn¡¯t pitch at all last season after undergoing an internal bracing procedure on his right elbow. Though Giolito was pleased to log a career-high 184 1/3 innings in his last healthy season of 2023, easing back in with a six-man rotation after a lost year could help him.

Walker Buehler, the World Series hero who signed a one-year, $21.05 million contract with Boston just after Christmas, spent most of last year trying to get back in a groove after missing all of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery. Finally, in the playoffs, everything clicked for Buehler. With a less-taxing starting routine, perhaps Buehler could be in fine form all season. Buehler pitched as part of a six-man rotation at times with the Dodgers.

¡°I've always been fine with the five-day [routine] in years that I've been healthy or when we go on five or six,¡± Buehler said. ¡°It doesn't really matter to me. Obviously I've experienced both and been a part of both. So when we talked about [signing with the Red Sox], it was like, there is a potential that we would do [a] six-man [rotation].

¡°If that's something they want to go to, I'm obviously open to it or kind of accustomed to it. But there's also some pride in trying to go and make 32 [starts] and throw 200 [innings]. And I know given my injury history, that that's kind of a different deal. But I have done that. So I think there's pros and cons to both. And I think at the end of the year, that six-man probably paid some dividends for us [with the Dodgers], but also you've got to get there.¡±

Brayan Bello took a slight step back in 2024 after a strong ¡¯23. He threw 157 innings in ¡¯23 and 162 1/3 in ¡¯24. Consistency is the biggest thing Bello lacks. Pitching on a six-day routine could enable him to find more of it.

Finally, there is Kutter Crawford, who led the Majors with 33 starts last season. On a traditional depth chart, Crawford could be headed for the bullpen, though he has proven he can start. A six-man rotation could keep him starting.

Cooper Criswell and No. 10 prospect Richard Fitts give Boston additional depth options in the rotation should someone else get injured, and lefty free-agent acquisition Patrick Sandoval could be ready to go by the second half of the season as he comes back from Tommy John.

¡°I think we have had some conversations,¡± said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. ¡°[Manager] Alex [Cora], [pitching coach Andrew Bailey] and I, we've batted around some ideas. I think we'll need to get to Spring Training, see how everyone reports and make a decision from there.¡±

At this point, all options are in play.

¡°I mean, philosophically, I am supportive of anything we can do to keep our best players on the field performing at a really high level, and this potentially could be one of them,¡± Breslow said. ¡°It necessitates particular construction of a bullpen as well, right? We need to have relievers who are capable of throwing multiple innings. I think we have that when you think about guys like [Josh] Winckowski, guys like [Garrett] Whitlock, who has done this in the past, Criswell, who kind of bounced back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen. And so I do think that we're well positioned to implement a six-man rotation, if that's the direction that we want to go.¡±