You've said this a few times now, and I think the big picture is getting distorted a bit. Three of the Sox current starters are 27 years old and one is 24. We have Houck under control through 2027 and Bello, Crawford and Whitlock through 2028.
In 2019, Bello was considered a 40 FV prospect with the upside of a back-end starter, Houck had been moved into a relief role, Whitlock was the #41 prospect in the Yankees system and Kutter Crawford wasn't a name anybody wrote down. Those are all major successes of our pitching development system under Bloom. Opinions vary on whether Crawford will stick in the rotation, and that's fine, but this seems quite well ahead of most teams.
We've also got Drohan on the cusp. (I know you've pointed to his AAA numbers, which are less good mostly because he's walking more batters, but it's documented
that they're working on something specific and trying to change the shape of his cutter/slider).
Here's what Fangraphs' Eric Longenhagen says about our pitching prospects:
Shane Drohan, 24:
Athletic lefties with changeups this good tend to find their way into a big league rotation as no. 4/5 starters, even when they only have a fair breaking ball. If you think Drohan’s athleticism will help his new breaking stuff flourish over time, or that his recent arm strength uptick is the start of an upward trend that will continue for a while longer, then you can argue he’s a top 100 prospect.
Wikelman Gonzalez, 21:
Line this sort of stuff up with the best college arms in the country and it compares pretty favorably. You’re not taking a project like Gonzalez ahead of the more polished college arms who tend to go in the middle of the first round or above, but guys with relief risk and stuff like this tend to find their way into the late-first and comp round. Patience here. This is a powerful down-the-mound athlete generating huge hip/shoulder separation who can also really spin it. He’s got considerable upside, even if he ends up in the bullpen.
Angel Bastardo, 21: He’s out-pitching Wikelman Gonzalez at the same age, at the same level, and with more polished and complete secondary stuff, but lesser arm strength and raw breaking ball quality. I have Gonzalez ahead because he’s more traditionally projectable, but you can take your pick between the two.