BALTIMORE — The numbers don’t tell the whole story with the Red Sox starting rotation.

Entering last night, Red Sox starters had a major league-best 14-5 record and a 2.73 ERA since Aug. 18. But in reality, the Sox may not be any closer to figuring out what the rotation might look like in 2016.

Reliability is an issue.

Rick Porcello’s 30 strikeouts with a 1.95 ERA in his last 291⁄3 innings are promising, but he still has a 5.05 ERA this season and a career-high 24 home runs allowed. Joe Kelly was riding a hot streak until he exited last night’s game early with shoulder tightness and fatigue, and his 4.82 ERA isn’t nearly as sparkling as it should be for someone with his talent. Both pitchers have struggled with identity crises on the mound this season. Meanwhile, staff ace Clay Buchholz may not pitch again this year, dealing with a strained flexor tendon.

The only veteran starter the Sox can be sure of is Wade Miley, who is about as solid of a back-of-the-rotation pitcher as you can get.

And then there are the young guys. As much potential as Eduardo Rodriguez and Henry Owens might possess, it’s still too soon to say how each of them fits into next year’s plans.

Owens might be the biggest mystery of them all. His height has a lot to do with it.

Owens is 6-foot-6 and is said to wear size 17 shoes. He’ll make his eighth major league start tonight against the Orioles, but the lanky left-hander is far from a finished product.

“Sometimes we have to have patience,” said Bob Kipper, the Triple-A Pawtucket pitching coach for most of this season before joining the big league staff in late August as interim bullpen coach.

The encouraging part is that Owens’ command issues as a young pitcher aren’t out of the ordinary. Even the few lanky lefties who have found success in the majors had a hard time throwing strikes early in their careers.

David Price has kept his walk rate down near 1.5 per nine innings over the last three years, making him one of the best pitchers in the majors. But in the minor leagues he walked 3.2 batters per nine. And as a young major leaguer he walked 3.1 batters per nine through his 25th birthday.

CC Sabathia was even wilder, walking 4.3 per nine in the minors and 3.3 in the majors through age 25, but has walked just 2.5 batters per nine since then as he’s earned four All-Star appearances and one Cy Young Award.

Owens has walked four batters per nine innings in the minors and has the same walk rate through seven major league starts.

Asked recently how being tall makes things more difficult for him, Owens said, “That’s hard to say because I’ve never been short so I’m not too sure. But I’m sure it has something to do with being in sync with the rest of my body.”

To combat the challenge, Owens has been forced to become one of the hardest working pitchers in the organization. He can often be found in the bullpen before games, going through his complete delivery over and over again, imitating his throwing motion without holding a baseball.

“The bottom line is, he’s done tireless work,” Kipper said recently.

Eventually, Kipper believes, Owens could be throwing much harder than he has lately, when he’s averaged just 90 mph on his fastball to pair up with a plus-plus changeup that should give him a shot at a lengthy career. While he continues growing and adding strength, he might learn how to throw harder with less effort, allowing him to command his fastball even better.

“I think he needs to allow his body to work and whatever comes out, comes out,” Kipper said. “I may be wrong, but I believe there’s probably more there.”

Owens will take a 5.25 ERA into his start tonight. But the Sox have no reason to be concerned. This is one tall lefty the organization believes in.

“At 23, we can’t expect this kid has all the answers,” Kipper said. “And I can’t believe at 23 he’s as good as he’ll ever be, either. Those things don’t make sense to me. There’s real upside potential.”