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Alex Cora tells ‘one’ area Red Sox are ‘worried about’ with rotation early in season
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- Alex Cora tells ‘one’ area Red Sox are ‘worried about’ with rotation early in season
FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox still need to make a final decision on their fifth starter with the regular season opener in nine days.
Johan Oviedo appears to be the frontrunner. Connelly Early and Payton Tolle also remain in the mix. Tolle will pitch after starter Sonny Gray on Tuesday against the Braves at JetBlue Park.
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Simply put, Boston is in pretty good shape as it lines up its rotation for its first road trip. Garrett Crochet and Gray will pitch Games 1 and 2, respectively.
Only one area remains a slight concern. The Sox are unsure how many innings Ranger Suárez will be able to go in his first regular season start.
"That's kind of like the only one that we are worried about besides making the decision about the next (fifth) starter," manager Alex Cora said Tuesday at JetBlue Park.
After pitching 4 ⅔ innings across two Grapefruit League games, Suárez left for the WBC, where he started two games for Team Venezuela. He struggled in his start Saturday against Japan, lasting just 2 ⅔ innings and throwing 51 pitches.
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Cora said Suárez will throw in a minor league game on the backfields Thursday. That would line him up to pitch in Boston's final spring training game next Tuesday against the Twins and make him available to start either Boston's third regular season game on normal rest or fourth game on an extra day of rest.
As of now, Brayan Bello is lined up to pitch on regular rest in the third game, so the Red Sox have their choice on how they want to line it up after Crochet and Gray.
"We've got our four. Bello is good to go. Sonny's good to go. Crochet. Let's see where Suarez is," Cora said. "He'll be good to go. But how much we can get from him in his first outing we're not sure because the last one obviously was a short one."
The plan is for Gray to pitch five innings and potentially into the sixth inning Tuesday.
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Oviedo, Early and Tolle have all pitched well this spring as they compete for the fifth spot.
Oviedo has allowed just two runs in 11 ⅓ innings across four Grapefruit League starts. He has given up eight hits and six walks while striking out 14.
Early has allowed three earned runs, 10 hits and three walks while striking out nine in 12 innings across four games.
Tolle has allowed three earned runs, five hits and one walk while striking out eight in 6 ⅔ innings across three Grapefruit League games.
The Red Sox have incentive to option Early and Tolle to Triple-A Worcester to begin the season. If Early spends 35 days in the minor leagues this season, the Red Sox would receive an extra year of control . The team faces a similar calculation with Tolle, who must spend 45 days in the minors for Boston to gain that extra year.
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