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Red Sox’ Connelly Early makes Opening Day roster — and there’s a twist in No. 5 starter competition
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- Red Sox’ Connelly Early makes Opening Day roster — and there’s a twist in No. 5 starter competition
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox rookie lefty Connelly Early , after a strong showing in spring training, has made the Opening Day roster, sources said Monday, and he's not the only candidate for the No. 5 starter job to do so.
In a late-camp twist, Boston will carry both Early and right-hander Johan Oviedo on their 26-man roster when the season begins Thursday in Cincinnati . The Red Sox announced after Monday's game that they had sent four pitchers — Payton Tolle, Zack Kelly, Tyler Uberstine and non-roster invitee Tommy Kahnle — to Triple-A Worcester, leaving 13 healthy pitchers in camp, which ends Tuesday. It appears the Sox will carry both rotation candidates in an effort to provide length early in the season with Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello still building up after pitching in the World Baseball Classic. The scenario was first introduced as a possibility by manager Alex Cora late last week.
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"We're talking about a few things, different scenarios," Cora said Friday. "There's conversations. I can tell you that. Conversations, but nothing 100%. We have to think about the 'now' of the team and the future of the organization. If you cut some people short, you're going to pay the price. We have to make sure whatever decision we make is based on what we need early in the season and then for the rest of the season."
The Red Sox view Early as a starter and it remains unlikely he's used as a reliever during the first few weeks of the season. The Red Sox plan to start Garrett Crochet (Thursday) and Sonny Gray (Saturday) in the first two games of the regular season but have not yet announced a starter for Sunday in Cincinnati (the club has Friday off ). According to Cora, Boston plans to start Suárez next Monday in Houston with Bello making his season debut the following day (Tuesday). Exact plans for Early and Oviedo are still being ironed out. Red Sox decision-makers do not seem keen on the idea of a six-man rotation. Both Early (on a back field) and Oviedo (against the Twins) started Monday, meaning they are both candidates to pitch Sunday against the Reds. Oviedo threw 84 pitches (47 strikes) while Early tossed 81 pitches in a minor league game.
In a crowded Red Sox rotation mix, Early — who impressed in a three-start cameo at the end of the season and pitched Game 3 of the Wild Card Series in October — looked likely to find himself on the outside looking in with Crochet, Suárez, Gray, Bello and Oviedo all in tow as well as Tolle and rehabbing veterans Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval . Early then had a stellar camp in which he pitched to a 1.59 ERA and struck out 16 batters in 17 innings while allowing 11 hits and five walks. Oviedo, on the other hand, struggled at times and logged a 4.91 ERA in five starts. On Monday, he allowed six earned runs, six hits and two walks in just 3 ⅓ innings against Minnesota .
"Inconsistent in certain things," Cora said of Oviedo's camp. "The stuff is really good. We cannot hide that.
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"When he's ahead in the count, he's really good. When he's behind, it's just like everyone else," Cora added. "At this level, getting ahead is everything, especially with his stuff. There were a lot of hitters where he was ahead and he got them out. Others, he was behind and he walked them or they hit him."
With Suárez and Bello a bit behind other pitchers due to their WBC responsibilities, the Red Sox began considering carrying two rotation candidates in an effort to protect the staff in the early-goings. Suárez, who threw 61 pitches in a scrimmage Thursday after making just two starts for Venezuela, will get up to 70-75 pitches in Thursday's exhibition finale against the Twins. Bello will stay back in Fort Myers and throw in a minor league game Wednesday before meeting the team in Cincinnati on his own. Both will start the year on the roster but won't be able to cover as many innings as they normally would.
Carrying both Early and Oviedo means the Red Sox will have one fewer spot in their bullpen for a traditional reliever. With Rule 5 pick Ryan Watson having been informed he made the roster earlier Monday , the two odd men out ended up being Kelly, who struggled to get whiffs in camp, and Kahnle, who will keep building up in Worcester after arriving just one week before Opening Day .
It's possible — and perhaps likely — that the Red Sox will send either Early or Oviedo to Triple-A once Suárez and Bello are fully built up. There are service time considerations at play for Early, who needs to spend 35 days in the minor leagues this season for the Red Sox to gain an extra year of control over him . The Sox have not had extension talks with Early this spring, sources said.
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Barring something unforeseen, the 13 pitchers on the Red Sox' Opening Day roster will be Crochet, Suárez, Gray, Bello, Early, Oviedo, closer Aroldis Chapman , setup man Garrett Whitlock and relievers Watson, Justin Slaten , Greg Weissert , Jovani Morán and Danny Coulombe . The one wild card is Coulombe, who didn't sign until mid-March and has since dealt with an illness and getting hit by a comebacker in Monday's game. X-rays were negative on Coulombe's wrist, Cora said.
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