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Alex Cora explains roles for Connelly Early, Johan Oviedo on Red Sox pitching staff to start season
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- Alex Cora explains roles for Connelly Early, Johan Oviedo on Red Sox pitching staff to start season
FORT MYERS, Fla. — As the Red Sox gathered for the final day of spring training Tuesday, manager Alex Cora detailed how pitchers Connelly Early and Johan Oviedo would be deployed early in the season — and stressed that it’s a temporary solution.
Early and Oviedo, who spent all of camp competing for the final open spot in Boston’s rotation, were both informed late Monday that they had made the team . For now, Early will slot into the rotation behind Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray and before Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello , who are both behind in their build-ups after pitching in the World Baseball Classic. Oviedo will be a long reliever who is likely to pitch in a piggyback role, perhaps behind Early on Sunday when he makes his season debut in the finale of Boston ’s opening series against the Reds in Cincinnati .
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After about 10 games, Cora said, the Red Sox will come up with a more permanent plan.
“Oviedo will come out of the bullpen,” Cora said. “Where we’re at rotation-wise right now, it makes sense to have him most likely piggyback somebody the first two times around then we’ll re-assess the situation. Early’s starting Game 3.”
As camp opened last month, the Red Sox intended to take one starter from the group that included Early, Oviedo and Payton Tolle ( with Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval behind due to past injuries ). That plan changed recently when Suárez logged just a total of 4 ⅔ innings for the victorious Venezuelan team in the WBC and found himself on an irregular build-up for the regular season. Suárez threw 61 pitches (49 strikes) in his last outing, an intrasquad scrimmage on Thursday, and is set to throw 70-75 pitches Tuesday against the Twins. Bello, who has not gotten as much rest as the Sox would have liked, is going to throw in a minor league game Wednesday at Fort Myers, then fly to Cincinnati on his own in an effort to fully build up for his debut next week.
“It’s not about looks,” Cora said. “It’s about length and where we’re at with Ranger. We’ll know more today, but I think it makes sense to have (Oviedo) there and whenever we deploy him, we deploy him. We’re kind of targeting Monday in Houston (for Suárez) but you never know what could happen before.”
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The Red Sox have been consistent in their stance that they don’t want to disrupt the development of Early or Tolle by having them pitch out of the major league bullpen to start the season. Making the decision easier was Early’s standout performance this spring. 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, including a clunker Monday against Minnesota .
“It’s the same thing that gave me confidence to pitch him in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series,” Cora said. “Stuff-wise, he’s really good. I think he’s up to the challenge. He slows down the moments. He’s getting better.”
That Early is in the Opening Day rotation does not mean that he will spend the full season in the big leagues. Once Suárez is fully built up (after a couple of turns through the rotation), the Red Sox could option Early back to Triple-A — and would be incentivized to do so due to service time concerns, as they gain another year of control over Early if he spends 35 days in the minors this year. Of course, the 23-year-old could force his way into a long-term rotation role by pitching well to start the season in a development that would complicate things for Oviedo and both Crawford and Sandoval, who could both begin rehab assignments at affiliates in the coming weeks. With Early on the Opening Day roster, the Red Sox could also be in position to gain a draft pick through the PPI (Prospect Promotion Incentive) program depending on how Early does in Rookie of the Year and/or MVP voting .
Tolle, on the other hand, will begin the year in Triple-A Worcester as an exciting prospect who can be called upon if need be.
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“We can’t have both in the big leagues. That’s the way we saw it,” Cora said. “We’re here to win a lot of games in April but we’re here to win a lot of games over 162. It doesn’t make sense roster-wise to carry both of them. It felt like Early earned that spot.
“Tolle did everything we asked him to do. There’s still some development and he’ll do that. We added some pitches throughout camp and the offseason and he’s gonna keep improving down there. At one point, without making any promises, I believe he’s gonna contribute at this level, but it’s not right now.”
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