Red Sox Have 5 Candidates To Fill 2 Open Important Spots

The Red Sox are going to have to make some choices over the next two weeks...

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

At this point, there are only three guys guaranteed to start in the rotation for the Boston Red Sox to open the 2025 Major League Baseball season, barring further injuries.

Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler, and Garrett Crochet all are currently healthy and are a great three-headed monster. While this is the case, Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford all won’t be ready for Opening Day.

The Red Sox’s depth is being seriously tested already and The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey shared that the club has five options currently at least some what in the mix in Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester, Cooper Criswell, Sean Newcomb, and Michael Fulmer.

"After Crochet, Buehler and Houck, the Red Sox will spend the next two weeks determining which starters fill the final two spots for now. Richard Fitts and Quinn Priester remain front-runners, along with Criswell. Cora also has mentioned Newcomb and Michael Fulmer. The Red Sox have already decided they will keep Garrett Whitlock in the bullpen and will not move Josh Winckowski either."

The two most likely options at this point seem like Fitts and Priester, but we still have about two weeks to go until Opening Day. Anything could happen. Criswell made 18 starts last year for Boston and had a 4.08 overall ERA. Fulmer is a former All-Star who has bounced between the starting rotation and bullpen. Newcomb has a career 4.51 ERA in eight seasons.

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