Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox's Alex Cora Names Which Players Have Made Opening Day Rotation

Boston is narrowing their competition down
Scott Neville|
Red Sox's Alex Cora Names Which Players Have Made Opening Day Rotation
Red Sox's Alex Cora Names Which Players Have Made Opening Day Rotation

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox did not make the pitching staff upgrades many across the industry believed they would, or at least would have to make to be completive.

Some marquee starters remain available for Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to scoop up -- but the current roster will rely on a bounce-back candidate in Lucas Giolito plus a bunch of internal options hoping to take a step up from a season ago.

With that said, manager Alex Cora has started to put his plan together for the upcoming season. In doing so, he essentially locked in three spots in the rotation and tipped his hand regarding a fourth.

“As of now, if everything stays the same and they’re healthy, obviously Lucas (Giolito) is in the rotation and Nick (Pivetta) is in the rotation," Cora told the media, as transcribed by MassLive's Sean McAdam on Saturday. 

"Brayan (Bello) too. We believe Kutter (Crawford) is a starter, but obviously, we have to make decisions accordingly. I do believe his future is there. He’s proven before, so we’re going to give him a lot of chances. Or let’s say he has the lead in that one, let’s put it that way. Then, after that, we’ll see how it looks.”

Cora's update essentially leaves a three-man race for the final spot in the rotation -- a battle between Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Josh Winckowski.

Of the trio, Whitlock makes the most sense to earn the job. Houck's biggest defect is that despite early-game dominance, he struggles mightily facing a lineup the third time around. It's always made the most sense to put him in a position to avoid that scenario -- a high-leverage, multi-inning reliever role would make the most sense. His 4.37 career ERA as a starter compared to his 2.68 ERA further reinforces that point. 

Winckowski has an even greater discrepancy between his numbers as a starter versus a reliever (5.66 ERA/3.13 ERA) and should continue to settle into a similar role as a year before. 

The reality is, all three probably are best suited for reliever roles and the Red Sox still should invest in Jordan Montgomery. However, unless they do so, Whitlock has the best shot of becoming a reliable back-end starter.

More MLB: Ex-Red Sox Fan Favorite Outfielder Seeking MLB Deal Despite Retirement Rumors

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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