Red Sox 24-Year-Old May Be Costing Himself Roster Spot

The Red Sox have a lot of tough decisions to make...

Jul 24, 2020; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; An image outside Fenway Park on an empty Jersey Street before the start of the game against the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox have more talented players around than roster spots available.

Even with all of the injuries with the team right now, there still won't be as many players on the big league roster when Opening Day gets here at the end of March as are deserving. Boston has so much talent right now and the starting rotation specficially is where the surplus will be felt.

The Red Sox are without the services of three of their expected starters in Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, and Kutter Crawford. Richard Fitts seems like the most obvious option for one of the open spots. The final spot likely will come down to Quinn Priester, Sean Newcomb, or maybe even Michael Fulmer.

If you would have asked the question a few weeks ago about who would be in the rotation, Priester probably would've been a popular answer among these three. But, he's been hit hard recently and has a 4.82 ERA in four appearances in Spring Training. Newcomb had no buzz a few weeks ago but has a 0.93 ERA in four appearances. Fulmer is a former All-Star and has a 0.96 ERA in four appearances himself.

Priester is just 24 years old and is a a former first-round pick who has a lot of upside, but hasn't been as sharp as he likely would've hoped for in Spring Training. With all of the injuries, it seemed like Priester had a great shot at the big league roster. But, he may be pitching himself out of contention.

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