Red Sox's Roster Decision Getting Tougher Thanks to Ryan Watson

Is Ryan Watson's spring training resurgence too little, too late?

It's cruel that teams have to decide roster spots at times based on such a small sample, and Watson had thrown only 9 1/3 in-game innings for the Boston Red Sox as of Monday. By the middle of next week, the Sox will be forced to decide whether he makes the opening day roster or (likely) leaves the organization due to his Rule 5 status.

After a slow start to the spring in which he allowed six earned runs in his first six innings, Watson has pitched back-to-back scoreless outings, including two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts on Sunday. Is he doing enough to put himself in the mix for one of just eight spots in the bullpen on opening day?

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What Ryan Watson said about roster battle, mental shift

Regardless of what it means for his career, Watson recently revealed that he had some conversations with the coaching staff that helped him better handle the mental rigors of the roster battle he's locked into.

“I think I was putting a little too much pressure on myself from the start,” Watson told MassLive's Christopher Smith. “So really just kind of talking with Bails (pitching coach Andrew Bailey) and Holty (bullpen coach Chris Holt) and some of the guys in here about really just being who I am and what got me here. So just trying to get back to that and just really focus on competing, getting outs.”

Meanwhile, Watson drew praise from Red Sox skipper Alex Cora after his outing against the Twins, signaling that his fate was not yet sealed in terms of winning a job on opening day.

“He threw a lot of strikes,” Cora said. “Velocity is not up there yet. So work in progress. We know we have to make a decision. We know that. But it’s not now. So we’ll keep talking about him, try to help him out and see what we do.”

If Watson does not last the entire regular season on the 26-man roster (or injured list), he'll be offered back to the San Francisco Giants. While the odds may look somewhat long at the moment, the beauty of baseball is that every hot streak starts with one or two good days, and Watson just had those.