Red Sox Veteran Duo Still Not Ruled Out for Opening Day

The Boston Red Sox's bullpen arguably is the area of the club most up in the air with Opening Day fast approaching.

Some may point to Marcelo Mayer and second base. While the team hasn't officially announced Mayer will be with the club on Opening Day, barring some sort of trade, the club has been operating in Spring Training game action like he'll have a big role. Plus, there isn't a better option for the club.

The No. 5 rotation spot also has gotten a lot of buzz, but also has seemingly an easy answer. Johan Oviedo has a clear path to the Opening Day rotation. The bullpen is more up in the air. One nugget that stood out on Wednesday was the fact that The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey reported that both Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford are technically still in the mix and could help the bullpen, despite not appearing in a Spring Training game yet.

The Bostin Red Sox hurlers are working their way back

Boston Red Sox pitcher Patrick Sandoval (43) throws the ball during warm ups in the first day of Spring Training on Feb 12, 2025 in Lee County, FL, USA. Chris Tilley-Imagn Images | Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

"With less than three weeks until Opening Day, six relievers in Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Greg Weissert, Justin Slaten, Zack Kelly and Jovani Morán are in line to have spots in the bullpen," McCaffrey wrote. "That leaves two spots open, and Cora named five pitchers who have intrigued him in camp: right-handers Tayron Guerrero, Noah Song, Kyle Keller and Seth Martinez, and lefty Tyler Samaniego. ...

"Meanwhile, Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford remain in the mix. Crawford is further behind Sandoval because of illness, and while Sandoval could still be in play for a long-man role out of the bullpen, he has not yet pitched in a game, which makes that scenario increasingly less likely. Sandoval had a scheduled de-load week this week to scale back his throwing in order to ramp back up next week as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. If neither is ready for Opening Day, one of the arms Cora mentioned might be in the mix come March 26.

The Red Sox specifically could use a lefty in the bullpen, so Sandoval would make a lot of sense. It's still unclear when either will be ready to roll. But if they are good to go by the time Opening Day gets here, they very well could provide stability to the bullpen and the rotation depth would still be fine with Connelly Early and Payton Tolle likely kicking off the season down in the minors.