Difficult Decision Looming For Red Sox As Club Finally Begins To Get Healthy

Who will the Red Sox move to the bullpen?

The Boston Red Sox have surprised some people already this season, but the club could be even better. 

Boston has dealt with a plethora of injuries already this season, but things finally are starting to look up for the club. The Red Sox will be without the services of Adam Duvall and Trevor Story for a little while, but the club's starting rotation finally is coming together. 

The Red Sox entered spring training with seven players vying for the team's five starting rotation spots in Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Brayan Bello, James Paxton, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck. Plenty of questions swirled around the club in spring training about who eventually would be moved to the bullpen, but the team hasn't had to answer the question as Bello, Whitlock, and Paxton all have missed time this season due to injury. 

Boston doesn't have the luxury of waiting around much longer as the rotation finally is nearing good health. Bello is back in the rotation and Paxton reportedly will make his season debut Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals, according to MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo. Whitlock currently is out as he deals with an elbow injury, but also should be back with the club sooner rather than later.

With a decision looming on who to send to the bullpen, the most likely candidates are Pivetta, Houck, and Whitlock. Pivetta struggled for Boston on Tuesday night and seemingly has no interest in moving to the bullpen, but he may be one of the odd men out. Houck and Whitlock both have bullpen experience and have impressed in the roles. At one point, Houck was Boston's most successful starter this season but he also has been shaky at points. Whitlock was Boston's most dominant reliever when healthy over the last two years so it also would make sense for him to return to a familiar role. 

There's no way for sure to know who will move to the bullpen, but it's very unlikely that Sale, Kluber, Bello, or Paxton -- at least in the short-term -- change roles. A surplus of pitching certainly is a better problem to have than a lack of hurlers. We should know more about the team's roles in the very near future. 

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