The Boston Red Sox have been trying to figure out their starting rotation for weeks. Some players are still getting ready to start their season, while others are still being evaluated heavily in every start.
Since the start of spring training, the Red Sox have been eyeing five pitchers: Johan Oviedo, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates this past offseason, Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval, who have barely been pitching and are slowly making their way back to in-game reps, and young top prospects Connelly Early and Payton Tolle.
Early has pitched 4 2/3 innings, striking out four batters, giving up two earned runs on three hits, with batters hitting .176 against him in his two appearances this Spring. Tolle, on the other hand, was all over the place until his recent appearance against the New York Yankees on Wednesday. Leading up to that appearance, he gave up three runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings pitched in his two appearances. But Tolle showed what he is made of after coming in as a relief pitcher in the 6th inning and looking like a demon in disguise.
Tolle struck out seven Yankees hitters, getting four in a row at one point. He only struck two batters out on his fastball, and four of them were on the curveball that he added to his arsenal just this offseason. The last strikeout was on his newly refined cutter, which he's been working on as well. He averaged 98 mph on his fastball while reaching 100 mph on his fifth strikeout that ended the 7th inning.
Oviedo Looks to Own Spring Training Edge Over Tolle and Early
Since Sandoval and Crawford may start on the IL this season, the race has narrowed down to Oviedo, Early, and Tolle. However, regardless of their performances, Oviedo seems to be the frontrunner and de facto winner of the Red Sox rotation.
That's because the Red Sox plan to be strategic with the service times of Tolle and Early. If they are smart, they'll manipulate the 172-day service time in the MLB rule to give the team an extra year of control before the pitchers are eligible for free agency.
Remember: It's cumulative, as it adds up in total games played in a player's career. So in this case, Early would need to spend over a month (five weeks) in the minors, while Tolle would need to be in the minors for almost two months (7 1/2 weeks). Thus, both men would be eligible for free agency in 2032 instead of 2031.
Beyond this, given the situation the Red Sox are in already, being really high on Johan Oviedo, seeing him as a starter in their rotation, this further proves reasoning as to why both of the standout prospects will be starting the season in AAA Worcester.
The Red Sox believe they can be more experienced with more 'seasoning' in minor league reps, starting every five games, and not being pressured to perform right away. It makes too much sense to do any other way, and it seems like it's going to be the path they will be taking.