The Boston Red Sox, as odd as it may seem, are just over two weeks away from their first game of the regular season against the New York Yankees on April 7th. Considering how Boston has played only six Spring Training games so far (and won six games, for what it’s worth), it’s clear they have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.
Since the conclusion of the MLB lockout, much of the focus for the Red Sox has been on free agency. Chaim Bloom and the front office risked putting together a pretty underwhleming offseason, but saved it at the last second with the signing of Trevor Story. There are still some quality pieces on the free agent market, but the dust has settled, and now it’s time to start focusing on the regular season.
Fresh off an unexpected run to the ALCS last season, the Boston Red Sox roster doesn’t look too different from the 2021 version. Many of the key pieces are still in place, and the team didn’t really add or get rid of a ton players. There was the key addition of Story, as well as the departures of Hunter Renfroe and Kyle Schwarber, but otherwise there weren’t many noteworthy moves.
Yet, while the roster looks solid as is, there are certainly some spots still up for grabs on the major league squad. That’s why Spring Training is such an important time, as it helps Alex Cora and the coaching staff get a better feel of who belongs on the major league roster and who doesn’t. With that in mind, let’s look at the three most important position battles to keep an eye on during Spring Training.
Boston Red Sox position battle No. 3: Closer
For most of the 2021 season, it seemed like the Red Sox had lucked their way into finding a dominant closer in Matt Barnes. Barnes was lights out in the first half of the season, and ended up earning his first All-Star berth because of it. After the All-Star break though, Barnes collapsed, and he reverted back to the streaky pitcher he had been throughout much of his career. He was so bad, he even got left of the Sox ALCS roster in the playoffs.
Despite not adding a closer this offseason, the need is still pressing heading into the 2022 season. Similar to last season, there isn’t a clear cut option to take this role and make it their own. While that is certainly an issue, the main problem is that none of the players competing for this role are really that good either.
The three main candidates figure to be Barnes, Garrett Whitlock, and the recently re-signed Hansel Robles. Whitlock was fantastic in pretty much any role last season, and he seems like he would be a perfect fit to close games, but Cora seems to be leaning towards inserting him into the starting rotation for whatever reason. Robles has experience closing games, but he is very inconsistent, and may not even make the roster considering he signed a minor-league deal.
Whitlock would be the obvious choice considering how dominant he was last season out of the bullpen, but Cora seems to want to turn him into a starter. I’m not a huge fan of that, as this team clearly needs someone in the backend of the bullpen, and Whitlock proved he could be that guy last season. Plus, we have seen what can happen when you try to covert a dominant reliever into a starting pitcher (a la Daniel Bard).
It seems like Barnes has the inside track to the ninth inning as long as he can prove he’s no longer wetting the bed everytime he takes the mound in Spring Training. Barnes could dominate and it may not even be a competition, but given how bad he was in the second half of the 2021 season, I wouldn’t count on that happening. Robles is a nice security blanket, but unless Cora has a change of heart with Whitlock, it seems like it’s Barnes position to lose right now.
Boston Red Sox position battle No. 2: Starting Pitcher
The Red Sox seemed like they had their starting rotation figured out, but then Chris Sale picked up a rib injury and threw it all into doubt. Now Boston is going to have to piece together the backend of their rotation until he returns to action. The options aren’t particularly enticing, but at least they actually exist.
The first three starters that are set in stone are Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, and Tanner Houck. Eovaldi was dominant last season, earning a fourth place finish in the American League Cy Young race. Pivetta and Houck were solid throughout the year, and both were particularly useful in their do-it-all roles throughout the playoffs too.
One spot will go to Sale once he returns, but instead of having to fill just one spot heading into the regular season, Cora now has to fill two, which is a bit of a daunting proposition. The good news is that he has options. Whitlock figures to be competing for a starting spot as previously mentioned, with free agent signings Rich Hill and Michael Wacha also figuring to factor into the equation as well.
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Considering how Hill hasn’t made an appearence out of the bullpen since 2014 (2018 if you count playoffs) he seems like a lock for a spot at this point. Unless an unexpected name pops up during Spring Training (potentially prospects Jay Groome and Connor Seabold) the final spot will probably come down to Wacha or Whitlock.
Wacha has spent most of his career starting games, but he has been used out of the bullpen before, and that may be the role he starts the season in. Whitlock will have to prove he can go at least five innings as a starter, but he regularly had multi-inning outings in 2021, so that shouldn’t be an issue. If Wacha struggles early, that will open the door for Whitlock, and as we saw last season, Whitlock probably would take advantage of that and earn the last spot in the rotation.
Boston Red Sox position battle No. 1: Outfield
The most chaotic position battle for the Sox is going to be in the outfield. Two positions are taken care of with Alex Verdugo and Kike Hernandez, but the third one is up for grabs. Where those two will play in the outfield remains to be seen, but we can rest assured that both Hernandez and Verdugo will be in the lineup everyday once the season starts.
From there it’s much less certain. Jackie Bradley Jr. and Jarren Duran appear to be in competition for the starting role when the season starts up, with Bradley appearing to be in the lead at the moment. Franchy Cordero also lurks as a potential challenger, although it would probably take an inspired Spring Training campaign for him to really be considered.
Then there’s the possibility of guys like Christian Arroro or Bobby Dalbec making the switch to the outfield to help the lineup. Bradley cannot be counted on to produce at the plate anymore (he hit just .163 over 134 games last season) and Duran struggled in limited action last season as well. Both Arroyo and Dalbec offer more at the plate, while Bradley or Duran would be a better fielding fit.
Much of this depends on how serious both Arroyo and Dalbec would be about making a position change. Arroyo said he would be willing to play outfield if Boston signed Story in free agency, and well, they did. Having Arroyo’s bat in the lineup over a guy like Bradley’s would be huge. The fielding drop off would be significant, but you could conceivably hide Arroyo or Dalbec under the Green Monster at Fenway Park and get away with it for the most part.
Even if Arroyo or Dalbec were to make the change, it’s unlikely they would start the season off right away, but rather get gradually introduced to the position over time. Between Bradley and Duran, it would probably take a lot for Duran to overtake Bradley, but Duran has a pretty good shot at making the roster as a bench player to start. While Bradley seems likely to win an Opening Day spot, it wouldn’t be surprising to see someone else take his spot by the end of the season.