Alex Cora: ‘Tough’ Red Sox roster decisions might make someone ‘very upset’
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Opening Day is only 13 days away and manager Alex Cora has yet to finalize his five-man starting rotation.
“Not close,” Cora said, laughing at JetBlue Park on Friday.
Cora said he expects the rotation to be set by the time the Red Sox leave Fort Myers next Sunday (March 24). Boston heads to Texas for two exhibition games (March 25, 26) against the Rangers at Globe Life Field before flying to Seattle for a four-game opening series against the Mariners.
Cora sees a scenario where a pitcher competing for the final two starting rotation spots might be optioned to Triple-A Worcester to begin the season there as a starter instead of making Boston’s 26-man roster as a reliever. That way, he will remain stretched out as a starter.
“There’s going to be tough decisions,” Cora said. “Maybe somebody’s going to be very upset at us because they don’t break camp with us. When you start getting better players and you have guys capable of getting people out at the big league level, then other decisions are based on other stuff. It’s a 40-man roster. Not everybody that breaks camp with us to Seattle is going to be a part of it the whole season. We just have to be very smart the way we use our pieces.”
Brayan Bello and Nick Pivetta are locks to begin the season in the starting rotation. Kutter Crawford is close to a lock. That leaves Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowski and Cooper Criswell competing for the final two spots.
Winckowski is in the running for a rotation spot after he pitched out of the Red Sox bullpen all last season. He made 59 relief outings and one appearance as an opener. He logged 84 ⅓ innings. It seems logical for him to begin the year in Boston’s bullpen if he doesn’t make the rotation. But he also could begin the year in Worcester’s rotation to keep him stretched out.
MassLive’s latest Opening Day roster projection has both Winckowski and Criswell making the team as relievers.
Winckowski, Houck and Whitlock all have split time between the starting rotation and bullpen in the big leagues. Criswell made all 10 of his appearances (33 innings) out of Tampa’s bullpen last year.
“We just had a meeting and we talked about certain scenarios, all that, what we’re trying to accomplish,” Cora said. “The goals we set with players — are they close to them? Have they accomplished them and all that? We feel really good with what we have. But there’s going to be decisions based on who plays center, who’s going to be in the rotation, who are we playing the first 28 games or whatever it is? The good thing is flexibility, especially in the pitching staff, is going to help us. We’ve got guys who have options, a luxury that me as a manager I’ve never had before.”
