Red Sox announce early spring pitching plans

The beginning of the baseball season grows ever closer as Red Sox camp is now in full session. With Boston’s annual spring training opener, a double-header against Northeastern University and Boston College, scheduled to take place next Tuesday, manager John Farrell has announced which pitchers will throw in the double-header.

Clay Buchholz, Boston’s oldest and longest-tenured starting pitcher (and the only starter that was in the team’s 2014 opening rotation) will throw the first pitch against Northeastern. The most likely candidate to also start Opening Day in Philadelphia for the Red Sox, Buchholz will throw one inning before handing the ball over to Rick Porcello for a pair of innings and then left-handed pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez for two more. Over the next four innings, we’ll get a chance to see a number of Boston’s potential additions to the bullpen with Zeke Spruill, Dana Eveland, Anthony Varvaro, and Mitchell Boggs scheduled to pitch.

Farrell also announced the starter for the following game against Boston College, with left-hander Wade Miley scheduled to start and throw a pair of innings. Miley will be followed by an inning from Steven Wright, the 30-year old knuckleballer who has spent the majority of the last two years in Triple-A Pawtucket and will likely report there to start the 2015 season as well. After those two, the Red Sox will pitch Craig Breslow, Brandon Workman, Edwin Escobar, Dalier Hinojosa, Keith Couch, and Noe Ramirez.

We’ll get a day off of baseball before the Red Sox open up their Grapefruit League slate against the Twins next Thursday, but Farrell went ahead and announced his scheduled pitchers for that game as well. Joe Kelly will kick off Boston’s Grapefruit League season with an inning before handing the ball to Matt Barnes, Brian Johnson, Junichi Tazawa, Edward Mujica, Alexi Ogando, Robbie Ross, Tommy Layne, and Heath Hembree for an inning each.

This is a time of hope and optimism for fans all across baseball and it will be exciting to be able to watch the Red Sox rotation, one of the largest areas of discussion for the Red Sox fans, in action for the first time in addition to being able to see a number of prospects in Rodriguez, Escobar, Barnes, and Johnson. Nothing will beat the regular season, but at least we’ll have spring training to tide us over before long.