Red Sox will have competition for rotation spots
By Sean Penney
One would imagine that Rodriguez is a lock to rejoin the staff, coming off an impressive rookie season where he went 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA. E-Rod showed flashes of brilliance last year and has as much upside as any of the team’s other options, aside from perhaps Price.
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Rodriguez will almost certainly replace Sean O’Sullivan, who earned a win despite an unspectacular performance in his first start of the season. The journeyman’s track record suggests he should be counted on as little more than emergency rotation depth, so he’s the clear first choice to get the boot when the Red Sox get an injured starter back.
That still leaves us with one more starter to remove from the mix, so who else is going to be left out?
Obviously not Price, no matter how much he’s struggled in his first season in Boston. There’s no reason to think he won’t get back on track at some point, especially now that he seems to have found a flaw in his delivery. Rick Porcello seems to have remembered how to pitch again, recapturing the form he showed in his breakout season in 2014, so he stays too. Steven Wright was initially expected to be a short-term injury fill in, but he’s been one of the league’s best pitchers this year. The Red Sox need to stick with him for as long as he can keep this up.
Next: Time to let Buchholz go?