Red Sox looking for a pitcher to grab No. 5 starter role

The No. 5 spot in the Boston Red Sox rotation is up for grabs, with the team hoping they can fill that void internally.

How long can a team get by with only four starting pitchers in their rotation? The Boston Red Sox may be wishing that plan could last through the rest of the season to avoid having to solve their current dilemma.

Thanks to a few fortuitously placed breaks in the schedule, the Red Sox won’t actually need a fifth starter until June 18, giving them another two weeks to sort through their options. That buys them some additional time to evaluate the pitchers contending for that spot in hopes that one of them will separate themselves from the competition.

There are several choices to choose from, none of whom are all that appealing based on what we’ve seen this season. Manager John Farrell expects to find their fifth starter from within the organization, but needs someone to step up and show they deserve that opportunity.

"“Yes, the candidate pool is going to be internal,” Farrell confirmed to reporters on Friday, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “Clay, Elias, Joe Kelly, Henry Owens — someone grab it.”"

The gauntlet has been thrown down. Farrell is challenging the pitchers in the Red Sox organization – you want the job? Come and get it. The next two weeks will be an audition for these pitchers to show why they deserve to be selected to start for this team.

Let’s take a look at the four candidates Farrell called out to examine the likelihood that they’ll be called upon to make a start a couple weeks from now.

Next: Joe Kelly