The Boston Red Sox on March 17 made some headway toward determining their Opening Day bullpen after assigning four more relievers to minor league camp. Manager Alex Cora has many more cuts to make in just over a week before his team's March 26 tilt against the Cincinnati Reds, and the players remaining in camp won't make his choices easy.
Not only are Boston's options getting slimmer as the spring goes on, but players are warming up and improving with each passing week. Ryan Watson is a prime example.
Watson, a 28-year-old righty, has posted a 5.79 ERA through 9.1 innings in Grapefruit League play so far, which doesn't exactly scream "put me on the roster." But behind those numbers, Watson has had a solid spring.
Watson had one truly rough outing, which drastically altered his ERA in such a small sample size of innings. On March 2, Watson gave up four runs on just one hit, two walks and a hit batter. Only 11 of his 27 pitches went for strikes.
Rule 5 Draft pick Ryan Watson impressing Red Sox late in spring training, making Opening Day roster push
He's looked much better in recent games. Watson has made four appearances since March 2, all but one of them scoreless. Watson's March 15 outing against the Minnesota Twins has been his best one yet — he gave up three hits but no runs and clocked two strikeouts in his first two-inning performance. Cora credited Watson after his two frames against Minnesota, but noted that competition for a spot on the Opening Day roster is tight.
“He threw a lot of strikes,” Cora said (via Christopher Smith of MassLive). “Velocity is not up there yet. So work in progress. We know we have to make a decision. We know that. But it’s not now. So we’ll keep talking about him, try to help him out and see what we do.”
Despite his rocky start to spring training, the Red Sox might be extra motivated to get Watson a spot on the Opening Day squad because he was a Rule 5 Draft selection. If Boston doesn't add him to the 26-man roster or the injured list before the season begins, he'll be offered back to his former team, the San Francisco Giants, and the Red Sox will lose a relief option.
If Watson maintains his upward trajectory, he could make the Sox's roster decisions much easier. The Red Sox have had recent success with relievers selected from the Rule 5 Draft, namely Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten, and Watson would surely like to join their ranks.