The Boston Red Sox waited all winter for spring training games to see how their existing players improved over the offseason and how their new ones will fit in. Offseason trade addition and former Pittsburgh Pirate Johan Oviedo made his Red Sox spring training debut on February 25 and it didn't go as well as he and Boston hoped.
Oviedo took the mound opposite the Minnesota Twins and he let up a hit, logged a strikeout and three walks over 1.2 innings of work. Fifteen of his 33 pitches went for strikes. He didn't allow any runs.
Oviedo's command was shaky, which has been a point of emphasis for him and the Red Sox. In 2023, his last full season in the major leagues before he underwent Tommy John surgery, Oviedo clocked a 4.31 ERA and 83 walks over 177.2 innings. His 10.6 walk percentage is lower than some previous years of his career, but there's still room for refinement.
Johan Oviedo and Red Sox still need to work on his command after walk-heavy 2026 spring training debut
A 1.2 inning spring training appearance isn't enough to come to any conclusions about Oviedo's spot on the team in 2026. But he's competing for the fifth spot in Boston's rotation alongside Conelly Early and Payton Tolle, and he'll need to keep up with them to have the best chance at being used as a starter all season (Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval are also potential rotation options for the Sox, but their respective injuries have kept them out of Grapefruit League action to this point, which could keep them from the Opening Day roster, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com).
Oviedo profiles similarly to other pitchers the Red Sox have targeted since Craig Breslow took over in the front office. He stands at a massive 6-foot-6 and boasts a hard fastball with deceptive extension. Boston aims to help Oviedo become faster, throw more strikes and limit walks, and if he can achieve those things this spring, he could be a fixture of the back of its rotation all season.
Early and Tolle won't make the rotation competition easy on Oviedo and both have already had short but successful Grapefruit League starts. Oviedo still has plenty of time to improve before Opening Day and he'll get more than enough playing time after many of Boston's starters leave camp in the coming days to appear in the World Baseball Classic.