The Boston Red Sox have made it clear that there's an open competition going on for the No. 5 starter role this season. But every competition has its leaders after a while.
Despite entering the spring with group of five starters that looked to have some chance at earning the nod to close out the rotation, Boston seems to have settled on a most likely scenario, according to one insider's report.
Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported Thursday that right-hander Johan Oviedo had "the inside lane" to earn the nod over the likes of rookies Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, as well as a pair of guys that have yet to make their spring training debuts due to injury rehab in Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval.
"As of now, Oviedo (despite having minor league options) has the inside lane to that spot, according to sources, because he’s fully healthy and without restrictions entering camp," Cotillo wrote. "Outings like his erratic debut Wednesday could lead the Red Sox to look elsewhere, though. Helping Oviedo’s case is the fact Crawford, who missed all of last season with knee and wrist issues, is behind and hasn’t faced hitters yet and Sandoval, who also missed 2025, is not yet throwing in games."
Oviedo didn't allow an earned run in his 1 2/3 innings of work against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, but he walked three batters and threw 15 strikes to 18 balls. Everyone deals with rust in February, but command issues have been fairly constant for the 27-year-old throughout his career.
With that said, it makes total sense that Oviedo, whom the Red Sox liked enough to part ways with top outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia in a November trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, should at least get the chance to show what he can do when the games start to matter.