The Boston Red Sox have two of baseball's most intriguing pitching prospects in Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, but all of the signs out there right now with two weeks to go until Opening Day, point towards the young duo kicking off the season down in the minors.
For example, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe dropped an updated Opening Day roster projection and unsurprisingly didn't have Early or Tolle cracking the rotation.
"Rotation (5): LHP Garrett Crochet, RHP Sonny Gray, LHP Ranger Suarez, RHP Brayan Bello, RHP Johan Oviedo," Abraham wrote. "Explanation: No changes here and there won’t be, barring injury. It’s an interesting group led by an unquestioned ace in Crochet and two accomplished newcomers in Gray and Suarez who will be eager to impress.
"Bello is 37-28, 4.02 the last three seasons, a few ticks over league average. He should be better than that and motivated by knowing there are younger pitchers coming for his job. Oviedo believes being with the Red Sox can unlock what is considerable promise."
This aligns with the vast majority of the chatter out there right now, pointing towards Johan Oviedo being the guy for the No. 5 spot in the rotation. This was the expectation heading into Spring Training and after the big trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates this past offseason, it's how it should be.
But if you're a part of the cohort of Red Sox fans hoping to get a glimpse of Early and Tolle in the big leagues, you're likely going to have to wait a bit.
MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo also has reported that Oviedo has the "inside lane" to the No. 5 Opening Day job. Tim Healey of The Boston Globe noted that Red Sox officials are "jazzed up" about Oviedo. Early and Tolle are going to help this team at some point, but that point isn't likely to be Opening Day.