The starting rotation seemed set in stone for the last few weeks, but the World Baseball Classic forced the Boston Red Sox to rethink things.
Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Brayan Bello, Ranger Suárez, and Johan Oviedo will all be on the opening day roster, as was widely expected. But due to the irregular buildups Bello and Suárez had during the sensational global baseball tournament earlier this month, especially the latter, the Red Sox were forced to make other arrangements.
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Enter Connelly Early, who has looked like a big-leaguer since the second he first set foot on the mound in his debut last September, and will get the chance to prove once the regular season starts that the big leagues are where he should stay.
According to a Monday report from Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Early made the Red Sox's opening day rotation. He and Oviedo are both candidates to pitch Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds, according to Cotillo, and the preference is for Early to remain a starter.
After Suárez threw just 2 2/3 innings in the WBC quarterfinal, which came after eight days of rest, the possibility of Early making the team seemed to resurface, as it looked for all the world that he was ticketed for Triple-A. And he kicked down the door, tossing five shutout innings against the New York Yankees with seven strikeouts in his last spring start on Wednesday.
It remains to be seen whether the Red Sox will try to squeeze another year of service time out of Early by sending him to the minors at some point. If he's down there for 35 days this season, the Red Sox will control him through the end of the 2032 season instead of 2031. Payton Tolle, who was sent down on Monday, has the same arrangement, but with 46 days instead of 35.