An early guess on the Red Sox' Opening Day roster

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The official start of spring training is upon us Tuesday as pitchers and catchers report for duty, with position players joining them in less than a week.

In truth, a good chunk of the 40-man roster has already arrived, ready for the six-week slog that is spring training.

It’s impossible to know what will happen between now and Opening Day. Perhaps the Red Sox will add to their current roster. It's nearly a given that there will be an injury or two.

But despite the uncertainty, here’s an early look at how the Opening Day roster might look on March 29, when the Sox begin the 2018 season:

CATCHERS (3): Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart.
COMMENT: The assumption – though manager Alex Cora hasn’t said so publicly – is that Vazquez will become the No. 1 catcher, with Leon becoming more of a conventional backup. Leon paired well with Chris Sale last season, but it seems obvious that Vazquez should catch the majority of games. The wildcard here is Swihart, who is out of options and needs to be kept on the roster. It’s likely that the Sox will utilize his versatility to get him at-bats elsewhere (first base, third base, left field, DH).

INFIELDERS (6): Mitch Moreland, Hanley Ramirez, Marco Hernandez, Deven Marrero, Xander Bogaerts, and Rafael Devers.
COMMENT: Moreland and Ramirez will handle first, with Moreland getting the majority of time there, especially against righties. Bogaerts returns at short and Devers is the starter at third. After that, it gets tricky. Dustin Pedroia (knee) won’t be ready to start the year, so the Sox have to find someone who can play second in his absence. Hernandez could emerge from this spring battle and then stick around as a lefty-hitting utility man. Marrero is an accomplished defender at three positions and can hit lefties well. That could leave Brock Holt on the outside looking in; he badly needs a good spring to save his roster spot.

OUTFIELD: (4): Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley, Mookie Betts and Bryce Brentz.
COMMENT: This is all pretty cut-and-dried. Benintendi, Bradley and Betts return as the starters, from left field to right field. The only spot up for grabs is the extra outfield spot, and this is clearly Brentz’s to lose. He provides some righthanded pop off the bench and a reasonably strong throwing arm in the corner outfield spots. Had the Sox added a veteran this winter (as they did with Chris Young two seasons ago), there would be more competition for the fourth job. But to date, they haven’t, so there isn't.

STARTING ROTATION (5): Chris Sale, David Price, Drew Pomeranz, Rick Porcello, and Steven Wright*
COMMENT: The first four here are not in question. The fifth spot will eventually go to Eduardo Rodriguez, but the supposition is that E-Rod, who underwent knee surgery last November, won’t quite be ready to start the season. And given his importance to the team, it makes little sense to rush him back for the sake of an extra start or two in April. But there’s an additional complication here – Wright is still awaiting word on potential discipline stemming from a domestic assault arrest this winter. If Wright is suspended at the start of the season and Rodriguez isn’t quite ready, the fifth spot is up for grabs from among a handful of candidates, ranging from Hector Velazquez, Brian Johnson, Roenis Elias and Jalen Beeks.

BULLPEN (7): Craig Kimbrel, Carson Smith, Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman, Brian Johnson, Robby Scott.
COMMENT: Kimbrel is the closer and Smith will assume the role for which he was obtained: as the primary set-up man. Kelly and Barnes are available at late-inning righty power arms and Scott is the situational lefty. After that, it gets murky. Tyler Thornburg is sort of the E-Rod of the bullpen in that he’s coming off surgery – and a significant one (thoracic outlet syndrome) at that. Again, he could demonstrate that he’s ready to go for the opener, but after he missed all of last season, the Sox will take plenty of precaution. If he’s on the DL for the first couple of weeks, that buys them additional time to take a look at some other possibilities. Johnson, who is out of options, could benefit here, as the Sox won’t want to lose him on waivers if they don’t have to. Workman will have to beat out the likes of Austin Maddox and Heath Hembree.  

 

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