With an eye on long season, Red Sox holding starting pitchers back early in spring

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Red Sox’ lineup card for the first exhibition game of the spring was dotted with familiar names Thursday afternoon: Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, and Mitch Moreland.

In the next few days, you’ll see the names of Mookie Betts, Christian Vazquez, Hanley Ramirez and Xander Bogaerts.

But it will take a while before the likes of Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello and Drew Pomeranz are taking part in games. And that’s very much by design.

For the next week, the Sox will use some depth starters, bullpen arms and spring training invitees to start Grapefruit League games. Not until March 1 will Porcello get into a game, and it may be March 9 or 10 before you see Price, who’s scheduled to be the last of the Red Sox “Big Four’’ – both Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright are still rehabbing from knee surgeries – to make their Grapefruit League debut.

This isn’t by accident. As far back as November, when he was promoted to pitching coach, Dana LeVangie came up with the idea to delay the debuts of the Red Sox starters. He consulted with the training staff for data and input, and began planning.

There’s a purpose behind the concept.

A recent review of the 2017 season found the final four teams from last October – the Dodgers, Astros, Yankees and Cubs – occupied four of the last five spots when it came to ranking how often teams used their starting pitchers on “regular’’ four days’ rest.

In other words, there would seem to be a direct correlation between how much rest you provide for your starters during the season and how far you’re able to go into the postseason.

“I wanted to come in with this approach,’’ said LeVangie. “But I also got a lot of feedback from the training staff on the right way to go about it. (Spring training) is starting earlier than usual and it’s ending earlier, and then the season starts. We’re going to build these guys up properly to get us to where we want to be at the end of spring training, but we’re not rushing the schedule just because everything’s starting earlier.

“We want to make sure that we have the proper buildup to this whole thing, so we don’t have increased spikes (in usage) that will mean we’re paying the price a month or two months down the road. There’s an urgency to get off to a good start (to the regular season), but if you look at our team, we’re not trying to win the championship in April. We’re going to build up as we go.’’

Eventually, as LeVangie noted, the Red Sox will begin pushing their starters and asking more from them.

“But it’s not going to be in March, it’s not going to be at the end of March, and it’s not going to be at the start of April,’’ he said. “We just can’t do it. We have to it the right way because we have horses and we have to protect the guys along the way and see the picture.’’

Some of this is motivated by trying to preserve Sale, who has a career-long trend of faltering late in the season, last year included.

“But it’s not just Chris,’’ pointed out LeVangie. “It’s the entire staff. We’re trying to do the right thing for them and us.

During the season, Major League Baseball has built in an additional five off-days during the season, which should enable the Sox – and other like-minded teams – to provide an extra day for starters. Additionally, the introduction last season of the 10-day DL has led some teams to stash weary pitchers with exaggerated injuries, providing a mid-season mini-break.

Of course, some plans may well be altered by division races. One of the reasons both the Dodgers and Astros could provide rest was the fact that they raced out to huge leads in their respective divisions, removing any sense of urgency to the final couple of months.

The Red Sox, matched against the Yankees, may not have that luxury. But they’re getting a head start on limiting the workloads even before the games start to count.