McAdam: With the season only weeks old, Red Sox already running out of mound options

The season is not yet three weeks old, and in the middle of their drawn-out 8-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night, the Red Sox came to the realization that they don't have enough pitching.

Literally. As in, not enough available arms.

It was obvious from the start, of course, that quality was going to be an issue, but it's now evident that they have a problem with quantity, too. Of course, the two are related. When you don't have the former, eventually, the latter is going to become problematic, too.

On Friday night, the Red Sox used seven pitchers in a win over the Toronto Blue Jays. On Saturday, it was the same story: seven pitchers, this time in a loss. Sunday's walk-off victory required a mere four, thanks to starter Nathan Eovaldi providing six innings all by himself.

But with an opener on tap for Monday, it was obvious that the series opener with Tampa Bay was going to be something of a slog. Colten Brewer, in relief of opener Ryan Brasier, was tagged for three runs in three innings as an early three-run lead ebbed away.



Then the parade from the bullpen began in earnest. Next was Marcus Walden, then Jeffrey Springs. Springs overstayed his welcome, allowing five hits and three runs in just an inning and a third. He needed an incredible 51 pitches to record just four outs, but even as he ran the count full to seemingly every hitter who came to the plate, he remained in the game.

It seemed absurd that, having gotten the final out in the fifth before allowing two hits, a walk and a run in the sixth, that Springs returned to start the seventh.

Worse, for the longest stretch, no one was so much as warming up in the bullpen, much less coming in to put him out of his misery.

Here was a one-run game, against a division rival ahead of the Red Sox in the standings, and there was the unremarkable lefty still on the mound.

"It was just because we were trying to stay away from two guys (Heath Hembree and Matt Barnes) in our bullpen,'' explained Ron Roenicke after the defeat, "that we've been using a lot. We needed (Springs) for him to go. It was a good matchup for him, with all the lefthanders in the lineup. But we can't keep pitching the same guys all the time, every time we have a close game, because that seems to be what we're playing.

"It was a case of staying away from some people and hoping he can get through some innings for us.''

That hope, as turned out, was largely misplaced, as Springs was charged with the loss. Phillips Valdez followed, and though he had been previously effective, unscored upon in his first five outings this season, he, too, faltered, giving up a run over two innings.

The Red Sox gamely rallied late with two runs in the eighth and had the potential tying run on base in the ninth before ultimately coming up short.

It's unlikely we've seen the last of that scenario. For now, the Sox have but two legitimate major league starters -- Eovaldi and Martin Perez, who goes Tuesday night.

In the other three spots, Roenicke is forced to patch and fill, auditioning journeyman like Zach Godley, having already discarded the likes of Matt Hall and, for the time being, Ryan Weber. There will be more use of openers, more games in which the Sox attempt to piggy-back two pitchers to give them three or so innings apiece.

But there will also be nights when, even when games are winnable and within reach, Roenicke will have to resist the temptation to go with some of his high-leverage relievers for a third straight night or the fourth time in five days. That's not sustainable either.

Perhaps later, the Red Sox will have the cover of non-contention and the time to have prepared the likes of Tanner Houck and Darwinzon Hernandez to take some of the inning load. There's no guarantee that they're ready for those roles, but at least their outings will represent an investment in the future.

It's hard to believe that someone like Springs can make that same claim. But there are also nights when there simply are no alternatives.

The Sox were undecided on whether to summon replacements for Tuesday, but could still swap out some bodies from their alternate training site.

It's not unusual, after all, for pitching staffs to run out of gas in the heat of August.

But it is unusual when that team has been playing for less than three weeks. And yet, here we are.