Red Sox Make Surprise Rotation Announcement After Walker Buehler Demotion

The top half of the Boston Red Sox rotation looks solid, but the bottom half is equally sketchy heading into the stretch run.

Dustin May got lit up in the Sunday series finale against the New York Yankees, preventing Boston from securing a four-game sweep. But while May still has his rotation spot, Walker Buehler has officially lost his after 24 starts to the tune of a 5.40 ERA.

After Buehler made his debut out of the bullpen on Sunday night, the Red Sox were thought to be limited to two options for Monday's series opener with the Baltimore Orioles. Instead, they opened Door No. 3.

Brennan Bernardino to serve as opener for Red Sox on Monday

As they look for revenge against the Orioles, who swept a two-game series over the Red Sox at Fenway Park last week, the Red Sox will send lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino to the mound as the opener for the second time all season, as MassLive's Chris Cotillo reported Sunday night.

It was previously thought that the two contenders for the start were Richard Fitts, who was recalled from Triple-A on Thursday and will likely pitch the bulk innings of Monday's game, and Kyle Harrison, who was scratched from his scheduled start in Triple-A on Sunday.

"Using a combination of Bernardino and Fitts allows the Red Sox to proceed without removing anyone from their roster to call up someone like Harrison," Cotillo noted.

Bernardino has proven highly effective in the opener role in the past for Boston. He's started 10 games, and in 14 1/3 innings, has only allowed two earned runs for a 1.26 ERA and 0.977 WHIP. He'll be looking to get the Red Sox through a clean first inning and possibly extend into the second.

Meanwhile, top prospect Payton Tolle, who wasn't an option to pitch Monday due to his five-inning outing on Friday, remains a highly intriguing candidate to eventually take Buehler's spot, especially given that neither Fitts nor Harrison was chosen for the role at the first opportunity.