The Boston Red Sox are less than two weeks away from Opening Day, leaving manager Alex Cora with limited time to set his rotation to begin the 2024 season.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow talked heavily in the offseason about adding to the rotation this winter but failed to do so, leaving the organization with an open competition to fill a few holes.
Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta and Kutter Crawford can be penciled into the top three spots. The final two came down to a battle between Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck, Josh Winckowski and newly acquired swingman Cooper Criswell.
We can now rule one of the aforementioned hurlers out of the running, as Cora informed Winckowski that he will return to the bullpen this season according to the MassLive's Christopher Smith -- a role in which he thrived last season.
Winckowski posted a 2.88 ERA with an 82-to-31 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .267 batting average against and a 1.42 WHIP in 84 1/3 innings last season across 59 relief outings and one start.
The 25-year-old's 3.91 FIP implies that he might have been roughed up in a larger capacity, leaving a multi-inning reliever role as the logical ceiling for Winckowski.
That leaves two spots for three starters, though it's pretty easy to determine how it will play out. Whitlock and Houck are almost guaranteed to win the remaining big-league jobs.
Criswell has a slim chance to be moved into the bullpen as a long reliever but more than likely will begin the year with Triple-A Worcester as a starter, awaiting an opportunity as the next man up.
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