Red Sox Facing Decision After Roster Move

The Boston Red Sox made a fairly surprising move on Monday. According to Chris Cotillo, both Connelly Early and Johan Oviedo made the Opening Day roster.

"It appears Red Sox plan to carry both Connelly Early and Johan Oviedo on the Opening Day roster. A twist at the end of camp designed to provide length with Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello both a little behind due to WBC," Cotillo wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

It's a surprising decision. As Cotillo mentioned, Suarez and Bello are still building up following the World Baseball Classic. That surely played a role in Monday's roster move.

Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez and Brayan Bello are expected to be in the rotation. Now the Red Sox will need to decide if they will go with a six-man rotation or turn to a five-man rotation and give the final spot to either Oviedo or Early.

Red Sox Make Surprising Pitching Move

Oviedo started five games in spring training and pitched to a 4.91 ERA across 14.2 innings of work. Early, meanwhile, recorded a 1.59 ERA in his 17 innings on the mound.

Early clearly had the better spring, but Oviedo is a pitcher with experience. Both pitchers feature upside. The good news is that Boston features no shortage of starting pitching depth. Nevertheless, they will need to decide on Early and Oviedo's roles sooner rather than later.

Early, 23, made his MLB debut in 2025, but pitched in only four total games. He performed well despite the limited action. The southpaw turned in a 2.33 ERA across 19.1 innings.

He looked more than ready for the big leagues while pitching in the minor leagues last year. Early finished the season with a 2.60 ERA in his 21 total outings between Double-A and Triple-A.

The decision to have Early on the Opening Day roster was possibly a simple one for Boston. He was tremendous in both the minor leagues and big leagues last year, and he continued to find success during 2026 spring training.

Oviedo is a 28-year-old who made his MLB debut in 2020. He's had ups and downs throughout his big league career, having previously pitched with the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. It is also worth mentioning that Oviedo has experience as both a starter and a reliever, as 67 of his 81 total career outings have been starts.

The Red Sox will begin the 2026 regular season on Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds.