Sports Q: Who should be the Red Sox’ fifth starter?
Is there even a quality candidate?
Welcome to Boston.com’s Sports Q, our daily conversation, initiated by you and moderated by Chad Finn, about a compelling topic in Boston sports. Here’s how it works: You submit questions to Chad through Twitter, Facebook, and email,He’ll pick one each weekday to answer, then we’ll take the discussion to the comments. Chad will stop by several times per day to navigate. But you drive the conversation.
You can talk yourself into the Red Sox being a wild card contender when you look at the lineup. But when you start thinking about the rotation, it’s pretty obviously a pipe dream. Even if Chris Sale stays healthy, E-Rod has another strong year, and Nate Eovaldi is consistently good (something he has never really been), the rotation is a mess at the back end. Martin Perez isn’t good. And who is supposed to be the fifth starter? I don’t even see a quality candidate. – Cory W.
I’m with you on all of this, Cory. Even if they see something in Perez that makes them think he’ll be a good fit in the No. 4 spot, he has a long way to go to be a quality pitcher, based on the last two years when his ERAs were 6.22 two years ago and 5.12 last year. His No. 1 career comp is Scott Karl. I think I’d rather have Scott Karl, and he hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2000.
As for the No. 5 spot, I think what is going on is pretty clear: they’re going to go with an opener. They’re just not telling us, I suspect, because they know it’s not the kind of thing that is going to go over well with the traditionalists in the fanbase, and they’ve already annoyed (to put it mildly) the fanbase enough this winter and spring.
Tampa Bay has done it to reasonable success over the last couple of years. Last season the Rays won 96 games with nine pitchers making at least six starts. Fourteen pitchers made at least one start. Ryne Stanek made 27 starts and threw a total of 55.2 innings.
Now look at the Red Sox roster. There’s no obvious starting pitcher candidate for that fifth spot that I can see. Meanwhile, they’re hoarding depth arms — Austin Brice, Chris Mazza, Josh Osich, Jeffrey Springs, and Phillips Valdez are all new additions on the spring roster. I bet a couple of these guys – or perhaps holdovers like Mike Shawaryn, Hector Velazquez and Brian Johnson – get a shot at the role.
Me, I’d like to see Darwinzon Hernandez get that shot, either as the fifth starter or the primary opener. It seems premature to me to make a pitcher with his arm and stuff a reliever already. But we’ll see how it all shakes out over the next few weeks. I’m fully expecting them to announce they’ll often use an opener in the days before Opening Day. I just have no idea who it will be.
But what does everyone else think? Who should be the Red Sox’ fifth starter? I’ll hear you in the comments.
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