Kutter Crawford and Josh Winckowski continue to impress this spring
The Red Sox know that Corey Kluber will start on Opening Day, Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta and Tanner Houck are expected to follow, not necessarily in that order. The question remains who will be the No. 5 starter in rotation once camp breaks in the coming days?
Kutter Crawford and Josh Winckowski have both pitched well this spring, both pitchers have made cases to make the Red Sox Opening Day roster.
Boston had a split-squad day on Saturday, Crawford threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings against the Orioles from JetBlue Park. The right-hander allowed two hits, walked two, while striking out five.
Winckowski allowed two unearned runs over five innings, while striking out three Rays hitters from Tropicana Field.
Crawford has pitched in four games, while starting three this spring. He’s yielded a 2-0 record with 14 strikeouts, posting a 2.38 ERA, 0.98 WHIP over 13 1/3 innings.
Winckowski on the other hand had equally been as good, pitching in three games, starting two, holding a 0-1 record, 0.00 ERA, with 10 strikeouts, 0.80 WHIP in 10 innings this spring. The Florida native also pitched four scoreless innings against the Red Sox minor leaguers on March 11.
Both pitchers are expected to fill in while Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello and James Paxton are out. All three pitchers will likely start on the injured list as they get their work in to begin the regular season.
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“Those two guys will fill in until everybody gets back,” manager Alex Cora said to reporters, including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. “They’re both throwing the ball well. We like the fact that they throw strikes and their stuff is up compared to last year.”
Both pitchers were placed in a tough position last season, pitching above the Triple-A level in meaningful baseball games, while filling in for injured Red Sox starters.
Crawford was 3-6 with a 5.47 earned run average in 21 games last year, 12 of them starts. Winckowski was 5-7, 5.89 over 15 games, 14 starts.
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