Red Sox Name Surprising Candidate To Potentially Make Opening Day Rotation

Boston is exhausting all options

The Boston Red Sox seem unable to catch a break regarding their pitching staff as just about every high-priced hurler who has donned a Red Sox uniform spent the majority of their tenure on the injured list in recent years.

Things continue to go wrong for Boston, as it was announced that Lucas Giolito has a partially torn UCL, likely rendering him out for the season. 

Giolito's timetable is not set in stone but he certainly will not be on the Opening Day roster, opening the door for an unexpected pitcher taking the mound.

"Interesting to note (Craig) Breslow just now identified Cooper Criswell as a possible starting option," WEEI's Rob Bradford reported on Tuesday afternoon. "Wouldn’t confirm that Giolito will need surgery."

Criswell had a 3.93 ERA with an 80-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .260 batting average against and a 1.30 WHIP 84 2/3 innings pitched across 23 games for the Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A affiliate Durham Bulls.

With Giolitio sidelined for Opening Day festivities, the club has to pivot, but Criswell was far from the obvious answer. Many expected the rotation to be filled out by two of Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck or Josh Winckowski. 

Nothing is set in stone yet, but Breslow has his sights set on the newly acquired Criswell to be a possible replacement -- manager Alex Cora echoed a similar sentiment but odds still favor Whitlock and Houck with Winckowski likely ending up in the bullpen and Criswell to Triple-A Worcester as a ready-in-waiting starter.

It's possible that Cora deploys a six-man rotation to open the season, which could open up a role for Criswell on a short-term basis but it'd be stunning to see him receive the nod over the aforementioned trio. 

What was already a thin pitching staff is even thinner, providing an opportunity for the 27-year-old to establish himself at the big-league level.

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