Who Will Make Red Sox's Opening Day Roster? Manager Alex Cora Reveals Surprise Option

Boston will have some decisions to make at the catcher position

Opening Day finally is just around the corner. 

The Boston Red Sox are set to begin the 2023 campaign on March 30 at Fenway Park when they take on the Baltimore Orioles. Boston still has a little over a week to go until regular season action kicks off, but the club will have to make some difficult decisions beforehand. 

Boston will have to finalize its 26-man active roster ahead of Opening Day and the Red Sox will have some tough choices to make. One position that the Red Sox are going to have to take a second look at certainly is catcher. 

The Red Sox currently have Reese McGuire and Connor Wong on the 40-man roster but also have slugger Jorge Alfaro on a minor-league contract. Alfaro has been fighting for a spot on the active roster all spring and certainly has been impressive. Also, Wong suffered a hamstring injury early in spring training which has sidelined him from Grapefruit League action. With the injury to Wong, it seemed like a lock that McGuire and Alfaro would make the team's Opening Day, but Wong reportedly has a chance to still make the club, according to MLB.com's Ian Browne.  

Another interesting tidbit from Alex Cora this morning is that he does think there is a chance Connor Wong can start the season on the active roster.

— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) March 21, 2023

While Alfaro certainly still has a chance to nab a spot on the roster, the fact that Wong may be ready for Opening Day certainly is interesting. He even has been getting at-bats in minor league contests and ran at full speed Tuesday, according to the Boston Globe's Alex Speier. 

Wong has been getting a lot of at-bats in minor league games, has been catching pitchers (bullpens and live BPs), and ran at full speed in a straight line today without any evident issue. https://t.co/mUUT8hh6Pm

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) March 21, 2023

Alfaro has shined for Boston in spring training and is slashing an eye-popping .643/.688/1.000 to go along with one home run and four RBIs in seven games. He left the club to play in the World Baseball Classic and slashed .267/.313/.400 in four games for Colombia to go along with two doubles. 

Wong was acquired by Boston in the trade that sent Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers and he made his Major League Baseball debut with the club in 2021. The 26-year-old has appeared in just 33 games for Boston over the last two years so there's no way to know for sure how he would react to a larger role.

McGuire seems to be a lock to make the Red Sox's active roster so we are going to have to keep a close eye on Wong and Alfaro over the next week. 

More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly Will Be Without Three Important Pieces On Opening Day