MLB Notebook: Red Sox finalize starting rotation, Rafaela makes Opening Day roster, a free agent starter signs with Boston & more

Six months ago, Alex Cora’s plan for Thursday’s season opener in Seattle was to give the ball to Chris Sale. A half year later, everything has changed — and it’s all to be determined if that’s for the better. 

Brayan Bello, not Sale, will take the mound when the Boston Red Sox open their 2024 season against the Mariners. Beyond that, Cora had previously committed to Nick Pivetta and Kutter Crawford, but nothing more.

Now we know the remainder of the picture, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Lucas Giolito — or even Jordan Montgomery — aren’t a part of it. 

Cora revealed on Friday that, as anticipated, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck would round out the team’s rotation at the start of the season. So it will be Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Whitlock and Houck — in that order, at least for now. 

“We feel comfortable with the rotation,” Cora said. “We feel comfortable with these guys. They’ve done an amazing job, all of them. They’ve thrown the ball well. 

Whitlock and Houck certainly earned their spots with solid spring performances, with each posting a 2-0 record while the former pitched to a 3.45 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP and the latter to a 2.40 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP across five appearances apiece. 

Yet as well as they’ve pitched, their spots in the rotation say more about their availability than their ability. Had the team been successful in its primary offseason pursuit of signing Yamamoto and had Giolito stayed healthy, a Yamamoto-Giolito-Bello-Pivetta top four would have pushed any one of Crawford, Whitlock or Houck out of the rotation.

The good news is, if Whitlock, Houck and Crawford can continue to pitch as well as they have this spring, that could give the Sox more starting depth than expected. If Bello takes a step forward and Pivetta can wrangle the long-evasive consistency that’s kept him from being a dependable No. 3 caliber starter, it would go a long way toward improving the team’s 4.52 ERA that ranked fifth from last in the American League and 21st in the majors from a season ago… 

Cooper-ed up in Worcester 

Craig Breslow’s first free agent signing of his Red Sox tenure will begin his organizational tenure in Worcester, not Boston.

Cooper Criswell, the 27-year-old right-hander who Breslow inked to a one-year, $1-million deal in December, was optioned to Triple-A Worcester along with right-hander Zack Kelly on Friday.

Criswell’s demotion would have come as more of a surprise in the early days after his signing. At the time, it appeared Criswell would serve a role out of the bullpen considering 10 of his prior 12 career major league appearances had been in relief. 

But Breslow and the front office saw value in Criswell as a starter. Three of Criswell’s five spring appearances came in a starting capacity, and he pitched commendably on the whole in Grapefruit League action with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.19 ERA.

Criswell’s demotion to Worcester is intended to keep him on track as a starter to stretch him out. But if Criswell is capable of helping the big league club right away, as it appears he might be able to, it would make more sense to keep him with the big league club as a long reliever. 

Cora himself even noted, “I do believe, without making promises, that (Criswell) will contribute during the season.”

Spending some time ramping up in Worcester might help to build his confidence, but already at age 29, I can’t imagine Criswell is going to be part of the team’s longterm future as a starter. Getting the most of him right now would seem to be beneficial for all involved...

Rafaela’s in

While Criswell’s career arc with the Red Sox has not gone as planned, that isn’t the case for Ceddanne Rafaela.

Cora confirmed on Saturday that the 23-year-old and the Red Sox’s No. 4 prospect will be on the Opening Day roster in Seattle. Now, Cora has long insisted that if Rafaela made the day one roster it would be as the team’s starting center fielder. 

His primary competition in center, Jarren Duran, is also set to make the Opening Day roster despite a lingering left foot injury. It’s not immediately clear if Rafaela or Duran will get the call in center, but Rafaela’s positional versatility may be of more value right now with Vaughn Grissom on the shelf to start the season. 

It seems the team agrees as Rafaela entered a spring game on Monday as a defensive replacement at second base. As I’ve previously written, it just makes too much sense to keep Rafaela around on a roster with so many moving parts.

Offensively, Rafaela has made the most of his opportunity this spring. He’s had more at-bats than any other Sox player in Grapefruit League play with 47 and has played in 18 games, the same as David Hamilton and fewer than only Wilyer Abreu’s 19. A .277 batting average, a team-high three home runs and eight RBIs would suggest he’s on track to hit the ground running…

Red Sox finally sign add free-agent starter

Just… not that starter. No, the Sox haven’t (and seemingly won’t) be signing Montgomery any time soon, but they did bring another veteran right-hander into the fold in 36-year-old right-hander Chase Anderson.

Anderson is reportedly joining the team on a minor league contract, which is probably for the best given his recent track record. The first six season of his major league career yielded solid results — a 53-40 record, a 3.94 ERA and 1.26 WHIP, and an average of 120 strikeouts per season from his age 26 through 31 seasons. Not exactly All-Star numbers, but not too shabby either…

His next four seasons weren’t as successful. He went 6-16 with a 6.19 ERA and 1.46 WHIP while his strikeout numbers fell off a cliff to 40 per year in 52 games and 40 starts. Last season with Tampa Bay and Colorado, Anderson was 1-6 with a 5.42 ERA in 19 games and 17 starts.

It’s unlikely that Anderson will be able to turn back the clock to his days as a solid rotation piece, but when it comes to some starter depth, the more the merrier I say. In a pinch, Anderson could certainly give you a passable spot start or two. 

When the coffers are this bare, hey, why not roll the dice?

Lost in translation 

It seems the only way the Red Sox are going to be involved in major baseball news these days is by mistake…

Boston was briefly roped into baseball’s biggest potential story of the decade when it was reported by outlets, including the Associated Press, that Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara previously worked for the Red Sox as a translator for former Japanese relief pitcher Hideki Okajima.

“After college, Mizuhara was hired by the Boston Red Sox as an interpreter for Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima,” the AP reported. “He returned to Japan in 2013 to translate for English-speaking players on the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. That’s where he first met Ohtani, who joined the team that same year.

The only problem? The Red Sox insist Mizuhara never worked for them… 

“We are reaching out to all of you because of reports in various outlets stating that Ippei Mizuhara worked for the Red Sox as an interpreter, which is incorrect,” the team’s public relations department wrote in an email to reporters. “Mizuhara was never employed by the Boston Red Sox in any capacity and was not an interpreter for Hideki Okajima during the pitcher’s time with the team. Please know that we have thoroughly checked our files to ensure we are providing accurate information. We understand that stories of this nature develop quickly and hope all of you can help us get the right information to the public.”

Ohtani’s now-fired interpreter Mizuhara is in hot water after Ohtani’s legal reps claimed a “massive theft” of $4.5 million to pay alleged gambling debts. Major League Baseball is reportedly investigating Ohtani’s potential involvement in the matter.

This coupled with Yamamoto’s poor performance in his major league debut… well, it’s not the start that Dodgers fans were hoping for.