Eduardo Rodriguez made his MLB debut for the Boston Red Sox last week and he's delivered two excellent starts against the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins. The success of his promotion may have the club considering calling up another young pitching prospect.
The starting rotation has improved a bit, but their 4.76 ERA still ranks 28th in the MLB. The team still doesn't know if Joe Kelly will remain in the rotation, as rumors suggested he could move to the bullpen. Clay Buchholz (3.82 ERA) has really been the only starter that has rebounded while Wade Miley (4.97 ERA) and Rick Porcello (5.01 ERA) have yet to completely get back on track.
Rodriguez has pumped some life into the rotation thanks to his 2-0 record with a 0.61 ERA, 0.614 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings. Boston has another left-handed starter at Triple-A Pawtucket, Brian Johnson, and general manager Ben Cherington could be thinking about giving him the call to provide further aid at some point. The 24-year-old is 6-3 with a 2.60 ERA, 1.066 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 10 starts (55 1/3 innings) thus far.
"With Eduardo Rodriguez having been called up already, Johnson will be the team's next pitching prospect to be promoted," writes ESPN Insider Jim Bowden.
"Johnson's fastball is mostly 89-92 mph but touches 94 when he needs it to. The 24-year-old has a full repertoire of pitches, but his key is changing speed, location and eye level. He's not a top-of-rotation game-changer, but he should develop into a Tom Browning/Mark Buehrle type of starter, a 200-inning double-digit winner, over time."
Johnson was scratched from his last start with Pawtucket on Wednesday, which spurred rumors of a promotion, but Alex Speier of the Boston Globe cleared the air on the move.
"The change created curiosity about whether Johnson is being called up to the big leagues. He's not," Speier wrote.
"The Sox felt that, with 55⅓ Triple A innings following a spring in which Johnson stayed on rotation in big league camp, logging 20 innings over seven appearances, it seemed a good time to skip his start. It's a common practice that the Sox employ with virtually all of their pitchers at least once in the minor league season to regulate their workloads.
"The Sox currently have six big league starters and Justin Masterson rehabbing in the minors but available if needed as a depth option. So Johnson probably won't be needed in the big leagues at least for a couple of weeks. That being the case, the team felt comfortable with the timing of a skip before the 24-year-old returns to the mound for Pawtucket, presumably early next week."
While Johnson's promotion isn't imminent, it could be coming within the next couple of months especially if Kelly doesn't begin showing improvement on a consistent basis. The Red Sox are only 5.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the wide-open AL East and have a good opportunity to capitalize if their rotation can deliver more quality starts.
Buchholz, Porcello and Miley appear to be mainstays in the rotation largely because of the financial commitments, leaving Kelly as the odd man out. Porcello just signed a four-year, $82.5 million extension and Miley inked a three-year, $19.25 million deal with Boston with a team option for the 2018 season. Buchholz still has the potential to remain with the team if he can prove this year he's worth his $13 million team option for 2016 and $13.5 million team option for 2017.
On the other hand, Kelly is under club control through the 2018 season at a bargain rate, so the Red Sox would be more inclined to relegate him to the bullpen if they were to make such a change.