Tolle and Harrison crack Red Sox's Wild Card Series roster

NEW YORK -- Once the Red Sox revealed the surprise announcement on Monday that righty Lucas Giolito wouldn’t be part of the AL Wild Card Series against the Yankees due to a right elbow issue, it opened up a path for all the bubble candidates on the pitching side to be part of the club’s roster for this best-of-three showdown that starts tonight at Yankee Stadium.

If not for the absence of Giolito, the decision for the 12th and final pitching spot likely would have come down to a pair of lefties in Payton Tolle and Kyle Harrison.

Now, Tolle, Boston’s No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline, and Harrison, one of the players acquired in the June trade for Rafael Devers, will both be part of the mix.

The only question still unanswered is who will pitch in place of Giolito if the series goes to a decisive Game 3. Lefty Connelly Early, the club’s No. 6 prospect, is the leading candidate after a solid body of work (1-2, 2.33 ERA) following his callup in September.

Here is the roster:

PITCHERS (12): Brayan Bello, Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Crochet, Connelly Early, Kyle Harrison, Zack Kelly, Steven Matz, Justin Slaten, Payton Tolle, Greg Weissert, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Wilson

CATCHERS (2): Carlos Narváez, Connor Wong

INFIELDERS (4): Alex Bregman, David Hamilton, Nathaniel Lowe, Trevor Story

OUTFIELDERS (4): Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Rob Refsnyder, Masataka Yoshida

INFIELDER/OUTFIELDERS (4): Nate Eaton, Romy Gonzalez, Ceddanne Rafaela, Nick Sogard