Rotation will set tone for Red Sox in 2019

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Other teams can have their openers. The Red Sox are progressive in many other ways, but when it comes to their starting rotation, they are as traditional as it gets.

It takes 27 outs to win a baseball game, and the Red Sox will most often rely on their starters to get a large portion of them. This isn’t so much an organizational-based philosophy as it is a decision based on talent.

“[Our starters] bring something different than others to the equation,” said manager Alex Cora. “Our team starts with the starting rotation. As soon as you see these guys on the mound, people take notice.”

The defending World Series champions think they have the best starting rotation in baseball, and they are going to play off that strength in hopes of a repeat.

“We take a lot of pride in what we do and we try to be the backbone of this team,” said Red Sox ace Chris Sale.

In the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in the rotation, the Sox have starters who have Cy Young Award trophies on display in their homes: David Price and Rick Porcello.

Nathan Eovaldi, the righty whose fastball generally sits in the high 90s but occasionally travels to triple digits, is in the fourth spot and coming off a brilliant postseason.

Then, there is lefty Eduardo Rodriguez -- who will soon turn 26 and is finally starting a season healthy. He could be ready to put it all together at last.

So often looked at as the little brother of the rotation, Rodriguez is ready to be viewed as an equal. But he knows what he has to do to get there.

"I mean, I want to get to that point. I want to get to the point where I can be available to win a Cy Young, like everybody wants to do that one day,” Rodriguez said. “But, like I said, I just want to be healthy and help the team to win games."

Last season, the Red Sox won 108 games, a franchise record. The starters had much to do with that. They will again try to set the tone in 2019.

“We push each other at the field, away from the field, playing golf, ping pong, it doesn’t matter,” said Price. “[All five of us are] very competitive guys who like to win -- and we push each other.”

Ideally, Cora will get 18 to 21 outs from his starters. So how is he going to get those last six to nine outs?

That is a big question -- one that will finally come into focus once the season starts.

Closer Craig Kimbrel is a free agent, and not returning to Boston. Joe Kelly was a key setup man from last year, and he fled to the Dodgers.

This much is clear: Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier will start the season as Cora’s highest-leverage relievers. What's unclear is if one of them will close, or if Cora will instead utilize his entire bullpen and go with the best matchups in the ninth inning.

Heath Hembree, Tyler Thornburg and Brandon Workman are other relievers who will be counted on to get big outs.

But for the Red Sox, the most important outs will often be the ones their starters get them.

“It’s going to be the foundation of what we do this entire season,” Porcello said of the rotation. “So we’ve got the talent, we’ve got to be able to go out and do it.”