Johan Oviedo wasn't great in his spring debut, but he's still trending toward an Opening Day roster spot.
Despite delivering a very uneven performance in his spring training debut for the Boston Red Sox, the newly-acquired Johan Oviedo reportedly has the 'inside track' at the No. 5 spot in the rotation. He'd slot in behind Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray and Brayan Bello in that group.
Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive:
As of now, Oviedo (despite having minor league options) has the inside lane to that spot, according to sources, because he’s fully healthy and without restrictions entering camp. Outings like his erratic debut Wednesday could lead the Red Sox to look elsewhere, though. Helping Oviedo’s case is the fact Crawford, who missed all of last season with knee and wrist issues, is behind and hasn’t faced hitters yet and Sandoval, who also missed 2025, is not yet throwing in games.
In addition to Sandoval and Crawford, prospects Payton Tolle and Connelly Early are both candidates for the rotation as well. Even if Oviedo wins the job initially, there's nothing stopping one of those two from claiming the job at some point during the early season. Both have electric arms and both made their major league debuts at the end of 2025. Once healthy, Crawford and Sandoval are options as well. Oviedo's hold on the No. 5 spot is not permanent.
Acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason, Oviedo went 1.2 innings in his spring debut. Though he didn't give up any runs, he did surrender one hit and three walks while also hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch. He had one strikeout.
Control is known to be the biggest hurdle for the righty, who missed 2024 because of Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2025 to walk 23 batters in 40.1 innings. He struck out 42, showing his swing-and-miss stuff is still there. He walked 83 batters in 177.2 innings in 2023, his only full season.
The Red Sox are coming off a year in which they went back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021, but they fell in three games to the New York Yankees in the wild card series.
With the additions of Gray and Suarez, the expectations are high for Boston in 2026. However, after losing Alex Bregman in free agency and after failing to land a premier offensive player, there are questions about the offensive output.
The Red Sox open the season on March 26 when they travel to Cincinnati to play the Reds.
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