Henry Owens’ role for the Boston Red Sox remains up in the air heading into the 2016 season. But with Eduardo Rodriguez still sidelined with an injury, Owens could be looking at a spot in the Red Sox’s rotation come opening day.
And, if his first two spring training starts are any sign, the 23-year-old left-hander is progressing well toward that potential spot.
Owens allowed two hits while striking out one in three shutout innings Monday in the Red Sox’s 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I thought it was good,” Owens told reporters, via MLB.com. “I thought everything went well. I got some ground balls, teammates made some great plays. I’ll come here tomorrow and keep getting ready for the season.”
Rodriguez, meanwhile, hasn’t pitched off a mound since he awkwardly turned his right knee during a Feb. 27 practice.
It’s still too soon to tell if Rodriguez’s injury will cause him to miss the start of the season, but if he does, Owens, Steven Wright and Roenis Elias all are options for Boston.
“Depth starting is a valuable group for instances or situations that are unforeseen or one like this,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said, via WEEI.com. “With Eddie, he’ll actually go through another day of 90 feet of aggressive long-toss, will also incorporate some flat-toss work, so a good portion of that swelling was taken out of there and worked out of the knee, so he’s making solid progress, but we’re still yet to get back on the mound. Can’t overlook the importance of depth starting.
“They’re all competing. At this point can’t say one is ahead of the other. They all have experience, it’s not as if we’re looking at three guys — in one situation we’re looking to bring a guy in — they’ve all at least made that initial transition, Elias with the longer history than the other two.”
Let’s take a look at some other Red Sox notes:
— Mookie Betts led Boston’s offensive efforts in Monday’s extra-innings loss to Tampa Bay.
Betts led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run over JetBlue Park’s version of the Green Monster. He finished the day 2-for-3 from the plate.
David Ortiz drove in the Red Sox’s other run with his single down the right-field line in the bottom of the fourth inning.
— Koji Uehara is progressing toward game action after battling an illness at the beginning of spring training. The Red Sox relief pitcher will pitch a simulated game Wednesday, according to The Boston Globe, and he potentially could pitch in a game this weekend.
— Red Sox director of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced Monday that Boston sent sent left-hander Danny Rosenbaum down to minor league camp. The move leaves 56 players in the Red Sox’s camp, including 16 non-roster invitees and the men on the 40-man roster.
Thumbnail photo via Jonathan Dyer/USA TODAY Sports Images
