Boston opens up in Seattle
The Boston Red Sox play a legitimate baseball game Thursday, traveling way out west to meet the Seattle Mariners in a late-night matchup to celebrate Opening Day festivities.
It was previously unknown who would be included in the pool of players Boston manager Alex Cora would have to work with, but hours before first pitch we received our answer.
Boston announced its official 2024 Opening Day roster, and finalized some roster moves to get down to the 26.
Pitchers (13): Chase Anderson, Brayan Bello, Isaiah Campbell, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin, Nick Pivetta, Joely Rodriguez, Justin Slaten, Greg Weissert, Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowski
Catchers (2): Reese McGuire, Connor Wong
Infielders (4): Triston Casas, Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, Enmanuel Valdez
Outfielders (4): Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Tyler O’Neill, Masataka Yoshida
Infielder/Outfielders (3): Bobby Dalbec, Ceddanne Rafaela, Pablo Reyes
The Red Sox had a few surprising choices for their first of what promises to be many iterations of the roster. Joely Rodriguez, for instance, got the nod over fellow left-hander Brennan Bernardino in the bullpen. Boston also acquired right-hand pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa from the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, but optioned him to Triple-A Worcester to start the season.
Lucas Giolito, Liam Hendriks and Chris Murphy will all open on the 60-day injured list with all three pitchers recovering from elbow surgery. The Red Sox also have some short-term injuries to deal with, as infielder Vaughn Grissom and outfielder Rob Refsnyder will start on the 10-day IL and pitcher Bryan Mata will begin on the 15-day IL.
The Red Sox will take on the Seattle Mariners from T-Mobile Park on Thursday, with first pitch scheduled for 10:10 p.m. ET. You can watch live on NESN, following an hour of pregame coverage.