Craig Breslow clearly made it a point to give the Boston Red Sox ample starting pitching depth coming into the 2025 season, something that extended well beyond the high-profile Garrett Crochet trade. Injuries are always going to happen and he wanted to protect the club from being crippled by that. He probably didn't think that he and manager Alex Cora would have to dip into that depth as quickly as they did, though.
Dealing with a variety of ailments, the Red Sox will go into Opening Day in less than a week with Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Lucas Giolito all unavailable. The relatively good news in that capacity, though, is that Boston has been aware of that for some time. Thus, the past few weeks of spring training have been an audition for the final two spots in the rotation to begin the year behind Crochet, Tanner Houck and Walker Buehler.
Richard Fitts, who arrived in Boston via the Yankees in last offseason's Alex Verdugo trade, won the fourth spot after a stellar spring that included a notable uptick in velocity from his offseason work. That seemingly left the fifth spot to be decided between Quinn Priester, who the Red Sox traded for at the deadline last season, and Sean Newcomb, a surprise revelation this spring who was brought in as a depth invite for spring training.
On Sunday, the Red Sox optioned Priester to Triple-A Worcester, all but affirming that Newcomb, shockingly, had won the fifth starter gig, as reported by Chris Cotillo of Mass Live.
Quinn Priester optioned to AAA, so it looks like Sean Newcomb will be the No. 5 starter.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) March 23, 2025
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot,our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Sean Newcomb takes final Red Sox rotation spot amid injuries
Again, Newcomb, a Massachusetts native, was invited to spring camp on a minor-league deal, seemngly with no expectatons that he'd be on the roster. But make no mistake, this now-present opportunity was one that he wholly earned with Boston throughout the spring.
In four starts and five appearances, the 32-year-old lefty was absolutely phenomenal for the Red Sox, throwing to a 0.63 ERA and 0.837 WHIP while allowing just one earned run across 14.1 innings of work. If we're being honest, though, it's a homecoming and a redemption arc that would've been exceptionally difficult (if at all possible) to see coming.
Newcomb started his career strong with the Atlanta Braves but, after three seasons, seemed to fall off the rails. He was eventually sent to the Cubs in his final year before free agency. From 2022-24 with the Braves, Cubs and Athletics, he only made 34 apperances and three starts with a 6.66 ERA and 1.633 WHIP. So for him to come to the Grapefruit League and perform the way he did for the Sox is truly incredible.
What's even better is that, even when Boston gets all three of Bello, Crawford and Giolito back some time in the first month or so of the season as is currently projected, Newcomb could still have a role. While he won't be in the rotation, he could absolutely be put into a long relief role of some sort to get another strong lefty in the bullpen, especially if he continues his spring success into the regular season.
It's definitely not the outcome for the Red Sox rotation that anyone expected for Opening Day but it's a shuffle of expectations that Newcomb forced and ultimately earned.