It is officially time for baseball. The Boston Red Sox finished their spring training Tuesday with a loss against the Minnesota Twins. Now they look to the start of the 2026 season in Ohio against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.

My Hottest Take: Connelly Early Deserves the Nod

Just two weeks ago, it seemed like all roads pointed to Johan Oviedo for the final rotation position. Well, it was his until Connelly Early decided to show up. Early beat out both Oviedo and Payton Tolle; Tolle was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, and Oviedo starts the beginning of the season coming out of the bullpen.

Early showed off in his five games, four of which were starts. He posted a 1.59 ERA, striking out 16 and allowing just three runs, yielding a 0.94 WHIP. Oviedo had a very good spring as well, but his 4.91 ERA and eight walks overshadowed the other metrics. Early will pitch the last game against the Reds, after Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray.

It will be interesting to see if they will keep Early as the third-day starter, or if they will switch around the order when Brayan Bello and Ranger Suarez get fully up to speed after spending some time with their countries for the World Baseball Classic. It would make sense for the team to keep him as the third-day starter, as you could bookend with Suarez and Bello, or even Gray with Crochet starting.

What You Need To Know: Here is a look at the full Opening Day roster

The projected 26-man roster, unless anything changes or there is an injury, looks like this:

• Rotation (5): Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Connelly Early, Ranger Suarez, Brayan Bello

• Bullpen (8): Johan Oviedo, Aroldis Chapman, Ryan Watson, Jovani Moran, Danny Coulombe, Greg Weissert, Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock

• Catchers (2): Carlos Narvaez, Connor Wong

• Infielders (6): Willson Contreras (1B), Trevor Story (SS), Marcelo Mayer (2B), Caleb Durbin (3B), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (UTL), Andruw Monasterio (UTL)

• Outfielders/Designated Hitters (5): Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida

Five contributors will start the year on the injured list and have some time in the minors before coming up to join the roster. Those five are Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Patrick Sandoval, Triston Casas, and Romy Gonzalez. Sandoval and Crawford are more likely to join the team around May 1, while Gonzalez and Casas are looking like June 1, if not later. Houck is coming off Tommy John surgery in August 2025, aiming for the late season if the Red Sox make a playoff push.

Before You Go: This is going to be a fun season

On paper, this is probably one of the best-looking Red Sox teams since the 2018 World Series-winning roster. While there is still a question about power when it comes to hitting, the hitting that fans saw in the World Baseball Classic may be exactly what the team needs. Obviously, if the team could have kept Alex Bregman or even gotten Bo Bichette or Pete Alonso, people would not be worrying about the power.

Nevertheless, this team is going to be fun, and it will be an interesting season.