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Who Will Fill Joe Kelly's Spot In Red Sox Rotation?

BOSTON (CBS) -- Joe Kelly left his start on Tuesday after just two batters, and hit the DL with a right shoulder impingement on Wednesday, leaving the Red Sox with another hole to fill in their starting rotation.

Boston had one glaring hole in their starting five ahead of the season, when Eduardo Rodriguez landed on the disabled list with a knee injury. His spot was taken by knuckleballer Steven Wright, who is 0-2 on the season despite pitching pretty well, allowing just three earned runs in his 12.1 innings of work while receiving no run support from the Boston bats.

In a perfect world, Rodriguez would be ready and slide into Kelly's spot. Unfortunately that isn't the case, with the southpaw at least two weeks away from a return.

So who will fill Boston's newest need in their rotation? They have a trio of lefty options down on the farm:

Henry Owens

Henry-Owens
Henry Owens. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Owens appears to be the likeliest of candidates. He's surrendered just two runs over 18 innings of work in three starts for Pawtucket, striking out 23 while walking 10 in his three outings. He was next slated to pitch for Pawtucket on Saturday, so he could easily slide into Kelly's scheduled start Sunday night in Houston.

There are areas of concern with the 23-year-old lefty, who was a first-round pick by Boston back in 2011. He's struggled with control and has given up a high volume of base runners during his career, surrendering 202 in 178.1 innings in his Triple-A and 86 in his 63 innings with Boston in 2015. He was also in line for a spot in Boston's rotation heading into Spring Training, but those control issues (walking nine in 13.1 innings) had him back in Rhode Island to start the 2016 season.

Brian Johnson

Brian Johnson
Red Sox pitcher Brian Johnson. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Johnson, who made a spot start for the Sox last season, is also off to a good start for Pawtucket. In two starts, he's struck out nine while walking just three in 9.1 innings, going 1-1 with a 2.89 ERA. He's showing no lingering effects of a toe injury that slowed him in the spring, and owns a 3.16 ERA over his 20 career starts in Triple-A.

Roenis Elias

Roenis-Elias
Red Sox pitcher Roenis Elias. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The Red Sox could also turn to Roenis Elias, a 27-year-old southpaw from Cuba they acquired in the offseason along with reliever Carson Smith in the swap that sent Wade Miley to Seattle.

He has the most experience of the bunch, with 49 big-league starts under his belt (51 total appearances). He owns a a 15-20 record with a 3.97 ERA, striking out 240 batters while walking 108 in 279 Major League innings. He went 5-8 in 20 starts for Seattle last season (finishing with 22 appearances), but struggled down the stretch, allowing seven earned runs while walking nine in 13.1 innings over his final three starts.

Those control issues have followed Elias to Pawtucket, where he's walked seven in 9.1 innings this season. For the PawSox, he's 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 2.25 WHIP -- the highest on the staff.

The Red Sox will need someone to take Kelly's spot in the rotation, and they have three young lefties who would fit the bill. The question remains though, are any of them ready for the big leagues? We'll find out soon enough.

 

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