PHOENIX — On Saturday, Alex Cora provided some clarity on his team’s pitching plans for next week’s series against the Athletics in Sacramento, but it remains to be determined when rookie lefty Payton Tolle will pitch next.

Cora said ace Garrett Crochet will pitch the series opener at Sutter Health Park on Monday with righty Dustin May returning to the rotation Tuesday. Wednesday’s matinee finale remains TBD.

“We’re talking about that one,” Cora said. “It’s Crochet, May, then we’ll determine what we do on Wednesday.”

Boston will start Brayan Bello in Sunday’s series finale against the Diamondbacks and then start Crochet — who allowed four homers Tuesday night against the Guardians — on an extra day of rest. May, who threw three innings (and 53 pitches) in mop-up duty in Wednesday’s blowout loss, will pitch the second game against the A’s, marking his first start since last Saturday, when he was tagged for seven runs (six earned) on eight hits in 5 ⅓ innings against Pittsburgh.

May remains a rotation option down the stretch for the Red Sox, who unplugged him after his last outing in an effort to take advantage of three off days in 12 days from September 4-15.

“We knew that from the get-go, when we decided to put him in the bullpen, so we should be in a good spot,” Cora said.

Tolle has not pitched on four days rest all season and the Red Sox are trying to be careful with his workload. The club gave him a week between his big league debut and his second start Friday in Arizona and could do the same this time around. Boston could go with a bullpen game Wednesday in Sacramento, recall Kyle Harrison for his club debut or put Tolle — after just 77 pitches in a rough outing against the D-Backs — in the mix on shorter rest than usual.

“A lot of conversations,” said Cora. “We’ll see what makes sense for us.”

The Red Sox plan to move forward with Tolle as a rotation member despite the fact he allowed five earned runs on five hits (including two deep homers), and walked four batters in his short outing Friday.

“From my end, just treat him like I did last week,” said Cora. “Nothing has changed. The pitching group will get together and they’ll talk about the outing. Locations and what we need to do to be better in the next one.”

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.