The Boston Red Sox‘s starting rotation is stacked. With Garrett Crochet at the top, Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray behind him, and Brayan Bello, Johan Oviedo and Connelly Early providing depth, the Red Sox have an abundance of elite arms in their rotation.

In fact, they have too many good starting pitchers, as there isn’t even room for top pitching prospect Payton Tolle.

Former MLB GM Jim Bowden agrees, ranking Boston fourth in his 2026 preseason rotation rankings for The Athletic on Tuesday (subscription required). He has Boston behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees.

“The Red Sox did an excellent job in the offseason restructuring three-fifths of their rotation when they traded for right-handers Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo and signed Ranger Suárez in free agency,” Bowden wrote.

 

Ranking all 30 MLB starting pitching rotations ahead of Opening Day https://t.co/hX7VnfwIHo via @NYTimes

— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) March 24, 2026

 

“I love the fact that their rotation starts with the power arm of Garrett Crochet, a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate, and then is followed by the dominant curveball of Gray and the elusive changeup of Suárez,” he continued. “The left-right-left combination with pitchers featuring different secondary offerings provides varying looks, breaks and angles for opposing batters to face each night in a short series.”

Bowden also praised Boston’s enviable rotation depth.

“Brayan Bello and Johan Oviedo may be the back end of this rotation, but both have upside from the right side and Boston’s two top southpaw prospects in Payton Tolle and Connelly Early give them a strong seven-man rotation to work with. I love variation and depth a lot,” Bowden added.

Credit Craig Breslow for turning a weakness into a strength for the Red Sox, building one of the best rotations in baseball over the last few years. Assuming their starters stay healthy, they should help the team win a lot of games and get back to the playoffs this season.

More MLB: Red Sox Crack Top Ten In 2026 MLB Preseason Power Rankings