Red Sox Rotation in Crisis: Suárez & Oviedo's Disastrous Debuts

0:00On March 31st, two new arms in the Boston Red Sox rotation had Nightmare debuts, Monday night against the Angels. Ranger Suarez, the former Philly's All-Star, served up two massive home runs and couldn't get out of the fifth inning. Johan Oviedo came in for the last three and two-thirds frames, also coughing up a pair of bombs, but his real red flag was the radar gun. Oviedo's four-seam fastball averaged just 93 miles per hour, a drop of 2.4 from his regular season mark last year. That slowdown kicked in between his second to last and final spring training starts, and nobody on the team has a clue why yet. The socks got shelled 8-1 at Dakin Park, and Oviedo was straight up baffled after the game. He said his body feels fine, no soreness or anything, but losing that velocity has him and everyone else worried. He's pointing to maybe smoother mechanics or rhythm issues as a fix, which beats some injury scare. The team hopes it's tweakable, since they need him healthy and humming soon.

1:02Meanwhile, Boston called up connolly early to fill Oviedo's next slot, so his return date is up in the air with AAA guys lurking. The rotations already shaky, figuring this out quick, could make or break their season spin. This has been Boston Red Sox News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story.