The Red Sox were starved for good news Sunday. Fortunately for Alex Cora and Co. they got some.
For starters Franchy Cordero appears as though he will be on the Opening Day roster, slated to play both Sunday and Monday while hitting in the lineup's No. 2 spot.
While he still isn't back in regular Grapefruit League games, Cora strongly suggested Christian Vazquez -- who has been out after being struck in the eye by a stray baseball -- will also be ready for Thursday's opener.
And while Nathan Eovaldi is still in line to start the opener, if everything keeps trending like it has, it appears Eduardo Rodriguez's dead arm won't prevent him from re-entering the Red Sox' rotation in the coming couple of weeks.
And then there is the COVID-19-induced mess.
This is where the Red Sox might feel more comfortable than when news first broke that Matt Barnes had tested positive for the virus, but still are saddled with some uncertainty.
Cora revealed that no more players or staff had tested positive for COVID, although eight people have been held out due to contact tracing. The list include those who have been in close contact with Barnes two days prior to the reliever's March 23 positive test, with GPS devices worn by each individual helping identify who calls into the category.
Four of the eight are in "extra scrutiny" protocol, which would allow for returns prior to the mandatory seven day quarantine period.
While neither Cora or Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom would identify specific names, it would appear as though the majority of players impacted are pitchers.
The scheduled pitchers for the coming days are:
Sunday: Josh Winckowski, Adam Ottavino, Josh Taylor, Austin Brice, Phillips Valdez, Marcus Walden.
Monday: Tanner Houck, Darwinzon Hernandez, Ottavino, Kaleb Ort, Raynel Espinal.
Tuesday: Martin Perez, Hirokazu Sawamura, Colten Brewer.
The lineup for Sunday's game is:
Kiké Hernández CF, Cordero LF, J.D. Martinez DH, Xander Bogaerts SS, Rafael Devers 3B, Hunter Renfroe RF, Marwin Gonzalez 2B, Bobby Dalbec 1B, Chad Herrmann C.
"I feel much better right now than I felt yesterday in the morning so it's part of the process," Cora said. "I think everybody will, you know, somehow, some way, hopefully it doesn't happen but every team in the big leagues has to deal with stuff like this. We're not the only one, but I think our process is good, the organization did an amazing job yesterday and right now, like I say yesterday, we're not out of it yet but we feel better right now than we felt yesterday in the morning."
