Boston Red Sox: Final Predictions for Each Key Spring Position Battle

With the World Baseball Classic winding down and Opening Day just on the horizon, position battles in every camp are getting serious.

It's the time of year when tough decisions must be made and when rosters simply have to be trimmed.

The Boston Red Sox are more settled than many clubs, with top-shelf young talent and established veterans scattered across the diamond.

Still, as the exhibition slate concludes, Boston has a few battles to settle. Let's run through them one at a time and offer predictions based on the latest stats, rumblings and a dash of gut feeling.

Catcher

Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez have the upper hand for the two catching spots, though neither has hit particularly well this spring.

Leon has struck out five times in 23 at-bats and doesn't have an extra-base hit, while Vazquez is 6-for-24 with a double. Blake Swihart, meanwhile, is hitting .357 with an .848 OPS.

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

Still, manager John Farrell sounds unmoved.

"There's so much more to the position," he said, per Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. "There's so much more to the organization depth needs. So it would be extremely shortsighted to say we are going to declare who is the catching tandem based on batting average."

Prediction: The 24-year-old Swihart has options and will start the season at Triple-A. Leon, who broke out last year with a .310 average in 78 games, will be the Opening Day starter, with Vazquez as his backup.

Fifth Starter/Bullpen

It's been a bumpy spring for the Red Sox's rotation.

David Price hasn't pitched an inning because of inflammation and a strained flexor mass in his expensive left arm. Drew Pomeranz, meanwhile, left his most recent outing early because of triceps tightness.

That leaves newly acquired ace Chris Sale, reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, knuckleballer Steven Wright and young lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.

Pomeranz blamed his arm trouble on a mechanical issue and said he felt fine Monday, per CSN Chicago's Evan Drellich. 

If the problem flares up again, Boston could begin the season with four starters, something Farrell termed "a possibility," per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.

Or the Red Sox could give a spot to 32-year-old Kyle Kendrick, who is 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA, 20 strikeouts and four walks in 23 innings.

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

The size and composition of the rotation will impact the bullpen, which could swell to eight members if the rotation is trimmed to four.

That would potentially make room for left-hander Robby Scott, who is unscored upon in eight innings this spring and is pushing Fernando Abad for the role of second lefty in the pen.

Prediction: Pomeranz is healthy enough to take the fifth-starter gig, leaving Kendrick out, and the Red Sox roll with the more-experienced Abad over Scott, who has options remaining.

Final Bench Spot

Three bench spots will go to Brock Holt, Chris Young and Vazquez. Josh Rutledge, whom Boston claimed from the Colorado Rockies in December's Rule 5 Draft, has the inside edge, since the Red Sox would risk losing him back to Colorado if he's not on the Opening Day roster.

Rutledge, however, is hitting a scant .227 this spring.

Another intriguing option? Sam Travis, who has three home runs and a 1.118 OPS in the Grapefruit League.

Michael Ivins/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

Christopher Smith of MassLive.com floated the possibility, suggesting the 23-year-old righty-swinging Travis could platoon with left-handed first baseman Mitch Moreland while Hanley Ramirez nurses his bum shoulder as a pure designated hitter. 

Prediction: Giving Travis a shot out of the gate is a fun notion, but the safe money is on Rutledge getting the final bench spot and Travis heading for Pawtucket. 

All statistics current as of Tuesday and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.