Jackie Bradley Jr. is back in center field Wednesday night, batting ninth as the Red Sox send Rubby De La Rosa to the mound against Wei-Yin Chen and the Orioles.
We've seen two very different starts from Rubby De La Rosa so far this season. In one, he managed to completely dominate an admittedly weak Rays lineup. In the other, he was tagged for four runs and failed to get out of the sixth inning against the Tigers. There's no questioning the quality of his changeup, but he needs to be able to make hitters respect his fastball to truly leverage the pitch. He did that against the Rays, but not against the Tigers.
If Rubby manages to produce another start like he did against the Rays, one day after Brandon Workman's dominant performance, it will be a good sign for the future of the rotation. If not, well, that one outing will start to seem less convincing in face of all the nay-saying about his prospects to avoid bullpen duty.
First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN, ESPN, and WEEI.