As our rotation appears to be written in ink at this point I feel this is a good time to kick off a thread specifically talking about this aspect of the team.
We have a very good 5 man rotation on paper
Sale
Price
Porky
E-Rod
Eovaldi
That's good. That's super good. That's "3 different Cy Young winners and 2 young power arms behind them" good.
With Johnson and potentially Wright (if he ever gets healthy) in the wings and a couple further depth options behind them, particularly Mike Shawaryn and Darwinzon Hernandez, who is on the horizon having finished last year in AA. Darwinzon is a good year in AA/AAA from putting himself in the pitching picture, and he was recently put on the 40 man, so don't sleep on him.
We ought to be alight for SP depth, unless crap really hits the fan.
Remembering that Eovaldi is the 4th or 5th guy and signed to what in this market is a pretty reasonable deal takes the edge off any concerns about his performance level. He has ace type stuff but he does not HAVE to be an ace to be worth what he is being paid.
Rough ERA levels and IP I'd expect and be satisfied with for each slot:
Sale: 2.90, 175IP
Price 3.25, 190 IP
Porcello 3.75, 200IP
E-Rod 3.90 150 IP
Eovaldi: 4.25, 160IP
I suspect our depth will be tested due to the durability issues of Sale, E-Rod, and Eovaldi, but I think each pitcher can achieve those marks, and if they do, the Red Sox will win a lot of games