DSD, it depends on a lot of factors. Most likely, Carlos will start at AA Birmingham. I just don’t think they’ll even think of putting him at A-ball in Winston-Salem. He will throw there for a short time, then move to AAA Charlotte. Depending on how much time Don Cooper gets with him, how well he transitions to major league workloads, and the pitching situation in the majors; Carlos could come up in a bullpen role by August.
Another thing to take into account is his agent. Rodon is a Boras signee, which means he commands a higher price than most rookies. In order to (hopefully) drive down his initial price, the Sox will most likely come up with an accelerated timetable.
Given the patchwork rotation (Sale, Quintana, Danks, Rienzo, Noesi), I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him play out of the bullpen early, and possibly start as soon as September. He will most likely be rotation ready for the long haul by next May, possibly even April. If Carlos pitches like we know he can, he will immediately jump in as the number four starter, and possibly the three given Danks’ inconsistencies.
I’m going to boldly say that he is the number 3 starter by late summer of 2015, and that he is behind only Chris Sale to start the 2016 season. Having those two, with those sliders, during back-to-back starts is mind-boggling.
