Boyle, who impressed in a trio of late-season starts in 2023, could have an edge for the No. 5 role in the Athletics' rotation to open the season, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Gallegos reports general manager David Forst has already strongly implied that Paul Blackburn, JP Sears, Alex Wood and Ross Stripling -- the latter two veteran offseason additions -- will unsurprisingly slot into the top four spots in the rotation. Southpaw Ken Waldichuk (elbow) may eventually join that group when healthy, but he's not expected to be ready for the start of the season; therefore, Boyle, who went 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 0.81 WHIP across his first three major-league starts last September, could slot into that No. 5 role coming out of spring training. However, he'll have some reasonably experienced competition, including holdovers Luis Medina, Freddy Tarnok (hip) and Adrian Martinez,