FORT MYERS, Fla. — Saturday may bring some clarity to the Red Sox’s Opening Day roster picture.

Three veterans – pitchers Derek Holland and Hansel Robles and first baseman Travis Shaw – can opt out of their minor league deals and become free agents Saturday if they are not added to the 40-man roster by then, a baseball source confirmed.

Reliever Tyler Danish, who is also in camp as a nonroster invitee, can also opt out that day. It’s currently unclear if other players, like infielder Yolmer Sánchez or outfielders Rob Refsnyder and Christin Stewart can opt out.

Opt-outs are commonplace this time of year for players who sign minor-league deals during the offseason. The new collective bargaining agreement streamlined the process a bit, giving a certain class of players — XX(B) free agents, who have at least six years of service time and signed minor league deals — an opt out five days before Opening Day. That deadline is Saturday, meaning the Red Sox must decide whether to add those players to their roster well before they face the Yankees on Thursday.

If the Red Sox decline to add a player, he can either hit free agency or remain with the organization at Triple-A Worcester. If Shaw, Holland or Robles were to stay with the Red Sox at Triple-A, they’d have another opt-out opportunity on May 1 and again on June 1.

Robles, who just arrived in Fort Myers on Thursday after dealing with visa issues, isn’t really impacted by Saturday’s deadline and is likely to be part of Boston’s big league bullpen once he is deemed ready. Holland and Shaw are squarely in the mix for Opening Day roster spots and are candidates to opt out.

Holland, a 13-year big-league veteran, is vying for a bullpen spot after posting a 5.07 ERA for Detroit last season.

“He got here late and he was behind but obviously, a veteran guy. He looks in great shape,” Manager Alex Cora said Thursday. “Another lefty. Obviously, at the end, roster spots and all that will come into play regardless of if it was 28 roster spots or 26.

“It’s a guy we signed for a reason. Another veteran who last year, stuff-wise, he was really good.”

Shaw re-signed with the Red Sox a few days into camp and is 0 for 17 with seven strikeouts in exhibition play this spring. Still, he’s a candidate to earn a bench spot as a left-handed complement to Bobby Dalbec. Cora discounts Shaw’s spring numbers because he has faced a number of left-handed pitchers so far.

“If Travis is here, he’s not going to face too many lefties,” Cora said. “We know the player, we know the at-bats. He did an amazing job with us last year. We know what he can do in that clubhouse, too. Yeah, it doesn’t look great… but at the same time, that’s how ‘important’ the at-bats are for me, (a tweet pointing out Shaw’s line Tuesday) was the first time I really noticed it.”

Danish, who has allowed a single run on three hits in four innings (2.25 ERA) this spring, is a dark horse candidate for a bullpen spot. Refsnyder, Sánchez and Stewart are also in the mix for bench roles, as Cora said earlier Thursday.

Saturday’s deadline to opt out will likely send a bunch of veterans back into the open market for teams to sign. The Red Sox, who still have roster holes, might make an addition from that pool. On Thursday, former Red Sox utility man Brock Holt, who was in camp with the Braves, was among the first players to ask for and be granted his release.

THE BATTLE for Boston’s No. 5 starter spot still hasn’t been settled, and this Friday Rich Hill and Garrett Whitlock are both slated to take the mound and state their case for the job.

Cora said Hill will start against the Rays in Port Charlotte and Whitlock will also start one of the minor league games on the back field.

While Cora was quick to emphasize that no decision has been made on the fifth starter, he did confirm that Whitlock will be available out of the bullpen on Opening Day against the New York Yankees.

“There’s a good chance Whit is going to be available in that game with Nate, and we’re trying to stretch him out,” Cora said. “I don’t want to let Boonie know what we’re going to do but having Whit in the bullpen is going to benefit us.”

KUTTER CRAWFORD, who turns 26 on Friday, remains with the big league club and has been among Boston’s more impressive relief pitchers this spring. On Tuesday Crawford regularly touched 97 on the radar gun, striking out five over two scoreless innings.

Crawford’s performances have caught Cora’s eye, and he indicated Crawford is still with the big league club for a reason.

“He’s in the mix,” Cora said. “Stuff-wise he’s one of the best that we have. We still have a week, he still has a few more innings and we’ll make decisions when we have to.”

CHRIS MURPHY dominated in multiple starts after a promotion to Double-A Portland from High-A Greenville last August.

He had two 11-strikeout performances. The 23-year-old lefty also allowed only one hit and struck out seven in 7 scoreless innings in a home start vs. Binghamton.

Then came his final outing of 2022. It was unlike any of his others. Murphy allowed six runs, all earned, on five hits and one walk , recording just one out Sept. 15 at Hartford. His ERA in seven games at Portland inflated from 3.86 to 5.45.

“I wasn’t happy,” Murphy said. “Baseball brings you back down to earth very quickly and that was one of those moments.”

Overall, Murphy enjoyed a successful 2021 season. He struck out 30.2% of the batters he faced in 101 ⅓ innings between Greenville and Portland.

His ERA would have looked much different had Sept. 15 never have happened. But it did happen and he’s glad it did.

It marked the only time Murphy has pitched in relief during his minor league career. All 30 of his others outings have been starts. Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes was rehabbing with Portland and pitched the first inning that day. So Murphy’s outing began in the second inning and lasted just 23 pitches.

“That’s something that actually I think I’m grateful for looking back,” Murphy said. “That actually pushed me to work harder this offseason. I don’t want that feeling again. I felt lost on the mound that day, which is one of those things that as a pitcher, you never want to feel lost on the mound. And giving up a six-spot in (23) pitches was something that was pretty tough.

“But I think that’s the silver lining is that’s something I can learn from.”

Murphy, who was a nonroster invitee to Red Sox major league spring training camp, has a chance to help Boston in 2022. .

Murphy, a 2019 sixth-round pick out of San Diego, is not yet on the 40-man roster. And so before the MLB lockout ended, he attended Red Sox minor league camp.

“Murph is a guy that I’ve been looking (at),” Cora said on March 7. “He has a good fastball.”

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