FORT MYERS, Fla. — When laying out the state of the Red Sox starting rotation competition this past weekend, manager Alex Cora said Kutter Crawford is leading the pack among those who have yet to secure a spot.

It was an encouraging endorsement for the young right-hander, but not something he’s letting get to his head.

“I think everything’s still got to be earned no matter what I did last year,” Crawford said. “Do I like my odds? Sure. But you still have to go out there and compete and throw strikes every single day. So in camp here trying to get a feel for everything again, game speed and stay on the attack and practice flooding the zone with strikes, and the rest will take care of itself.”

Scheduled to make his first start of the spring Tuesday when the Red Sox face the St. Louis Cardinals, Crawford is entering the biggest season of his professional career. A former 16th round pick out of Florida Gulf Coast University who was never regarded as a top prospect, Crawford has risen from obscurity and last season emerged as one of the organization’s most promising young arms.

After starting the season in the bullpen, Crawford moved to the rotation in late spring and finished the season with a 4.04 ERA over a career-high 129.1 innings. He proved he could take the ball every fifth day and deliver — something few others on last year’s staff could accomplish — but one thing he couldn’t do was consistently pitch deep into games.

That’s been a point of emphasis this offseason, and so far Crawford and the team are happy with the results he’s gotten.

“I spent a lot of time here at JetBlue working with our staff, so I felt like I focused a lot on my lower half, which is a big component of mine that I need to go deeper into games, and I feel like I was able to accomplish some of that,” Crawford said. “I feel like my lower half is stronger, moves a little bit better, and I put on a little bit of weight to sustain that throughout the year.”

“He looks better physically, a little bit bigger. Sometimes that’s what it takes, get a little bit bigger, get that stamina up, and he can go six innings,” Cora said. “If you look at the numbers from pitch 75 to 85 the stuff went down very quickly, so we’re trying to hopefully maintain his stuff.”

One factor that can’t be discounted is Crawford spent each of his first two seasons fighting for a roster spot and eventually making the team out of the bullpen. This time, if all goes well, he’ll start in the rotation from Day 1, allowing him the peace of mind of knowing his role without having to try and get stretched back out in-season.

The opportunity is there for the taking, and Crawford isn’t taking it for granted.

“I’d prefer to be a starter any day of the week, so having that is a little bit liberating, but at the end of the day I don’t look at anything being given,” Crawford said. “I’m still a younger guy, I’m still trying to establish myself in the league. I’m not established as a starter that’s going out and throwing 180 innings yet, so I’ve still got to show up every day and work and prove myself.”