Boston Red Sox skipper Terry Francona has decided upon his rotation to the start this season. This is how it shapes up.
- Josh Beckett
- Jon Lester
- Daisuke Matsuzaka
- Tim Wakefield
- TBA
The 5th spot in the rotation will most likely be Brad Penny. Francona is waiting to see how Penny feels before the first game the Red Sox need a 5th starter which would be on April 12th.
This means that Clay Buchholz, despite his 0.46 spring ERA, will most likely start the season in Pawtucket unless he’s needed for the April 12th game.
Oh, by the way, Justin Masterson finally knows his role this season. He will be pitching out of the bullpen.
The Sox set their rotation [Extra Bases]
I wouldn’t mind a more conservative approach with Brad Penny, though I think he has done fine this Spring Training. I love having Masterson in the bullpen, and I think Clay Buchholz could temporarily fill in as the fifth starter. He has had a great spring, and a great confidence boost. All he has to do is continue to talk to John Smoltz… he’s helping him!
The Red Sox will definitely be conservative with him. Given the success of Buchholz this spring, the Red Sox can definitely take that approach.
I’m with you on the Masterson being in the bullpen. I think he’s better suited for that right now. I’m sure down the road we’ll probably see him in the rotation . But for now, he’s good where he is.
I think it will be okay to start Buchholz temporarily this year because he doesn’t have that pressure to be a starter everyday. I think he will be a lot better this year seeing that last season was “humbling” for him.
I agree with you that Penny will most likely be in the starting rotation. I think something that we may see happen, similar to last year when Dice-K was injured, is some guys like Buccholz, Masterson and Smoltz getting a few starts here and there when we have a bulk of games come up to keep the 5-man rotation well rested.
I’m sure we’ll see some sort of injury as the season goes and I agree with you that we’ll see the same thing as we did last year where the Red Sox didn’t rush anyone back due to the pitching depth.
It’s always a nice thing to have.