The 25-man roster for the Red Sox in the World Series hasn’t been announced yet but we do know one thing. Tim Wakefield will not be a part of it due to the shoulder injury that kept him off the ALDS roster.
“I really wish I was up here talking about my starting Game 2,” Wakefield said. “But unfortunately that’s not the case today. After long talks with [Terry Francona] and John Farrell and Theo [Epstein], my health, advice from the doctors, it’s not going to happen, unfortunately.
“Could I pitch Game 2? Probably. But are you going to get 100 percent out of Tim Wakefield? I don’t know that either, until Tuesday. After that I don’t know either, because dealing with this problem that I’ve had for the past two months, it seems like my recovery time in getting longer and longer, and I just don’t think it’s fair to the other 24 guys on this team that I go out there and maybe I pitch well and maybe I don’t, and then I’m not available for the rest of the series. It’s not fair for the rest of the 24 guys in that clubhouse for me to put them through that.”
With Wakefield out of the rotation it is not known who will take his start. As of right now, the rotation for the Sox has been set for the first three games. Josh Beckett will get the start in Game 1, Curt Schilling in Game 2, and Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 3 in Denver. Rumors are that Jon Lester will make the start in Game 4.
It looks as though the Red Sox will use the same lineup that they did in Game 6 and Game 7 of the ALCS. Jacoby Ellsbury will start again in center field in place of Coco Crisp, who is still battling soreness from crashing in the wall.
The Red Sox will have to make some lineup decisions for the games in Colorado. Since the games are being played in a National League park, there is no DH. That means the Red Sox will have to decide who to sit between the trio of David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell. I think we all know that Big Papi won’t be out of the lineup so it comes down to Youk and Lowell. Youk is hitting a team leading .425 while is hitting a nice .333. Some very tough decisions lie ahead for Sox skipper Terry Francona.
