As some of you are familiar with the Boston Red Sox are on of the few teams in the majors that can honestly say that they have been blessed with the "problem" of having too much pitching. In a few weeks Theo Epstein, Terry Francona and pitching Coach John Farrell are going to be faced with the tough decision of deciding which pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, and Clay Buchholz to put into the bullpen. I'm sure you all have your own opinion on this subject and I’m sure that some of you have already made up your mind as to who should be kept out of the rotation, I ask you however to keep an open-mind and keep some of these things in mind when making your final stance on the subject.
First let’s take Mr. Wakefield, no doubt a staple in the Red Sox rotation dating all the way back to the mid 90’s. A fan favorite and a wonder when it comes to his age and the success he has had especially in the first half of last season. Wakefield comes at a team friendly price with a seemingly endless team option in order to stay in Boston and not be a burden to the team’s payroll expenses. There is no doubt in my mind that as you sit and read this post Wakefield is one of your five in the rotation. Let’s keep some things in mind here before we jump the gun. On the positive Wakefield is one of the guys you just have to root for, he does everything the right way, has a great clubhouse presence and he has been one of your most consistent starters for the last 15 years. When I say consistent I mean that you are almost guaranteed to get 5-6 innings and have him give up 3-5 runs, there are some better performances but there are also some worse performances. However no matter how many of those performances you get form Wakefield he seemingly always ends up right around the 500 mark or a game over. Lifetime Wake is 179-149 with an ERA of 4.39 which is a winning percentage of .546.
Option number two comes in the form of Daisuke Matsuzaka, commonly referred to as Dice-K. While Dice-K is the one on the DL right now he has been starting games for Pawtucket which could be a sign of the way Mr. Epstein is tipping his hand. None the less this decision for me is the easiest one of all, he has to be in the rotation, no if, ands, or buts, about it. The Red Sox did not pay 51 million dollars to talk with a long reliever a few years ago and they certainly are not going to pay a middle reliever 8 million dollars a year. Now, if you take money out of the equation the decision may not be as easy as I have just made it seem. Dice-K has struggled and is among the top of the list for the most inconsistent pitchers in baseball never mind in the Red Sox rotation. According to most the World Baseball Classic has been mostly to blame for the aforementioned inconsistencies, and looking forward it is something that the Red Sox can not afford to have. In seasons during which he has been forced to pitch in the World Baseball Classic he has been dreadful, finishing with a record of 19-18 with an ERA hovering right above 5.00. However when he has not pitched in the WBC before the season he is 18-3 with an ERA of 2.80, which was good enough for a 4th place finish in the Cy Young voting in 2008. With the WBC behind him it would appear that he is poised to have a good season this year and any season in which he can get a little extra attention from the Red Sox training/ strength and conditioning staff is a good year. Not to mention the amount of time he spent in Arizona training this off-season.
Lastly, for your consideration is the 25 year-old Clay Buchholz. Buchholz will turn 26 during the season and has been widely regarded throughout the league as the Red Sox number one pitching prospect and a pitcher considered to have "ace" stuff. While Buchholz is not as experienced as the two above candidates he has had some success in the majors and some struggles. After throwing his no-hitter in 2007 Buchholz came back to struggle mightily in 2008 going 2-9 and developing a confidence issue which would force him to rely too much on his fastball. Having spent half of 08 in the minors and the first few months of 2009 in the minors he has overcome those issues and is now under the close watch of pitching Coach John Farrell. Seemingly Buchholz is going to be one of the aces in this staff for a long time to come and there is no point in wasting that talent in the minors or in the bullpen.
In conclusion my rotation would consist of the obvious three Beckett, Lester, and Lackey, followed by Daisuke Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz. I have all the respect in the world for Tim Wakefield and the sacrifices he has made for this franchise over the years but in all honesty it is time for him to step aside and go to the bullpen. He is the only one of three with bullpen experience and if everything develops correctly the Red Sox could potentially have 5 "Aces." Obviously that is assuming that Dice-K returns to 2008 form and Buchholz continues to blossom and develop right in front of us. Either way the Red Sox staff is going to be something to watch for years to come.
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