Well, When You Put It That Way...

Insights on Red Sox pitching from Ruben Lipszyc, the author of Red Sox Nation - Alberta:

The top 3 pitchers in the rotation are back, and Buchholz didn't pitch after the middle of June, so the top of the rotation can potentially improve. There's been a lot of talk about not addressing the #4 and 5 slots. Despite many rumours, Boston did not sign Oswalt, Kuroda or Edwin Jackson or make a bid on Yu Darvish, or trade for John Danks. But last year Lackey pitched all season with an ERA well above 6. DiceK while healthy contributed an ERA over 5. Wakefield had the 4th most starts on the team, and his ERA was North of 5 as well. Andrew Miller started 12 games and had an even higher ERA. And please don't get me started on Kyle Weiland who would have made any of the above look like Cy Young in comparison. That's a total of 75 games started by pitchers with a combined ERA of approximately 5.80. I believe that Bard, Aceves and any others that need to fill in due to the inevitable injuries such as Cook, Padilla, Duckworth, Silva, Ohlendorf etc, can'd do any worse. I really see the starting rotation as being a large improvement over last year. Replacing Papelbon with Bailey and Melancon was a very smart move. On the field it may be a slight downgrade, but it never makes sense to overpay for relievers - particularly closers.

I like the optimism! Getting excited for the season to start...

Retiring as a Red Sox

Following up on Joel's post, I wanted to note how classy Tim Wakefield's retirement speech was, and that he really did mean what he said. Afterwards, Alex Speier of WEEI reported that:

According to Barry Mesiter, the agent for Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballer turned down four contract offers for this coming season -- including one guaranteed major league offer -- in order to either return for or retire as a Red Sox.

I just hope that Tex's retirement goes down like this. It's always hard to see your team's great players go to other teams in the twilight of their career. I myself am still scarred by the sight of Thurman Thomas playing one last sad season in Miami - Miami! - before calling it quits.

Related Posts: Tim Wakefield to Announce He Is Retiring

Tim Wakefield to Announce he is Retiring

This from today's Boston Globe:

Tim Wakefield will announce his retirement at 5 p.m. today at JetBlue Park.  Wakefield, 45, was 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA in 627 appearances in his 19-year career. The Florida native spent the final 17 seasons with the Red Sox, going 186-168 with a 4.43 ERA over 590 games. He is third in team history for victories, trailing only Cy Young and Roger Clemens, who each had 192.

He wasn't that fun to watch, but he was a huge contributor to the Red Sox over the years.  While he struggled quite a bit over the past two years, he always wanted to play and he always wanted to win.  Thanks, Wake, for all you've done for the Sox!

Sabatha vs. the Sox

Two thoughts on last night's Yanks/Sox game:

1. Sabathia was lucky to get out of the jams that he got himself into. It's not often that you'll be able to hold the Sox to 2 runs if they get 13 hits. After all, they left 16 men on base last night!
2. Lackey sure has pitched much tougher recently. He'll never be lights out, but he's pretty gritty these days, and I no longer automatically assume a loss when he takes the mound (unlike poor Wake).

Wakefield Humor

http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/tim-wakefield-tries-to-get-line-drive-to-put-him-o,21031/

Wakefield

A real pleasure watching Wakefield work tonight -- after starting the season so well in relief, he's made the case that his previous, disastrous start was just an anomaly.

I was surprised to see Francona pull him out of the game just now, after 7-2/3 innings with only 75 pitches. It looked like he was capable of a complete game. But with one run in for the Cubs, and one man on, I suspect that Francona wanted to optimize Wakefield's chances of chalking up another win.

And despite Bard's recent off-night, it is a great move to follow up Wakefield with Bard. After seeing 65 mph knuckleballs all night, imagine what it is like to suddenly be confronted with a 97 mph fastball.

And this is why you keep Wakefield

Because now both Lackey and Matsuzaka are on the DL. While it sounds like Lackey might be due back relatively soon (this DL stint is probably just a head-clearer), the Globe sez that Daisuke "...has a sprained elbow, which likely means there is some degree of ligament tearing."

There are other reasons for Keeping Wake, of course, but the main one is that he's a known commodity: if his knuckle ball is dancing, he'll give you a shot at a win every time.