If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that as the trade deadline approached that the Red Sox would be looking for pitching, I would have said you were crazy.
At the beginning of the year it appeared that what the Red Sox did have was pitching. They had the best starting rotation in the bigs from top to bottom with Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, John Lester, Brad Penny, and Tim Wakefield. And they had depth with Justin Masterson, Clay Buckholz, and first ballot Hall of Famer John Smoltz waiting in the wings.
Pair that with a shut-down bullpen featuring veterans Hideki Okajima and Manny Delcarmen, flamethrowing newcomer Daniel Bard (if you haven't had a chance to see this guy pitch, you're missing out) with Jonathan Papelbon slamming the door at the end and you have a wonderful pitching scenario.
Well, that was then and this is now. Beckett and Lester have been as great as expected but Penny has been inconsistent. Daisuke is arguing that Japanese have different shoulder anatomy. Even reliable Wakefield is on the DL. And Smoltz hasn’t returned to form.
What good is a stellar bullpen when your starting pitching has already given your opponent an insurmountable lead?
The Red Sox have been forced to sit idly by as the Yankees have roared past them. I don’t know if I’ve ever said this, but the AL East race will be an interesting one to watch this year.
Will the Red Sox pitching prove to be as stellar as earlier advertised or will the Yankees find themselves the de facto champs of the East? Time will tell.
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