Daniel Bard has an ERA below 1.00 for his first 11 innings in the big leagues. The Red Sox bullpen has the best ERA in baseball. And John Smoltz tries to find a place in the starting rotation next week. Did I mention Buchholz?
The depth of the Boston staff showed again last night as they outlasted the Phillies pen 5-2 in extra innings on the road. With Dice-K & Beckett going the next 2 games we stand a good chance to take the series in Philadelphia. The Sox are now 8-2 in their last 10 games & bettered their record to 16-16 on the road.
How do the Sox, who already have a talented pitching staff, find room for a John Smoltz? I'm against a trade of Brad Penny after such a great outing against the Yankees. Penny is a bull out there like Beckett. Wakefield leads the staff with 8 wins, so hard to find a mysterious DL injury for him. Dice-K needs to take his turns to get back into pitching shape. Lester & Beckett are going nowhere as the aces of the staff.
There are only 2 logical choices to Theo & Co. First is go with a 6-man rotation until the All-Star break which is about a month away. That would give everyone 4 + starts & time to evaluate the effectiveness of Smoltz.
Second is to make a trade that improves the team. Maybe package Penny, Delcarmen & Lugo for a first string catcher, another lefty reliever & a DH/1B/3B-type player. Victor Martinez & Jarrod Saltalamachia come to mind.
This is a positive problem for the Red Sox, especially with Buchholz & Bowden in the wings.
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