May 18, 2011

Aceves, Wakefield Get Their Chances In The Rotation

By the start of tonight's game, John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka will both be on the 15-day disabled list. Righthanders Scott Atchison and Michael Bowden are up from Pawtucket, though Bowden will likely go back down when Dan Wheeler is activated on Friday.

Peter Abraham, Globe:
Matsuzaka could be out for a while. He has a sprained elbow, which likely means there is some degree of ligament tearing. This will be his sixth stint on the disabled list in the last four years ...

Matsuzaka has shown an alarming drop in velocity and command since leaving his start of April 29 with a "tight" elbow. ...

Lackey is harder to gauge because it's difficult to say to what degree he is actually injured in the first place. Francona said on Monday that [if] this were September, he would be pitching. And while the Red Sox deny it, there certainly seems to be a degree of this DL stint being as much a mental health break given his poor work on the mound and family issues. ...

[Aceves] wanted a chance [to start], here it is. The same is true of Wakefield, who feels he has been wasted as a long reliever and mop-up man. ...
The starters, though the weekend:
Tonight vs Tigers - Clay Buchholz
Thursday vs Tigers - Josh Beckett
Friday vs Cubs - Jon Lester
Saturday vs Cubs - Alfredo Aceves
Sunday vs Cubs - Tim Wakefield
After their dismal 2-10 start, the Red Sox have been 19-10. That .655 pace is the equivalent of a 106-win season. If they can win like they have been doing since April 16 for the remaining 121 games of the regular season, the Red Sox would finish with exactly 100 wins.

2 comments:

allan said...

News on NYY:

There has been serious friction between Posada and Girardi since 2005.

Rafael Soriano went on the DL yesterday with an inflamed right elbow. Before he did, though, the pitcher who has given up 15 hits and 11 walks in 15 innings (5.40 ERA) said the problem with the team has been the hitters, not the bullpen. Soriano also said it didn't bother him to have missed the last four games against the Red Sox and Rays. (Girardi was not pleased.)

RedSoxDiehard said...

I am pleased.