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Playoffs: Name your Red Sox rotation (and why)

Sep 26th, 2007 by Bill Burt

OK, it’s official. Name that rotation.

This is very interesting. Red Sox manager Terry Francona basically has taken Clay Buchholz out of the mix, by using him very little after his no-hitter on Sept. 1 against the Orioles — 7 2/3 innings, 1 ER, 6H, 8K, 4BB.

That being said, here is what mine would be:

1. Josh Beckett: The only “very” obvious choice. He’s probably the best No. 1 guy in all of baseball right now, with two “ace” performances in a row.

2. Curt Schilling: A six-inning pitcher, you’ve got to hand it to the 40-year-old Schilling. He has been consistently solid to good. He basically brings Manny Delcarmen into the mix as his seventh-inning pitcher.

3. Dice-K: This is by default. He has become more disappointing as September has come and gone. But he has a history of coming through in big games in Japan. And he has had some great outings.

4. Jon Lester: Like Schilling, he is a six-inning pitcher because of high pitch count. But he’s a left-hander and deserves to be here. I’m not sure Francona feels the same way. In fact, I might make a case for Lester at No. 3, but this is probably the right place. He has had one bad outing in September, but otherwise has been rock solid.

Odd man out: Tim Wakefield. But he should be on the playoff roster, ahead of Kyle Snyder, as a potential long man. What might happen though is Lester goes to the bullpen as a lefty-hander or early replacement if one of the aforementioned starters gets hit early, especially Wakefield, who has allowed 21 runs in his last 17 innings and hasn’t won a game since August. If Wakefield is Francona’s No. 4 guy and struggles in the ALDS, and Sox still advance, then maybe Wakefield goes to pen for second series.

 What’s your rotation … and why?

Posted in Red Sox | Comments

  • GaryFromChapelHill
    Stealing this idea from reading SOSH, this makes sense to me:

    1) Beckett
    2) Dice-K
    3) Schilling
    4) Lester

    Dice-K goes #2 because *if he's on* he has just as good a chance of beating a #2 like Carmona as Schilling. But if he's bad, then the Sox probably lose to a #3. I have more confidence that Schilling could outduel a #3 more consistently. Whew... hard to explain.

    I think Wakefield/Lester is a toss-up *on the mound*, but if Wakefield pitches, Mirabelli has to bat, weakening the lineup. Plus the problems holding runners (especially if we play Anaheim).

    But I think, in the end, Wakefield starts.
  • Depends on home/away splits

    Game 1/2 Home
    1 - Josh
    2 - Curt
    3 - Dice K
    4 - Lester
    Game 1/2 Away
    1 - Josh
    2 - Dice K
    3- Curt
    4 - Lester

    Dice's ERA on the road is ~1 less than on the road 4.02 vs 5.1, Curt's H/W split is less than 0.5.
    Wake becomes the innings eater.
  • Gary, you can't base your playoff rotation on the assumption that Carmona is going to dominate like he did in the regular season. His terrible relief outings last year show that he may very well pitch poorly under pressure.

    Schilling is one of the greatest big-game pitchers of all time, and he needs to be No. 2. For any team, the prospect of facing Beckett and Schilling in the first two games of a series is downright scary. Facing Beckett and Dice-K, not so much.
  • Steven C
    Has everybody basically written off Tim Wakefield as a starter in the playoffs?
    It seems like everyone has. Though he hasn't pitched great lately, there is a chance he could be unhittable.
    Just a thought.
  • pasta diving lugo
    not that we've written him off steven c., just that the post season record is not there. he has an era over 6 and it is generally attributed to the knuckler not dancing in the cold weather.

    i don't know how you've been looking at lester, burt but "rock solid" does not come to my mind...

    the sawks are not really built for post season. we need to sign santana next year. you need 3 pitchers, and all we have are two. we could get by a short series. but good pitching generally shuts down good hitting. good hitting allows you to pulverize lesser clubs with poor pitching.

    sawks are not a small ball club and do not run from 1st to third like the angels. they are a station to station hitting team and that does not work that well in the post season.

    bucholtz is the key to the post season. lester is long relief. he needs to give us three more games in two seven game series. we should be able to get by a short series without using him. if we lose the short five game series, well we're not going to use him at all.
  • Buffalohead
    Hey Rob,


    You cant leave Wake out of the starting rotation! Please check your head!
  • pasta diving lugo
    buffalo head: what do you know that we don't? what part of over 6 era and no post season positives don't you understand? maybe and I do mean MAYBE for a short term inning of relief in a non save situation. I still remember aaron effing boone and do not want to see wake on the mound in cold weather. NO NO NO NO. Please God NO!!!!!!

    tonight is sick. I hate this stuff. sawks have never seen this kid Slowey who has put up career highs in innings pitched (seven) and strikeouts (nine) in his last outing That was his second consecutive quality start and he's getting his final look see for next year's rotation. lot's of incentive for the kid and lots of incentive for his lineup to help out.

    WHY ARE WE STARTING DICEY-K? jesus, of all the times ot give the kid a time off before the post season and here we are STARTING HIM AGAIN. He has been pitiful In four September starts, Matsuzaka is 1-1 with a 9.74 ERA. Also Matsuzaka hasn't faced the Twins in his career. This is sick. i think we are pissing away the dvision title. Am I the only one who thinks this is STUPID. Why can't we start kyle snyder and try for five or six inninggs out of him or buccholz? Dicey-K has been showing all the signs of excessive wear.

    I hope I'm wrong but I am almost always right.
  • pasta diving lugo
    i was wrong. thank god.
  • pasta diving lugo
    Buchholz not in post season due to "shoulder fatique."

    boy they kept that a secret for as long as they could.

    too bad there is no one in the media who can spot a pitcher who has shoulder fatique. you would think it would be a simple matter of monitoring bullpen sessions or noticing a fall off in bullpen work....god do our sportwriters in this town just NOT KNOW THE SPORT THEY ARE COVERING.

    dicey-k was dice-k last night. first time he could answer the rep as a "big game" pitcher.

    if he can do it 4 more times, we're a world serious winner.

    schill and becky can go one and two but it takes three. i always thought Buchholz was our ace in the hole but now it has to be dice-k
  • Nashua
    "Congratulations to the Red Sox"

    I was wrong, I was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong about the Red Sox. I didn't think that they would make the playoffs and I'm here to now eat crow as I said I would. I like it well done.
    caw caw caw Good luck in the playoffs.

    Again Congrats' to the Red Sox and all their happy fans.
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