Much has been said of the Boston Red Sox rotation this offseason. Now, I believe the Red Sox will pick up a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher sometime before the trade deadline. I suspect in late May/early June we will be hearing of a deal for Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee (if his recent injury doesn’t linger all season), Johnny Cueto, or some other experienced and successful arm. In the meantime, the “lack of an ace” could turn out to be the best thing to happen to this pitching staff.
Already in camp the current group of pitchers have had fun with all the lack of an ace talk. The starting staff got some t-shirt’s made up; one says “I’m the ACE”, and the other four read “He’s the Ace.” Whoever is starting that day will wear the “I’m the Ace” shirt, while the other guys will wear the others. They will rotate on a daily basis to point out that on any given day, the guy with the ball is the ace of this staff.
That is because the Boston Red Sox have a tremendously well-balanced, experienced, deep, and capable starting rotation. Clay Buchholz returns, hoping to keep himself healthy over the long haul in 2015. He is also hoping to prove his naysayers, such as Curt Schilling, wrong and prove that he can be the ace and lead this staff. Joe Kelly, who came over from the St. Louis Cardinals last season at the trade deadline as part of the John Lackey deal, is looking to showcase himself and show Boston fans the type of stuff he has in his arsenal. Kelly had shown glimpses of top-of-the-rotation stuff in St. Louis and is hoping to return to that form.
The other three obvious candidates for the rotation are all new to the Red Sox this season. Rick Porcello was picked up in an off-season trade with Detroit. Porcello has pitched very well thus far in his young career, but has been overshadowed by Justin Verlander and Maz Scherzer in the Detroit Tiger’s starting rotation. Porcello consistently makes 30 starts a year, gives his team close to 200 innings, and keeps his ERA below 4.00. Working with John Farrell may bring out the best in Porcello, allowing him to improve on the career best 3.41 ERA he posted last season. If results thus far in spring are any indication, he could be the front runner to break away from the pack and become the “ace” of this rotation.
Lefty Wade Milley was brought over from Arizona to give Boston a south-paw in their rotation. He won’t be asked to replace Jon Lester, but he could use this opportunity to emerge as one of the better young lefties in the game. Milley has some tremendous stuff and has shown flashes of his potential. He will undoubtedly get more attention than he received in Arizona and should be slotted fourth or fifth in this rotation, with the chance to work his way into familiarity with the Red Sox and the American League before possibly moving up in the rotation.
Finally, Justin Masterson is making his return to Boston. Masterson began his career with the Red Sox and many in bean town were talking him up as one of the next big things, right next to Clay Buchholz. Those two were expected to be the two new young anchors of the staff. However, Masterson was dealt for Victor Martinez, bringing Boston the stable catcher they desperately needed post-Jason Varitek. Masterson went on to have some very successful years in Cleveland, becoming the Indians’ “ace” for a time. When he became available this off-season, Boston jumped at the chance to bring him back and pair him with Buchholz like they envisioned many years ago. Both of these guys should be able to inspire and bring out the best in each other.
The Red Sox have added very durable, high quality, major league talents. They may not have that top-of-the-rotation guy on paper, but they have created a real competition for that title, which may benefit them even more than actually having a true “ace”.
All of these guys have heard all of the talk from fans and radio personalities, and have read the “expert” takes on the internet and in the newspapers. They are all highly motivated to prove that they can be the guy and carry the staff. They all want to pitch better than the other guy and move up as far in the rotation as they can. They will be pitching against each other on a nightly basis and it should be fantastic to watch. They all seem to get along and this competition will be nothing but good for this team.
If each guy goes out every night and gives it their all, determined to out-pitch the guy from the night before, we could be in for some tremendous baseball. We could see guys have career years and really excel in this kind of competitive environment, under the tutelage of a guy like John Farrell, with a proven track record of developing pitchers, and pitching on a team that has the offense to win some ball games. Or, it could come back to bite them; only time will tell.
Main Photo
