Cleveland Indians (53-52) @ Red Sox (66-40)
SP - John Lackey (9-8, 6.20) vs. Josh Tomlin (11-5, 4.01)
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. Carl Crawford, LF
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
8. Josh Reddick, RF
9. Marco Scutaro, SS
Three Strikes:
1. Despite the trade for Erik Bedard, John Lackey is still the likely candidate to join Josh Beckett and Jon Lester as the third starter in the Red Sox playoff rotation. Lackey's overall numbers are ugly but over his last four starts he is 4-0 with a 2.52 ERA.
That is the Lackey that the Red Sox paid top dollar for before the 2010 season and that is the Lackey that the Red Sox need in order to win the World Series now that it looks like Clay Buchholz' season is over due to a stress fracture in his back.
2. Watching Josh Reddick slip in the Red Sox batting order is due to his recent slump. Although he still posts . 331 BA, .376 OBP, .935 OPS, 4 HR, and 21 RBI for the season (39 games and 133 plate appearances), his stats over his last six games (19 plate appearances) are not encouraging.
A .118 BA, .158 OBP, and .276 OPS are the type of numbers that may force Theo Epstein to seek an alternative in right field going down the stretch.
Yes, the non-waiver trade deadline expired yesterday but teams can still make deals up until August 31.
3. According to Tom Caron's Twitter account, Bedard will make his first start for the Red Sox on Thursday in the finale of the four-game series with the Indians.
That will move Lester back to Friday night against the Yankees. Lester is scheduled to be followed by Lackey and Beckett in the Yankees series.
No comments:
Post a Comment