Middle Relief Implosion in 5, 4, 3...

If Justin Masterson has learned anything from his two big league starts, it should be that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Of course, Masterson learned this lesson the hard way.

It seems every year, Red Sox fans are tempted by a young pitcher with great stuff who we hear wonderful things about. The kids get their chance and seem to shine. When Papelbon started his first game a few years ago, we all expected big things. Next came Jon Lester, who also started off with flair. Of course, we all know what happened with Buckholz last season. So, as fans, we all expected big things from Masterson. In his spot start in April, he did what he needed to do. He controlled the game, gave 6 solid innings, and left with the lead. Basically, the team said “thanks for the innings, take a seat on the bench and we’ll get you the win.” There was one flaw in that strategy. Actually two, they were Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen. I trust a week old cheese sandwich more than I trust those two. It got so bad that when Lopez came in last night, I turned it off. I was wondering if Francona had a personal grudge against Masterson or something. But Masterson learned his very important lesson from the April debacle.

This time, he was able to get an extra third of an inning out of his start. Not important you say? Not so fast. By getting that one out and getting yanked, he has established the mood of the inning and then disrupted it. In between innings, a batter is just sitting there swinging a bat knowing he has a few minutes. Once the inning starts, you know you’re on deck as long as the guy ahead of you is at bat. As a batter, you get disturbed by a pitching change (even if it is for Lopez or Delcarmen). Also, you are only trusting your sketchy middle relief to get 2 outs, which is definitely better than 3. Let the record show that the only run scored of the game, while charged to Masterson, was because Delcarmen soiled himself on the mound (or as baseball people would say “he pitched”).

Basically, I think all Red Sox starting pitchers know that in order to ensure the win, they need to pitch as least 7 full innings. Then, you are entrusting the game to Papijima. While not as solid as last year, they still get the job done most of the time. Going deep is fine for Beckett, but it’s the others that are a mystery. Dice-K has the stamina, but he also has control issues that hike his pitch count early. Wakefield is getting old, Lester doesn’t seem consistent, and Buckholz is still getting cuffed around the park at times. Also, when you bring up guys like Masterson and Colon, you don’t know how they’ll fare or how long they can last (Masterson because of pitch count issues and Colon because of injury issues). That is going to be the issue tonight, with Colon making his first start. Can he go deep into a game? My guess would be probably not. If he pitches well, you’ll get 5 to 6 innings tops from him. Of course, based on his size, he looks more capable of destroying downtown Tokyo than shutting down the Royals, but hey, I hear Godzilla had a nasty splitter.