Covering All The Bases by Jared Carrabis
Give Buchholz, Carter a shot, Delcarmen on the move?


Get ready folks; we're just a week away from Opening Day.

On Saturday morning, Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced the starting rotation for the 2009 season. The ace of the staff, Josh Beckett, was named the Opening Day starter on April 6. When the season resumes on April 8, Jon Lester will be handed the ball in game two. Following the left-hander will be two-time World Baseball Classic MVP, Daisuke Matsuzaka, then Tim Wakefield in the fourth slot. Now here's where it gets tricky.

The fifth spot in Boston's rotation is a toss up between Clay Buchholz and Brad Penny. While the Red Sox are leaning towards Penny to start the season in the rotation, consider this my letter of protest to the Red Sox. Second to Josh Beckett's 24 innings pitched this spring, Buchholz has tossed 19.2 innings, going 2-0 in those 5 starts.

How many earned runs has Buchholz given up this spring? The same number of no-hitters he has thrown: one. While Buchholz continues to dominate down in Fort Myers, Brad Penny is showing signs of improvement, but in my opinion, is not ready to start a regular season game for a team that plays in the AL East where every game means something.

Penny has thrown the ball well in his past two starts, but has only logged 7 innings of work so far with a 2.57 ERA, compared to Buchholz's team leading 0.46 ERA. Buchholz is showing all of the potential that Red Sox fans have heard about in recent years, and even caught a glimpse of in September of 2007. His control has been spot on, with the proof being in his 15/3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Don't get me wrong, I think Brad Penny is going to be a huge contributor to this 2009 team, but the numbers don't lie. Buchholz just seems more prepared to start the season in the rotation than Penny does. If the Red Sox deem Penny unable to begin the season in the starting rotation, he will surely work diligently towards preparing himself to go deeper into games without lacking stamina.

I did some digging on the one-year deal Penny signed with Boston on January 9 for $5 million. Penny will receive escalators in his contract of $500K once he hits 160 innings pitched. He will receive another $500K for reaching the 170, 180 and 190 innings pitched plateaus. Penny can also earn $1 million for 200 innings pitched or 50 games finished.

The incentive in his contract that includes "games finished" indicates that before Penny signed with Boston, the Red Sox discussed the possibility of his being in the bullpen if that's what it came down to. Well, it looks like this is what it has come down to. If Penny's health limits him from being able to throw the ball every five days for 5+ innings, maybe it would be in the best interest of the team to insert Clay Buchholz into the fifth slot that he has earned and stick Brad Penny in the bullpen until he gets his arm strength back to where it needs to be.

Just a thought, but this is the fun I get out of having seven solid arms and only five slots to put them in. The ideas and theories of what will become of the Red Sox rotation are endless, but that's what I'd like to see happen. Set the example for the younger players in the system that it is possible to beat out a veteran if you've earned it, and there's no denying that Clay Buchholz has earned his spot in the rotation to start the season.

For those that are wondering where there would be room in the bullpen, it appears that a few teams are eying Manny Delcarmen to bolster their bullpens. According to Peter Gammons, several teams that make their spring training homes out in Arizona have expressed interest in the righty reliever. The Red Sox could use Delcarmen as a trading chip to acquire a catching prospect or an infielder.

Moving on to even more pitchers that are doing well, but have no rotation spot as of yet. On Saturday morning, John Smoltz threw 47 pitches in his second bullpen session of the spring. In his first bullpen session he threw nothing but fastballs; on Saturday, Smoltz threw all of his pitches and threw them well. Smoltz reported no soreness in his shoulder once again after throwing the final pitch of his bullpen. While the Red Sox have speculated that Smoltz would be ready for Major League action come June, it is now being said that he could be ready to go by mid-May. Oh, the rotation possibilities continue to boggle my mind.

Speaking of spots on the roster yet to be secured, whoever Chris Carter has been working with over the offseason, he deserves a raise. On Saturday, Carter went 2-for-4 against the defending World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies. One of his two hits on Saturday accounted for his sixth home run of the spring. Carter's strong showing has likely chased Brad Wilkerson from Sox camp.

Wilkerson left the Red Sox on Saturday to "assess other options". Wilkerson's .118 batting average compared to Carter's .359/.388/.703 has made Carter the favorite to earn a roster spot by a landslide. The minor league contract signed by Wilkerson in February allows him to opt out on April 1; expect him to do that and sign elsewhere.

Now that Wilkerson is no longer a threat to Carter, Jeff Bailey is the only player standing in his way. With Carter having an explosive spring offensively, he remains to be the runaway for the final spot on the bench barring an injury. Bailey does have the ability to serve as Boston's third-string catcher, but that likely will not be enough to earn him a sport over the sizzling Carter. Though Carter's defense is sub-par, he is more versatile by being able to play the outfield corners and can prove the Sox with some pop in the designated hitter position when David Ortiz needs a day off.

On the injury front:

In Friday's game, Jason Bay left with dehydration symptoms. He returned on Saturday only to hit a two-run bomb against the Twins. Bay is now hitting .258/.425/.613 this spring with 3 HR and 6 RBI in 31 at bats.

On Saturday, Julio Lugo resumed baseball activities by engaging in a hitting program. Lugo will be taking baby steps in his return, which is slated to be some time around mid-April. The Boston shortstop began by hitting off a tee, then he will upgrade to hitting soft toss, followed by BP and finally he will return to live game action.

Mark Kotsay is making his way back to full health after undergoing back surgery over the offseason. Kotsay also hit balls off a tee on Saturday, but his return to the Major League roster will be slightly lengthier than Lugo's Kotsay is expected to rejoin the Red Sox some time near mid-May, but all signs point towards a speedy recovery.

"I wouldn't be doing anything if I had any type of pain," Kotsay said. "That's how I progress. If I do a workload like I did today, and come in tomorrow stiff, then I'll back off. I have to gauge it by what my body tells me. And right now it's telling me to keep going."

Keeping up with old friends:

With so much talk about Chris Carter lately, it's only appropriate to keep tabs on the player that was traded to bring this slugger to Boston. Wily Mo Pena was placed on waivers by the Washington Nationals on Saturday. There is a good chance that no team will claim the right-handed power hitter, so Pena will have to choose between free agency or a minor league assignment with the Nationals. Pena's contract had a $2 million player option or a $5 million club option for 2009. When the Nationals didn't make a move, Pena exercised his $2 million player option following the end of the 2008 season.

Matt Clement will not begin the 2009 season at the Major League level with the Toronto Blue Jays, but instead he will report to Triple A.

After being cut by the Milwaukee Brewers, Eric Gagne is hoping to throw in front of Major League scouts. Gagne is recovering from a slight rotator cuff tear, but will not begin throwing until he is fully healed.

All right, that's it for today. This is Jared Carrabis signing off saying, "One more week 'til Opening Day!"

Published on March 30, 2009

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