The Boston Pro Sports Blog

It just seems like this season is perpetually filled with simultaneous good and bad news. Off the top of my head I can’t recall just one game where everything has gone well for the Sox this season. Last night was a perfect example.

Yes, we won 5-4 with a great late inning comeback led by Doug Mirabelli’s three run homer in the eighth to tie the game followed by Manny’s sacrifice fly to knock in the eventual game winner. But there was bad news as well. Yet another Red Sox starting pitcher has seemed to be hit with the injury bug. Last night Tim Wakefield left the game with back spasms after three innings and three earned runs. It appears as if the sands of time are finally creeping up to old rubber arm. After a bone scan today, Wake is still listed as day to day although battery mate Doug Mirabelli divulged last night that Wake has been hurting for some time now. We can only cross our fingers and hope that the vicious and unmercifull disabled list doesn’t capture yet another Red Sox pitcher.

The other good news last night though was that our bullpen looked half way decent, particularly the young fellas. Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen both pitched very well, as did Mike Timlin who ended up with the win. Wakefield’s back issues however, will only add flames to the trade rumor fire as Sox GM Theo Epstein is almost sure to entertain swap proposals that would offer him a new Sox starting pitcher. Stay tuned on that one folks. The Red Sox could very well have another starter or two within the next week or two. Although to be honest, if Wake survives the back trouble, a 4 man rotation of Schilling-Beckett-Wake-Lester would certainly suffice for a playoff run. However, we need to make the playoffs first. And that will require playing every game tough from now to October 1, and that ladies and gentlemen, may be the reason Theo deals for a hurler.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

OK so my apologies to those of you out there who have been wondering where I have been. I took some time to travel a little bit(actually a lot a bit), see some old friends and family, and take care of some work related stuff(yeah I have another job. For whatever reason the blog gig doesn’t seem to pay for my extravagent addictions like fur coats, asian masseuses, and internet porn).

A lot of action has occured since I last checked in. The Bruins did some restructuring atop their Front Office including acquiring a new General Manager and Head Coach. The Patriots will be gathering together for mandated camps soon after their optional mini-camps last week.

The Celtics made some, shall we say “interesting” moves in this years 2006 draft as well. Led by GM Danny “At Least I’m Not Isiah Thomas” Ainge, the Green swapped their first round pick, Raef LaFrentz, and Dan Dickau to Portland for Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and a 2008 2nd-round pick. They then acquired the number 21 pick from Phoenix for cash and a future 1st round pick and drafted Rajon Rondo from Kentucky. In a third trade, Ainge got Cal star Leon Powe for a future second round pick as well. The Celts’ 1st round pick became Randy Foye, essentially equating the deal to drafting Telfair over Foye in the first round. Many of you may recognize Telfair from an ESPN documentary “Through the Fire” which follows Telfair from his days as a high school superstar in New York City through his experience during the NBA draft. If you didn’t understand any of the last paragraph or simply spaced off here’s a quick summary:

2006 NBA Draft:
Celts get Rajon Rondo(1st round) - good
Celts get Leon Powe(second round) - should be good although he has bad knees
In Trades:
No more Raef LaFrentz - very good
No more Dan Dickau - who?(the white guy that backed up the back up point guard)
Celts get Theo Ratliffe - neutral
Celts get Sebastian Telfair - hopefully good although the jury will be out on this one for a while
Get it?

Obviously a lot going on in Red Sox Nation as well. The Sox hit the all star break 3 games up in the AL East to rival New York. Big Papi represented the BoSox in the Home Run Derby with Manny, Papelbon, and Mark Loretta joining him as the Sox All-Star representatives. Mike Lowell is having all All-Star caliber season as well although its no surprise that A-Rod got the nod over him to represent the AL at third base. In all honesty it really doesn’t matter as long as he continues to play well. Also the AL won with a great comeback in the ninth to secure home field advantage for the American League in the World Series. We all hope this becomes a good thing.

The Sox defense has been the most noteworthy, with only 33 errors committed so far this season which leads the American League. The pitching has been better but still needs improvement. Matt Clement, or as my buddy Hahs has deemed him Matt “Clement-al Case”, is still on the Disabled List as well as Keith Foulke, David Wells, and slugger Wily Mo Pena. Gabe Kapler and Mike Timlin have both returned to the line-up. Ironically, the highest paid and more highly touted off season acquisitions in Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez have taken a much needed back seat to prospects turned major leaguers Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen as the go to set up men. This has taken some pressure off Timlin and will keep his appearances and arm in more reasonable shape. Javier Lopez was also acquired as a left handed specialist from the White Sox for David Riske, an off season pick up that worked our horribly. The starting pitching has been inconsistent yet just quite good enough to not cause panic. Schilling has been the best although Beckett has posted the better record so far. One disturbing statistic has been Beckett’s amount of homeruns which have been the most in the American League. As a big game pitcher though, I am pretty sure we are going to like Beckett come crunch time. Wake has been much improved from the beginning of the season and will hopefully be a consistent number three starter or better for the rest of the season. The best surprise has been Jon Lester who is 4-0 since coming up to the Bigs. Lester has showed that he is as good as everyone has made him out to be although he does have some room for improvement, mostly cutting down his walks. Our fifth starter has been a little bit of an issue though with patchwork replacements holding down the fort until either David Wells or Matt Clement return. Kansas City Royal reject Kyle Snyder has been the latest invalid to bear the title of “Red Sox Fifth Starter”. Its not a good sign when one of you starting pitchers was cut from the Kansas City Royals. Its even worse when said person is picked up by a team with a $120 million payroll. Keep an eye on this one folks because if Clement or Boomer don’t show signs of improvement we could see a little trade action in the next few weeks.

Overall the Sox have been solid recently. Dropping three of four from Oakland is a little discouraging though. Even more discouraging is that as good as the Red Sox have been, and as bad as the Yankees have supposedly been, we are only a half game up in the AL. And considering all signs point to a AL Central Wildcard team, the Sox better turn it up for the second half stretch or else October could be a baseball free month in the Hub. Just more incentive to stay tuned I guess. Well its good to be back.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

OK so we finished out our roadtrip through Minnesota and Atlanta at 3-3. Not bad but I wouldn’t say its good either. The offseason philosophy shift from hitting to pitching and defense has only worked half way. The defense has been impressive but the pitching has sucked. Lester pitched very well in his major league debut, giving us hope that the hype around some of our prospects is in fact legit(see Papelbon, Jonathan). However its way too early to tell with some of the younger guys like Lester, Delcarmen, and Hansen.

We all know that Theo Epstein has struggled to put together a decent bullpen. Just take a look at Eric Wilbur’s Blog. However our starting pitching has been disappointing as well. Only two of our regular starters have winning records. Schilling(9-2) and Beckett(8-3) have been very solid overall. However neither have dominated in such a fashion that we can be completely comfortable with them on the mound. Wakefield has yet to find his groove and Matt Clement has been worse than a deaf guy playing musical chairs.

And if you haven’t been paying attention, the Sox have adopted a fifth starter-by-committee approach to our end of the rotation woes. Double-A David Pauley got the first few calls with Jon Lester getting the most recent last Saturday. However the Sox brass don’t want to rush Lester, so Francona will start Kyle Snyder tonight versus the Washington Nationals. Snyder was picked up off of waivers from the Kansas City Royals. If you don’t know what that means exactly, it means that Snyder was good enough to play for the Royals and was cut. The Royals! He was cut from the Royals! This isn’s a misprint. He wasn’t good enough for the Royals and now he is pitching for the Red Sox(who have a $130 million payroll and can’t find more than two starters with winning records). This should be interesting.

I am sure Theo is as frustrated as anyone. Acquiring Snyder and dealing Riske to the White Sox for Javy Lopez this past weekend demonstrates his willingness to at least attempt to fix this problem. Although Lopez and Snyder might be the furthest thing from the solution. With all the pitching problems the Sox have right now, if you don’t think a deal is coming in the next six weeks, you’re crazy.

Everyone is certainly hopeful that the kids will turn out to be what everyone has cracked them up to be, and thus alleviate some of Theo’s blunders and our pitching woes. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t very excited about these prospective Sox pitchers. However, they are going to have to wait until they are ready. To prevent the harsh and merciless bigs from mutilating their fragile little prospect psyches. I just hope Theo doesn’t deal them in an attempt to fix our problems right away. These guys could just be the Sox studs of the future. But for now we have to deal with Kyle Snyder. Yippee.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

The Red Sox just announced that Jon Lester will start in the first game of Saturday’s double header against the Texas Rangers. The lefty hurler was just called up from Triple-A Pawtucket and will make his major league debut replacing David Pauley who will be available in the bullpen. Lester is 3-4 in 11 games and a 1.46 WHIP with the PawSox this season. He has given up 43 hits in 46.2 innings pitched.

He is also one of the key components in a group of highly touted Red Sox pitching prospects that also includes Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, and Dustin Pedroia. Even during an offseason that brought a lot of new faces to Boston, these minor leaguers were mostly considered untouchable by Theo and Co., a mark of how valuable and how good they are expected to be.

It would be great if Lester would demonstrate this Saturday. We certainly want him to be successful so that his fragile young psyche is preserved yet a perfect outing might lead to a premature start in the majors and a Cla Meredith-like result. On the other hand, if we ever needed a boost from a prospect(besides Papelbon), 2006 might be the year. I just hope the Sox brass proceed carefully with the young’ns, something I am sure they will do after learning their lessons. I would suspect we get a little taste of why Lester has been so exceedingly hyped on Saturday though. It might be worth watching, especially if Lester is the lefty stud of the future that everyone has been making him out to be. Go Sox.

Glavine already beat Schilling to the first to 9 wins this season, but Schill could become number two tonight against the Yankees in the Bronx. He would also be trying to prevent a sweep, something that would be more important for morale than actual record, although as I’ve said earlier, every game against The Rival is important.

Last night’s rainout prevented any chance of a series tie as our four game series in the Bronx was demoted to three. Although with the way Pauley pitched Tuesday night, you could almost reconsider calling that a loss. Not only did he pitch effectively, he pitched really well. With an effort like that, he certainly made his case for being the fifth starter, at least for now. The concern right now would be that Pauley has a let-down in his next start. With every endorphin in his body running on max speed, its not unlikely that Double-A David could come back to Earth and pitch like he did in his first start. That’s the funny thing about starting pitching. It can be a very long or very enjoyable five day rest between games. For the time being, I will continue to ride the high of Pauley’s one run gem, despite its notch in the L column.

One of the good things about yesterday’s rainout is that it gave everyone, especially our bullpen, a day of rest. With Timlin out until next Tuesday and Foulke day-to-day with back stiffness, the young guns and unstable veterans will need to be rested and at the top of their game every day.

Not only will Schilling go for season victory number 9 but he’ll go for career victory 201. If this were a Yankee pitcher and he won, he’d probably take a curtain call. Stupid Yankees. Let’s see if Schill can make 50,000 people from New York shut up tonight.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

So after taking 2 of 3 from the first place Tigers, we drop a bad one to the Yankees. Beckett was beyond bad. So bad in fact we are going to pretend it didn’t even happen. Beckett gave up eight runs in 1 1/3 innings to the Yankees to give them first place? No. Really? I could have sworn that happened. It didn’t. Okay.

There that settles it. Now Pauley will be thrown to the wolves in his second appearance as a Red Sox. If this is a baptism of fire its one where Pauley gets drenched in gasoline before hand and all they have to put out the fire are those ineffective turn of the century fire departments. The same ones that were responsible for every “Great” fire in every major city before 1940. But seriously, if Pauley even comes close to a good outing, we’ll consider it a success. He has less expectations on him than CBS’s fall show Rock Star.

The excessive amount of Sox-Yankees games in the beginning of the season does take a little of the edge off. The thing about this series is that it’s the last one before August. I am obviously hoping to win out these next three games. But with Pauley starting and the bullpen potentially shot after tonight, I am not holding out too much hope. The only good thing is that it’s only June. So a bad taste in our mouths from this series embarrassment might be motivation for a late August surge when we meet the hated Yanks next. At least it will be a good storyline for the media.

Ugh. Look at me. I am talking as if this series is over already with only one of four games played. I guess your blockbuster acquisition of the offseason and ace of the future geting shelled in 1 1/3 innings will do that to you. And that’s without witnessing what’s going to happen when “Double A” David takes the mound tonight. At least our expectations are low though. Its like a blind date. Only a blind date that gave up 6 earned runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3 in their last outing. Hmm. We can’t claim that we are busy “doing our hair” on this one. As painful as it might be we are just going to have to sit through it. Good luck Pauley, in your baptism by blowtorch. We’ll be rooting for you.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

Well the good news is that we won. David Pauley got a slice of humble pie in his major league debut as Toronto ate him up for 6 runs on 11 hits. Pauley only lasted 4 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays, causing Francona to have to dip into the recently promoted youth in the bullpen.

The strange thing about last nights 8-6 win is out of the five pitchers the Red Sox used, only one of them, Keith Foulke, has had more than one year of major league experience. Pauley was relieved in the fifth by Jermaine Van Buren, who pitched a full inning and recorded the win. He was followed by Manny Delcarmen and then Keith Foulke, who combined to pitch the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings respectively. With an 8-6 lead Jonathan Papelbon entered the came to record his 19th save in as many chances.

So only a few hours after I ripped into the Sox pitching for their recent troubles, the Sox bullpen throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Although Pauley didn’t exactly have Cy Young material, allowing 16 baserunners in just 4 1/3 innings. He was half way decent for his first four innings, holding Jays hitters to 2 runs on 6 hits. In the fifth though, he collapsed, getting knocked around for four runs while recording just one out.

For reasons unbeknownst to the public, Terry Francona decided not to give up on his fifth starter before the game even began. This time he issued his more potent lineup(with the exception of Mirabelli subbing for Varitek) and the hitters delivered. The Sox had eight of ten batters record hits and nine of ten reach base. Five of the eight Sox who had hits also had RBIs. Ortiz, Loretta, Ramirez, and Nixon all homered in the game as well.

The real story of the game was the defense though. The Red Sox ended four of Toronto’s innings by executing double plays, with few of them falling under the ‘routine’ category. The spectacular defense became the x-factor in a game that easily could have gotten out of control. Alex Gonzalez was the star of the defensive show, getting involved in three of the four double plays and making some impressive plays at short. In the lineup, Gonzalez sticks out worse than Charles Barkley at a MENSA convention, but on the field he’s been worth his weight in gold.

So “Double A” David Pauley escapes his first major league start with a no decision. He’ll be vying for the job as starter in five days when the Sox head to New York to face the Yankees. However, Pauley will have to pitch a lot better if he wants to contain the Bronx Bombers. And we certainly don’t want to dip into our bullpen as much as we did this past series. We were more dependent on our ‘pen than Dwight Gooden is on his dealer. So the pitching still needs to be cleaned up a bit. But at least we know its possible.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

If Beckett’s performance last night didn’t set of alarms to the Red Sox Nation that our pitching is hurting then nothing will. To say that our combined starters and bullpen are struggling is an understatement. Last night’s Canadian Home Run Derby by the Blue Jays at the expense of Josh Beckett brought us from orange to red on the Uh-Oh-o-meter.

This past week has been a pitching disaster and with each consecutive game it seems that our team ERA is swelling up larger than Jason Kidd’s son’s head. Clement’s line drive to the leg last week seemed to rekindle scarring memories of last years head-shot catastrophe and now it might take a hundred more sessions with Dr. Feinstein before the night terrors subside again.

Wakefield has been mediocre and has yet to really show that he is capable of repeating his 16 win season last year. Schilling has been solid atop the rotation but certainly not dominant in his last few appearances, equalizing his red hot start. Well’s career might well be over after an O’Henry-esque line-drive up the middle ironically drilled his recently healed surgically repaired knee, sending him to the Disabled List for his second time in as many months. Abe Alvarez hasn’t inspired confidence from anybody and Lenny DiNardo’s constant smile is the only thing keeping people from knowing that he cries himself to sleep.

Out most reliable set-up man and the guy we have had to rely on all too heavily, Mr. Mike Timlin has hit the 15 day Disabled List with a strained shoulder, something NESN play-by-play man Don Orsillo labeled a “fatigued arm” which seems more like something elderly men get after their first prescription of Viagra. Tavarez and Seanez are as inconsistent as a bipolar Danny Ainge and David Riske has made people wish he were back on the DL. Manny Delcarmen couldn’t seem to record an out if his sanity depended on it, and although he has been much improved in the last two outings, he is not nearly the prodigy we believed him to be in spring training. Foulke has been our only other set-up man even close to being called “consistent”, which leaves the rookie Papelbon as the only light in an otherwise dim bullpen. Seeing as our starters have imploded recently and our set-up men are non-existent, it will have to be our bats that allow us to see Papelbon in the ninth.

Red Sox Nation essentially woke up this morning at pitching rock bottom. Like some alcoholic holding a pounding head and hoping that the events of last night didn’t actually happen. Tomorrow is June 1st, 2006 and for Red Sox pitchers it doesn’t get any worse than this. At least we hope. Because if it there’s any more damage there will be quite a few people who aren’t as excited that school’s out for the summer.

The Red Sox will start Mike Pauley from AA Portland tonight to try to prevent a sweep from division rival Toronto. If her survives this task he’ll have the privilege to pitch against the Yankees in next weeks series. Don’t keep your fingers crossed folks. It’s the Red Sox folks. The chance of a legit fifth starter magically appearing out of Double A is about as likely as John Henry getting a tan.

Am I turning into a pessimist? Will I be tossing empty Budweiser cans at the Sox tonight screaming obscenities at Terry Francona and the Front Office like Old Uncle Hal? I hope not. However the recent pitching collapse has made me question the supposed shift from a hitting oriented team to a pitching and defensive team. Was the Red Sox brass really committed to a change of style in one off-season? Most of the moves said so. However why would they then deal Arroyo for Pena, a person who didn’t have a defensive bone in his body? Regardless of the future payoffs of that deal, its looking awfully regrettable right now. Hindsight is obviously 20/20 but had they stuck with the plan our decrepit pitching might not be in the crisis mode that it is in. And although Pena has struck the ball very well, his wrist injury will now keep him from doing so again for the next 6-8 weeks.

Is this panic time? Of course not. It’s June 1st tomorrow. And despite our pitching problems we have managed to stay a game over .500 with a 5-4 record over the last nine games and are tied for first in the AL East. But we have a tough few series ahead with games against Detroit, New York, and Texas, who are all in first place of their respective divisions. So this might be a good chance for these Sox to prove that their pitching isn’t in as much trouble as we think they are. We can only hope.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

So after two straight losses to the Yankees, I would certainly rather talk about something else. Even if that means lowering myself to the local gossip chain to discuss Theo Epstein’s recent engagement. Yes that’s right ladies. Sorry to inform you that The Red Sox General Manager and local cult hunk is off the market. Apparently Theo popped the question to long time girlfriend Marie Whitney Sunday night after dinner at Davio’s, an Italian restaurant in Park Square.

To be honest, I am actually not sorry to inform everyone of that. And it has nothing to do with me being genuinely and altruistically happy for him. It has to do with me being sick of women fawning all over Theo and claiming that he is “soooo hot.” It may sound ridiculous and petty, but this actually makes me angry.

Let get some things straight here. Theo Epstein is not hot. Tom Brady is hot. I am comfortable enough with my masculinity that I can say that without it being awkward. Plus I may or may not have a nonsexual man-crush on him. Although that probably has more to do with his jewelry than his looks.

Theo Epstein is no where near Tom Brady level. I would even go so far as to say he is borderline not attractive. In all truthfulness though, if Theo Epstein was your company’s IT guy, there wouldn’t slews of young women drooling over him. Its because he is the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox. And compared to a lot of other Front Office guys in baseball, Theo is younger and more athletic, and thus, perhaps, more handsome in the eyes of many. I am not exactly saying that Theo is Brian Cashman ugly(Lord knows I wouldn’t wish that on anybody), but in Boston Sport’s Most Beautiful People rankings, Theo probably wouldn’t crack my top ten. Not that I have or would make a top ten, because if you didn’t lose respect for me after that then I certainly would. But I think you get my point.

This whole thing just proves that women’s judgment is often skewed by money and power. Not that we didn’t all know this, but this seems to support the theory. [Desperate attempt not to alienate women readers coming in 3..2..1..] Not all women of course. Many are excellent judges of character and truly appreciate a person for who they are. For men, evaluation of attractiveness is different though, which may be why I struggle to understand the “Theo is attractive” pretense. If Lindsay Lohan was your local Dairy Queen cashier, guys would still be attracted to her. It has nothing to do with money or power. If anything, it has to do with availability and the perception of promiscuity. So for someone like Paris Hilton, her allure doesn’t have to do with her bankroll, as much as the fact that she emits the notion that she might just go home with you simply because you have a penis.

I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea here. I love Theo Epstein. I think he is a solid General Manager and I am mostly comfortable with him in charge of the Red Sox personnel(despite egregious mistakes such as Edgar Renteria, trading Arroyo instead of Clement, and shipping Hanley Ramirez and Andy Marte out). I just don’t think Theo is as gorgeous as many Red Sox lady fans believe. So lets just let Theo enjoy his engagement and stop talking about how this is a huge loss to the single and attractive guy pool.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

Yeah I know they are dilapidated by injuries. But they are still the Yankees. And any win over the Yankees is a good win. Schilling looked marvelous last night, pitching eight full innings in only 99 pitches while allowing only five hits, one run, and zero walks while fanning six in a 9-5 Sox win over the Bronx Bombers.

So I know what your thinking when you read that last statement. Schilling pitched eight full with one run allowed? What the hell happened in the ninth? Keith Foulke happened in the ninth my friend. Foulkie allowed 5 hits and 4 runs in the ninth turning a 9-1 blowout into a “don’t turn the channel yet” ballgame. Foulke allowed a single to begin the inning and then collected two quick outs, before giving up back to back home runs to Alex Rodriquez and Jorge Posada. He then allowed back to back doublesto Robinson Cano and Bernie Williams before finally recording the last out of the ballgame.

With a 9-1 lead in the ninth we can cut Foulke some slack. His main objective at that point in the game is to throw strikes. As long as he doesn’t walk anyone, some of those strikes will inevitably end up as outs. That’s the theory anyway. So perhaps we can attribute Foulke’s batting practice session yesterday to the fact that he simply just wanted to throw strikes. At least that’s what I am telling myself.

The problem with Foulke’s outing yesterday is a little more complex than four runs on five hits(four for extra bases). In a weird way it puts a lot more pressure on David Wells. Boomer, who finished his rehab stint this week, should be back pitching for the Red Sox Friday. As much as I love DiNardo’s guile, he has been largely ineffective. In his five starts, he is 1-2, although the Sox have won three of those five. But last time he pitched, we got blown out by the Phillies in a game in which Lenny didn’t make it past the fourth inning.

With Foulke still inconsistent, Papelbon is almost guaranteed to stay as the closer for the rest of the season. This leaves Timlin as once again our only really reliable set-up man. Starting pitching is obviously important, but it only goes as far as the bullpen can take it. If Boomer’s knees only allow him to throw a few solid innings, it could wear out our already thin bullpen. When we activate Wells, there is a chance DiNardo might head back down to Triple A for a while to get his head back on straight. It is important that he does that considering he might be one of the better long inning set-up men we have in the organization.

I’ve almost felt bad for DiNardo. I have always liked him and had a lot of respect for him as well. No matter what the situation is, Lenny has never turned down an opportunity to take the mound. Whether its long-distance set-up out of the bullpen, Pawtucket, or keeping the seat warm for Wells, Lenny has done whatever he could for the Sox organization. It didn’t help that Francona seemed to throw in the towel for DiNardo’s starts before a pitch was ever thrown out either. How many times in only five starts did we see Willie Harris, Dustan Mohr, or Alex Cora in the lineup with DiNardo pitching? With this last start, Francona sat David Ortiz. Tito stated before the interleague series that Youklis, Lowell, and Ortiz were all going to get one day off. He gave Ortiz the DiNardo start off, and sat Lowell the second game of the series despite Mike going 3 for 3 the night before. Is it just me or would it have made more sense to put our best hitters against our interim number five pitcher?

In any event, the DiNardo experiment is over. For now. If Wells implodes again this Friday we might have a bigger problem on our hands. I can gaurentee the result of Wells’ start on Friday night will have a direct impact on the amount of Dontrelle Willis/Roger Clemens rumors on Monday. Frankly I’d rather just see him pitch well.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com