Back in the Thick of Things

Last night, forty-four year old Tim Wakefield threw almost six innings of one run baseball, allowing the Sox to win two of three from the Cubs, in the teams' first inter-league play of 2011. Not only that, but Wake stepped in to fill a hole in the rotation, caused by Lackey and Dice-K ending up on the disabled list at the same time. Lackey I didn’t much care, because really, he hasn’t shown anyone much of anything all year. That is aside from his enormous paychecks. How did that happen? But Dice had pitched a couple great outings earlier in the season -- two consecutive starts where he gave up no runs, and managed to go deep into those games, giving the bullpen some rest. But now that he has this elbow problem, who knows when he’ll return, and how effective he’ll be when he does return? But if Tito can get six or seven decent innings from Wake; and if he can also rest the pen, so that Pap and Bard aren’t taxed every night; and also, if Wake can keep the Sox in games, just keep things close enough to let the resurgent bats break through and plate some runs, what a boost that will be for the team. Especially if Beckett, Lester and Buckholz can continue pitching well. I know everyone wants a five man rotation these days, but I’ll be happy with four, especially if three of the four are Beckett, Lester and Buckholz.

Now on to hitting, where, on most nights recently, it’s been the Adrian Gonzalez show. Here’s a guy who has made Theo look smart once more. (Dumb to spend all that money on Lackey, but looking pretty wise for having shelled out to get Gonzalez.) He’s leading the majors in RBIs, and right now his average is among the league’s leaders. Add to that the fact that Papi is hitting close to .300, while hammering some balls deep to right; that Youk has knocked in over thirty runs; and that even Carl Crawford has raised his average to the low end of the respectable range. And that adds up to a lineup that has begun producing in the manner that everyone predicted, before the terrible start in April. And so if the bats remain lively, and if just three of the five starters can give the Sox solid outings when they take the mound, then maybe the RedSox will stay in the midst of the pennant race, where they currently find themselves, notwithstanding their worst start in modern history.

We’re not all the way through May just yet, and it will be telling to see how the Sox do on their current road trip, particularly as they start things off in Cleveland, where the Indians have the best record in all of the American League. But I like the current standings much better than I did in early April, when they Sox had the worst record in all of the Major Leagues. At least now there is room for optimism. At least now we can dream once more about them playing in October, and maybe even November. Wouldn’t that be nice? Go Sox.