Jon Lester | Danny Vinik

The Boston Red Sox are in a very interesting situation right now. They have six (well, actually eight) starting pitchers all who should be pitching in the majors. Yet, no staff in baseball uses a six-man rotation; everyone uses five. There is the solution.

Look at the pitchers they have right now:

Josh Beckett – He is 7-3 with a 4.15 ERA and has 81 strikeouts in 82.1 innings. That doesn’t sound great, but then remember that since the beginning of May, he is 5-1 with a 2.52 ERA. Beckett started slowly, but has gone at least six innings in every outing in the last two months and is back to his dominant form.

Jon Lester – Lester is 5-5 with a 4.76 ERA. Like Beckett though, he is finding his form as he given up just 3 runs in his last 22 innings pitched and has a mind-boggling 34 strikeouts during that span.

Tim Wakefield – Maybe the Red Sox most consistent pitcher so far this season, Wakefield is second in the league in with 9 wins and possesses a 4.39 ERA. He’s tied with Beckett for the team-lead with 9 quality starts (tied for 9th in the American League) Continue reading “The 6 Man Rotation: A Good Idea” →

With Bonds getting most focus from baseball fans these days, two stories from the past few days deserve more attention. First, Jon Lester’s return to the mound after beating cancer and second, Craig Biggio’s retirement announcement. Lester’s story is inspirational and should motivate other people, child or adult, to fight against cancer as hard as they can. As Biggio ends his career, he can only be seen as the ultimate professional, the perfect teammate, and a community leader. If only these stories could overshadow Bonds and the circus of media that follows.

Lester was diagnosed with a form of cancer known as anaplastic large cell lymphoma on August 23rd of last year. Since then, he has successfully conquered the long road back to the major leagues, from chemotherapy to half a year at Triple A. Last night’s start, his first start in the majors since the diagnosis, was a moment he will never forget and his family will never forget. That first pitch was a moment that should have gained more publicity from ESPN. They have live cut-ins to every Bonds at bat, but can’t show one pitch from Lester. Even though it wasn’t covered by ESPN, Lester still made his start and shined in it. The Sox batters even provided support for Lester before he took the mound, putting a four spot up in the top of the first. Lester completed the hardest comeback possible, defeating cancer, and now he is finally back in the major leagues, striking out batters and racking up wins.
Continue reading “MLB’s Shining Stars” →