Outside the Box

As the Red Sox try to make a final push to the playoffs there is one noteworthy flaw in the way. Clearly the Sox have tremendous front end pitching with Jon Lester and Josh Beckett (recent struggles notwithstanding) ready to go. Beyond those two Clay Buchholz looks to be establishing himself as the third starter.After that the Sox starting pitching is a bit hairy. With 25 games to go (starting with tonight’s affair against Baltimore) the Sox are still in a fight for a Wild Card berth and cannot afford to give away games. Using tonight as a starting point let’s look at the final five trips through the rotation;9/8 – 9/14: Buchholz, Byrd, OFFDAY, Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, OFFDAY9/15 – 9/19: Byrd, Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Unknown9/20 – 9/24: Byrd, Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Unknown9/25 – 9/29: Byrd, Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Unknown9/30 – 10/4: Byrd, Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, UnknownSome of those “Unknowns” are slated for Tim Wakefield and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Given Wake’s inju...