Tim Wakefield Looks Sharp in Spring Debut
Tim Wakefield tossed 3 shutout innings in his spring debut in Tuesday’s 9-0 win over the Florida Marlins. Wakefield stymied a hard-hitting Marlins ball club that had been raking the ball so far this spring. Wakefield needed just 30 pitches (22 strikes) to record his 9 outs. He gave up 2 hits and struck out one and was pleased with his outing.
It will be interesting to see how Wakefield pitches this spring. If he performs at a high level and if Clay Buchholz struggles or if Daisuke Matsuzaka struggles or isn’t fully recovered from his back soreness, it could make things difficult on GM Theo Epstein and Manager Terry Francona. The Red Sox are set with their top 3 starters – Josh Beckett, Jon Lester & John Lackey – but the real competition is for the final 2 spots behind the top 3. The Red Sox could decide to take it slow with Dice-K and let him fine tune some thing in Florida after camp breaks. Or if Wakefield and Dice-K appear ready to go, then the Red Sox could send Buchholz down to the minors to let him continue working as a starter for Triple-A Pawtucket. There always seems to be injuries here and there, so it’s never a bad thing to have “too much” starting pitching. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything concrete on the starting pitching competition…
