Midseason Red Sox Report Card: Pitchers

Pitching rotation: Thanks to two smart acquisitions in the off-season, injuries and inconsistent pitching from Daisuke Matsuzaka haven’t hurt the Red Sox heavily. Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox’ best statistical pitcher from the past few seasons, pitched well enough in the first half of the season to make his first All-Star appearance at age 42. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett shrugged off slow starts to return to their dominant forms, with Beckett joining Wakefield at the All-Star Game. Brad Penny is pitching well as the number 5 starter while John Smoltz is getting better since coming back from injury. GRADE: A-

Bullpen: With Coco Crisp expendable in an overcrowded outfield, Theo Epstien shipped him to the Kansas City Royals for Ramon Ramirez to bolster an already strong bullpen.  He also brought in Takashi Saito to serve as another 8thinning guy to compliment Hideki Okajima as the bridge to Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon on the other hand hasn’t been as dominant as he was in years past, yet he still has converted 23 of 25 saves. Pap has been much like Matsuzaka was last year, getting in, then out of jams. GRADE: A

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