Felger & Mazz On: The Red Sox Pitching Decisions

After last night's horrific start by Tim Wakefield, Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti wondered why the Red Sox would not go with Lester or Lackey last night to get them off to a good start following the All-Star break?

Felger: "He's [Tim Wakefield] in the rotation. But isn't that first day back [after the All-Star break] something of a "start of the 2nd half", "opening day", that sort of thing? You know, playtime's over? It's really Lackey. You pay him all this money, he's a co-ace. It's the start of the 2nd half, he didn't pitch in the All-Star game, he had a disappointing first half. And he's going this series so this is far from the end of the world. It's a true nit pick. But it really should have been him."

Massarotti: "They do this every year. They do this every single year. But usually around the break, all the guys who are their "horses" that they're going to rely on heavily down the stretch, they extend the break for them to give them as much rest as possible. But isn't this year different? They were ahead in some of those years and were more in control of their own fate. It's legitimate to point at this team as being different, certainly at this point in time. They're banged up, why not throw their best guy right out of the gate, or one of their best guys, and try to establish a tone early on when you need them? It's a legitimate second guess I think. The only thing I'll say is that in the past, it's worked for them. They don't look at it and say 'We need to make the playoffs in July'. They look at it as 'How are these guys going to be their freshest so we can win games in October?'"