Today being 27/04/2009

Where to begin? Well perhaps with the annoyance of spending a morning writing about the value of having Nick Green and Chris Carter on the roster, only to see the former commit three errors that very same day and the latter get demoted to Pawtucket in favour of the more defensively sound Jonathan Van Every. Admittedly, Green is also hitting .302 on the season and launched a Manny-esque home run against the Twins during the same doubleheader as his miscues at shortstop, whilst Carter should be back when Rocco Baldelli (15-day DL) and JD Drew (day to day) return to full health.

Since last we spoke, the Sox have continued their winning ways, stretching their current run to ten games (!) including this weekends awesome sweep of the Yankees, who looked a soft touch in the face of the rejuvenated Red Sox line-up. Whilst David Ortiz still hasn’t hit any home runs, it hasn’t really mattered since Jacoby Ellsbury is stealing home these days, even with a lefthander at the plate, which is pretty incredible, even by Ellsbury’s swift standards.

To put it bluntly, the Sox battered the Yankees new era mystique over the course of the weekend, exposing their awful bullpen and lighting up their so-called stopper, tagging AJ Burnett for eight runs Saturday night. Admittedly, Josh Beckett faired no better but when the game comes down to the bullpen, the Sox are going to win, even with Justin Masterson, who threw 5.1 innings of excellent ball last night, in the rotation.

Masterson is looking in top form but is only a temporary measure since Diasuke Matsuzaka, still on the disabled list, is on his way back having spent the week throwing from flat ground in a bid to build up his strength ready for a return to action. The Japanese hurler, a likely victim of the Japanese managements disregard for his wellbeing at the WBC, will move to the mound this week in order to continue his progression. The Sox are built in such a way that caution can be exercised and we should be seeing Masterson in the rotation for at least a few weeks yet, which is no bad thing given his impressive run of results.

That patience is also being extended to the rehabbing ace in the hole John Smoltz, who is still working out in Fort Myers and faced hitters for the first time this past Saturday, a big step certainly but still near the beginning of the road back to the Major Leagues, as Tito has been quick to point out, "He wants to be in midseason form right now," Francona said. "When he's not, I think he starts champing at the bit and then we have to remind him that -- like when he thinks he's running in place -- he's not. His volume has expanded. He's doing a lot more now then he was before.

Since Masterson is looking good and Brad Penny has been a solid option as fifth starter, there really is no rush and the Sox are doing everything they can to ensure that when the time comes for Dice-K and Smoltz to return to the bigs, there are in prime condition to dominate like we all know they can. The sudden, and likely brief, appearance of Michael Bowden for two perfect innings last night just shows how much talent the Sox have and it would be criminal if they could not manage that.

That talent extends back down to the minors where my eyes continue to follow Junuchi Tazawa, curretly holding fort in Portland, where he had his first poor start since arriving in America this past Saturday, allowing six runs in 5.1 innings. That aside, he’s pitched solidly enough in his first taste of professional baseball, allowing ten earned runs in 21.1 innings with 19 strikeouts. Not exactly dominant but then that wasn’t expected to be the case; Tazawa will likely spend the year at Double A and definitely shouldn’t be seen in the Majors barring several injuries or multiple losses of form since there are simply too many good pitches ahead of him on the depth chart, which should prove helpful in the long run since the Sox are not forced to even slightly rush the talented Japanese righthander.

Also in the Majors waiting for the call is Daniel Bard, he of the 15.19 K/9 in Pawtucket; the day Bard gets promoted is the day I look at our bullpen and think the apocolypse is nigh, or some such other over the top statement since combined with Delcarman, Ramirez, Saito, Papelbon…you get the idea. Justin Masterson should be back in the bullpen by then as well, as well as possibly John Smoltz…you really do get the idea!

Well I think that covers just about everything, the Sox face the reigning AL Cy Young winner tonight; Cliff Lee hasn’t performed quite to 2008 standards this year, not that he was ever going to and with the Indians again showing indifferent form, I fancy the Sox to continue their impressive streak.