Red Sox, Masterson Beat Rays, 8-2, In Fort Myers |

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Red Sox, Masterson Beat Rays, 8-2, In Fort Myers

By Administrator | March 8, 2009

At some point, you have to start wondering whether Justin Masterson is going to force the Red Sox to stick him in the starting rotation.

Let’s be honest, the talk of Masterson preparing for both the rotation and the bullpen often seems like a ruse… the Red Sox have seven starting pitchers: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Brad Penny, Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden. Do they really need an eighth?

But the Red Sox have told him to prepare like he’ll be one of the five starters in the rotation, so that’s precisely what he’s done. Whether he’s in the rotation or the bullpen, he will be an invaluable member of the pitching staff…

Masterson made his third appearance of the spring today (his second start)… he is 1-0 and has yet to allow an earned run. This afternoon, he pitched three scoreless innings, allowing a hit and striking out three while walking no one in the Red Sox 8-2 win over Tampa Bay. After the game he said: “I felt like I was pounding the strike zone, which in spring training that’s what you want to do, is make sure you’re pounding the zone. I was happy, not satisfied. We’ve still got some things we can continue to get better at”.

Julio Lugo went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs for the Red Sox, improving his spring average to .533 (8-for-15). Zach Daeges, Nick Green and Jonathan Van Every each had a home run in the contest.

Jonathan Papelbon allowed two hits but struck out the side in a scoreless fourth.

Daniel Bard continued to be the talk of Red Sox camp with another impressive outing, retiring the side in order, all on strikeouts, in the fifth inning.

Junichi Tazawa gave up a run in two innings of work, and Michael Bowden gave up the other Rays run in his inning of work. Hunter Jones pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

The Sox battered Rays pitching prospect Wade Davis for six runs on eight hits in 2 2-3 innings.

Red Sox prospect Daniel Bard

Topics: Sox Games, Sox Players |

One Response to “Red Sox, Masterson Beat Rays, 8-2, In Fort Myers”

Jeff Cohen Says:
March 9th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Jeff, brother, back to regular season form already and its only early-March. I hope the off-season treated well. It’s great to have baseball back in our lives and I can’t wait for April 6th!! Are you going to be at the Home opener again? Let me know. Anyway, now that we have that out of the way we can get right down to this pitching ‘issue’ and Masterson.
Start of this off-season had Masterson as a projected starter. All the experts, radio and tv personalities, and even the websites were basically securing his spot in the rotation like the Illinois governor was securing his spot in jail. This had me seriously questioning the integrity of every single comment, and like you say, the Sox are even still to this day playing this balancing act where Masterson could start or end up in the bullpen. Bottomline, I don’t like it for this season. Don’t get me wrong, one day maybe, but not now. Even after the acquistions of Smoltz and Penny, Masterson’s fate was still up in the air. With a solid first four, Beckett, Lester, Dice-K, and Penny, that fifth spot was better left for the likes of Wake or Bucholz, for now. Let me continue with a brief interpertation of recent AL EAST history….
Remember when Pap came up as a starter because of injuries? He was solid and looked like a promising starter. Then, two years ago they wanted him to go back to the rotation and have hansen or delcarmen close. Ha, that’s funny talking about that now. Do you think Pap is a bigger asset as a closer now then he would have ever been in the rotation pitching once a week? i think you know the answer. Look at the Yankees, they got desperate and rushed Joba in to a starting role. It was over after the seventh inning with the lead, the Yanks had the best end of the bullpen punch in baseball. Now Joba is trying to be molded into a starter and the Yanks bullpen is suffering. If its not broke, don’t fix it. Masterson can be like Joba, an eighth inning master like before, the #1 Set-up man in baseball. Add Saito into the mix and the Sox could have the best bullpen in baseball. Im on record now of saying that. Good to be back.