Red Sox complete rotation, drop Beckett to No. 4

JustinVerlander35 · Mar 17, 2011

A day after announcing that Jon Lester would pitch Opening Day for the Red Sox, manager Terry Francona revealed who would fill in behind him, on Thursday morning at City of Palms Park.

John Lackey is the No. 2, followed by Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett (whose drop to No. 4 could be considered the lone surprise) and Daisuke Matsuzaka. If the schedule remains intact, Lackey would pitch the Red Sox's home opener on April 8 against the Yankees.

"We feel like Lack has a way of matching up with whoever he's pitching against, whether it's a No. 1 or No. 5," Francona said. "You look up in the seventh and you have a chance to win, which we really like. Buch did so good, I think we feel like having Buch come out third just enhances our chance to win a little bit. Buch's numbers would say that he could pitch anywhere.A day after announcing that Jon Lester would pitch Opening Day for the Red Sox, manager Terry Francona revealed who would fill in behind him, on Thursday morning at City of Palms Park.

John Lackey is the No. 2, followed by Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett (whose drop to No. 4 could be considered the lone surprise) and Daisuke Matsuzaka. If the schedule remains intact, Lackey would pitch the Red Sox's home opener on April 8 against the Yankees.

"We feel like Lack has a way of matching up with whoever he's pitching against, whether it's a No. 1 or No. 5," Francona said. "You look up in the seventh and you have a chance to win, which we really like. Buch did so good, I think we feel like having Buch come out third just enhances our chance to win a little bit. Buch's numbers would say that he could pitch anywhere.If the Red Sox wanted, they could skip Matsuzaka's first start of the season and have Lester go on regular rest because of an off-day on April 4, after their opening three-game series in Texas. Boston heads to Cleveland for a three-game series afterward. Francona didn't indicate Thursday he wanted to go in that direction, though.

As for Beckett, few would've batted an eye if he'd been named the No. 2. Francona said Beckett's in the fourth spot because he feels better about Beckett pitching against the Indians than the American League champion Rangers.

"Just watching the way last year unfolded, we want to get him off to a good start," Francona said. "We'll pitch him that game in Cleveland. I think that's a good place for him to start."

Beckett's struggled this spring: despite nine strikeouts, he's also let up seven runs and two homers in 9 2/3 innings. He suffered a mild concussion at the end of February when a stray ball hit him, but that, Francona said, didn't play into the decision to push him toward the back of the rotation.

Francona said he's had the rotation set in his mind for some time but wanted to inform all his pitchers first. The last to know was Matsuzaka, to whom Francona spoke Thursday morning.

"I just wanted guys to know before I tell you guys, I think that's just respectful," Francona said. "I don't want them to read in the paper where they're starting."
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Source- http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110317&content_id=16990148&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

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Red Sox complete rotation, drop Beckett to No. 4

JustinVerlander35 Bringin' the Heat

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Red Sox complete rotation, drop Beckett to No. 4

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