Changing of The Guard in Fenway

Just two short years ago, the Boston Red Sox won a World Series with a starting rotation featuring just one starter under the age of thirty. The talk throughout the league was that the Sox pitching staff was reaching the end of its line and the future was extremely cloudy. There was Pedro Martinez and his shoulder, Derek Lowe and his psyche problems, Curt Schilling and his ankle and a host of other problems.

How quickly the times have changed. The Boston pitching staff has gone from one of the oldest in the league to quite possibly the best rotation for the near future. After letting Pedro and Lowe leave as free agents, trading pitcher/musician Bronson Arroyo and losing the always out of shape David Wells to numerous injuries, the Sox are now undergoing a youth revival. Former Marlin ace Josh Beckett, now 26, was acquired this past off-season, David Pauley was brought up from Double-A to replace Wells to throw a gem in Yankee Stadium in his second major league start, and the phenom otherwise known as Jonathan Papelbon was made the closer and his 0.30 ERA and 20 saves show how he is shutting down American league batters. If that were not enough, today, June 10th, we are going to watch highly regarded lefty Jon Lester make his much anticipated Fenway Park debut versus the Texas Rangers. Lester has been the prize target of teams trying to acquire young pitching talent; a lefty who throws in the mid-90’s is such a rarity in baseball. I, for one, am looking forward to watching these kids challenge American League hitters for years to come.