Snot For Pen

Okay, so the Sox are the reigning World Champions. Well, "uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." Is the pitching good enough? Let's review where we are.

Starting pitching. The rotation is Clement, Wells, Wakefield, Arroyo, Schilling, and/or Papelbon. Wade Miller, injury or otherwise, hasn't been dependable. That doesn't separate him much from the rest of the starters. All of the starters have had their moments, but as for winning the 'big game', it's hard to choose. Clement, at this juncture has the best raw stuff, Wells the savvy, Arroyo the funk, and Schilling is still a question mark healthwise. Papelbon has the electric stuff, but some minor mechanical issues, and his secondary pitches are unproven. Wakefield's knuckleball is frequently effective and he is the streakiest of the bunch.

In a short series, the Sox staff without a healthy and dominant Schilling doesn't match up particularly well with any of the major contenders.

The bullpen, despite endless tweaking by Theo (Prozac in the water cooler yet?), remains a major question mark. Long relief has been solid at times with Jeremi Gonzalez, but unspectacular. Mike Myers has been generally productive as the LOOGY (lefty for one guy), and Schilling as closer gave mixed reviews. Mike Timlin has struggled recently with a lot of mileage, and Remlinger has (apologies only) been forgettable. Chad Bradford hasn't made even Terry Francona hate Jay Payton and who knows when or if Keith Foulke returns.

In other words, lots of questions at the front and the back end of the staff, and it's difficult to beat the other teams into submission home and away, and the Sox road play has left a lot to be desired.

Is Craig Hansen another Cla Meredith? Let's hope not. At least up until tonight, he had been unscored upon professionally, and hoping that Lenny DiNardo is your answer seems misplaced.

If the Sox can win it all (again) with the pitching as constructed, then truly we can thank divine intervention - or general mediocrity.