ShareThisThere is a tried and true adage in baseball that says you can never have enough pitching. This is especially the case this season for contenders in the American League East.
The New York Yankees landed the biggest arm on the free agent market in the offseason, signing mammoth left-hander CC Sabbathia to an even more mammoth seven-year, $161 million contract, while also landing former Toronto Blue Jays righty A.J. Burnett.
The Tampa Bay Rays, which defeated the Boston Red Sox in seven games in last season's American League Championship Series, have a plethora of young guns, including Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, and postseason phenom David Price.
In an effort to keep up, Boston general manager Theo Epstein snagged Brad Penny and Takashi Saito from the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves great John Smoltz. Though the trio will add depth to Boston's staff, they will also add to the health concerns that have plagued Red Sox pitchers the last few seasons.
In 2007, Boston right-hander Josh Beckett was the only pitcher in baseball to win 20 games. Suffering from nagging elbow and oblique injuries last year, the 29-year old Beckett went 12-10 with a 4.03 ERA. In the postseason, he was 1-0 with an 8.79 ERA in three starts, spanning-14 1/3 innings.
Jon Lester was dominant for Boston in 2008, winning 16 games while tossing a no-hitter on May 20. However, in August 2006, the left-hander was diagnosed with lymphoma, a form of cancer, and underwent chemotherapy after the 2006 season. He returned to Boston's rotation in July 2007.
Also a staple of the Red Sox rotation is 42-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, 42, who has been bothered by a sore back in early spring training workouts.
All right-handers, Smoltz, Penny and Saito spent significant time on the disabled list last year. Smoltz, 41, had season-ending surgery on his right shoulder on June 10. According to Red Sox manager Terry Francona, Smoltz, who has 210 wins and 154 save in his career, won't begin pitching off a mound until late March. He isn't projected to join Boston's 25-man roster until June.
Saito, a former All-Star who was used in middle relief and as a closer in Los Angeles, missed nearly two months last season due to ligament problems in his right elbow. Penny, also an All-Star in 2007, went 6-9 in 2008 with a 6.27 ERA in only 17 starts, after winning 16 games in each of the two previous seasons while starting a combined 66 games.
"I think a word you can quickly apply to each is 'health,'" Boston pitching coach John Farrell said. "If all regain their health and remain healthy, particularly in the case of Smoltz, we've got a chance to have three proven and dominant major league pitchers added to a staff that returns a very good core group of guys.
"At this point we're well aware of the needs of each individual pitcher, and their programs are designed to take that into account. We'll monitor them closely, and even in the early part of spring training if Penny needs an extra day between bullpen outings, or Saito, we'll provide that to them knowing that strength gains are first and foremost with each guy."
With the question marks of age and injury, younger pitchers in the Red Sox camp see opportunity and prepared this offseason accordingly. For instance, righty Clay Buchholz, 25, who is 5-10 over the last two seasons with Boston in 18 starts, started throwing in January.
"(I began) throwing a little bit earlier this year," he said. "I've actually thrown live to hitters. I've never done that in the offseason. It might have been a little bit early but I wanted to feel like I was in midseason form when I got here."
(Contact Scott Clair of the Naples Daily News in Florida at claires(at)naplesdailynews.com.)
