But exactly what is the definition of the “ace of a pitching staff,” anyways?
Josh Beckett took the bump on Opening Day 2009, but Jon Lester was handed the rock in Game 1 of the 2009 postseason. Each hurler started 32 games apiece, but while Lester had a better ERA (3.41 to Beckett’s 3.86), the tall (6-foot-4) righty had two more wins (17) than the almost-as-tall (6-foot-2) lefty who finished with 15.
So Boston had two phenomenal, dependable starters spearheading the rotation in 2009, but no one seems to know which one is the staff’s best.
Who cares? Not Lester, according to the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman.
Silverman told the 26-year-old pitcher that he may have officially taken over the ace title from Beckett, even with another ace, former Angels pitcher John Lackey, joining the mix.
“If people want to say that, that’s great, but we’ve got five aces, six aces on this team,” Lester told the Herald. “Everyone here is capable of going out there and helping this team win.”
There’s a special aura heading into this year for Lester, the young southpaw whom the Nation was introduced to in 2006 and fell in love with in 2007.
“I’m ready to go. For some reason this offseason was a little different,” he told the paper. “I don’t know if it’s because it ended early or what. I guess those couple extra weeks help you get that itch a little sooner, get excited about coming down here. I’m pretty excited about this team this year and getting it going.”
He isn’t just some feel-good story anymore. Lester has become a dominant, Cy Young-caliber pitcher with a warrior attitude and a lovable personalty who also happened to overcome non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He’s posted a 42-16 career record in 91 starts and has 31 wins and a combined 3.31 ERA in the last two seasons.
The numbers are there, and the fans are behind him, but will Lester prevail in his third season as a full-time starter? Beckett certainly didn’t. In his third year in the Hub, the righty had nearly 100 victories already under his belt but spun a disappointing 12-10 record and 4.03 ERA.
Lester is ready.
Because of Boston’s three-aced staff, any applied pressure heading into big series will be distributed evenly. The Red Sox are going from a 1-2 punch to a lethal knockout combo with Lackey in the fold.
No longer will there be a weekend trip to the Bronx where manager Terry Francona has to worry about matching CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett or Andy Pettitte/Javier Vazquez up with a less-experienced or unreliable starter, asking him to give just four or five innings, before relying on long relief. For instance, late last September, the Red Sox took on the eventual champs at Yankee Stadium with the chance to cut the AL East lead from 5 1/2 games to 2 1/2 games with a sweep. Problem: Francona was forced to send Daisuke Matsuzaka (who was making his third start since returning with an injury) and Paul Byrd to the rubber in Games 2 and 3. The Yankees swept that series and clinched the division with a 4-2 win in Game 3.
This season, such a problem may be averted.
“I think [Lackey] is going to be another Josh, another bulldog out there, another guy giving you quality starts,” Lester added in the Herald. “He’s going to go out and compete every five days, and that’s what we need. We need somebody to go out there and compete.”
So when Boston heads to such AL powers in New York, Minnesota, Anaheim, and even recently rotation-charged Seattle, the team has the hand to dish out a devastating blow to match any team’s best three arms. But should Tito and company have the option to tweak the rotation for an important late-summer series, how will that hand be called?
Lester-Beckett-Lackey?
Lester-Lackey-Beckett?
Beckett-Lester-Lackey?
Beckett-Lackey-Lester?
Lackey-Lester-Beckett?
Lackey-Beckett-Lester?
Any way you add that up, it’s exactly 250 combined wins.
Three aces. Your call.
