The Red Sox have laid out their rotation for the upcoming series against the New York Yankees. We think.
Some plans could be altered if weather throws a wrench in the doubleheader Saturday against Oakland. If not, the Sox will throw John Lackey on Tuesday, Josh Beckett on Wednesday and Jon Lester on Thursday against the Yankees.
Lackey and Beckett will both have six days off before their start. Lester will be on his normal four day's rest. Both Andrew Miller and Tim Wakefield are in line before Lester, but manager Terry Francona has installed his best options against the high-powered Yanks.
Beyond that, there are myriad options for Francona. He could use Erik Bedard, who is lined up after Lester, in the opener against Texas on Friday, Lackey in the series finale Sunday and either Miller or Wakefield on Saturday. Or he might use both Miller and Wakefield in that series and push Lackey to Monday in Toronto. Another scenario could see either Miller or Wakefield in the series opener, Bedard on Saturday and Lackey on Sunday.
The drama surrounding that decision will grow as Miller, coming off two solid starts, may push Wakefield from the rotation as the knuckleballer remains stuck on 199 wins.
Francona is not ready to make any decisions on that end until the club gets through the doubleheader Saturday.
"Obviously we'll have some things to think about going forward, depending on how much baseball we play [Saturday] and when we play," Francona said. "We don't know what we're doing yet, so we'll get to it."
Having two days off after Saturday is not a common occurrence. Perhaps some plans will be ironed out during that down time.
"Just have to figure it out," Francona added. "With two days off, that's kind of a rarity, so we've got to figure out what's in our best interest. No reason to do that before we play today because we don't know how much baseball we're going to play."
The Yankees are mired in a messy series in Baltimore. Hurricane Irene's approach has wiped out their doubleheader Saturday so the two teams will play a pair of games Sunday and then another Monday. CC Sabathia is scheduled to start against the Orioles on Monday. Beyond that, New York's rotation has not been announced.
Follow Saturday's doubleheader in NESN's Red Sox Live Blog.
