Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Wake is Out, Lester is In

The Providence Journal reports that Tim Wakefield will be unavailable for the ALDS against the Angels with Jon Lester filling in. Boston will utilize a three man rotation of Beckett, Matsuzaka, Schilling for the division series, but any playoff advance would conjure question marks for game four.

Wake may be joked about as a niche-pitcher, but confining him to such a one-dimensional summary doesn't do the knuckleballer justice. His career numbers in the postseason are not dazzling, 4-5 record with a 6.12 ERA over 64.1 innings-pitched, but Wakefield is a leader in that clubhouse. And, at any point in a season, his knuckleball can dance for eight scoreless innings, leaving batters baffled in its wake.

Lester, on the other hand, has never appeared in a postseason game.

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