Lackluster Pitcher

About eight months ago I found myself very excited Theo Epstein managed to snag another team's ace to make our number three starter.  Thinking to myself the team would be competitive every night with a 1-4 of Beckett, Lester, Lackey, and Buccholz, the season couldn't start soon enough.  Beckett unfortunately, seems to have forgotten you need to pitch well in more than just one season (2007) in your career, Lester is in a slump but has pitched well for most of the season, Buccholz surprisingly has been the ace (even pitching well in Yankee Stadium, something a Sox pitcher hasn't done in at least two seasons it seems) and Lackey has lived up to the first four letters in his name.

Honestly, it's not the fact the Epstein gave him an 80 million dollar contract to only have him pitch like a September call up each night that annoys me.  It's this whole "he's a competitor" thing.  Let's be real, there are a bunch of players in the Sox minor league system who probably care just as much if not more about winning than The Big Lack and we don't see any of them getting huge contracts (in fact I'm pretty sure me and my father care more).  Eventually, we will need to see less complaining about calls, less punching of water coolers after yet another five run inning, and more getting people out.  The Red Sox aren't paying you to care John Lackey, they're paying you to get the friggen batter out, and possibly not give up four straight 2 out hits and take all the momentum out the Red Sox sails on one particular Saturday afternoon (not to be specific or anything). 

Unfortunately, The Big Lack has not been the only poor part of the Sox this year.  A team that needed everything to fall into place, which it was until Pedroia, or as some call him Andrew Silva's Hero, broke his foot (I blame A-Rod personally).  Now we have a team sitting in limbo.  Not so far out of the race we can't just look forward to the winter meetings and dream of Adrian Gonzalez or Prince Fielder, but not in it enough we are dying for the first pitch every night. Hopefully Lester throws down a gem tonight to make this post look pointless.  Hopefully.