Lester may have big plans for weekend
DETROIT -- There was no official announcement from the Red Sox, but all signs point to 22-year-old Jon Lester making his major league debut Saturday in Fenway Park, when the Red Sox play a day-night doubleheader against the Texas Rangers.
Lester was to have pitched this past Saturday for Triple A Pawtucket, but the PawSox shuffled their rotation and are holding back Lester until tonight, when he is scheduled to pitch in Indianapolis. That would put him on track to pitch Saturday along with Josh Beckett, who is scheduled to face Mike Mussina tonight in the Bronx in the first of four games against the Yankees.
Lester, a 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pound lefthander drafted in the second round in 2002, has been brought along carefully by the Red Sox, who limited him to a pitch count of 55-65 in the season's first month before allowing him to stretch out in May. In his last start May 28 against Norfolk, Lester allowed a run -- a home run by Chris Basak -- in 5 1/3 innings, walking three and whiffing three.
Overall, Lester comes into his start tonight with a 3-4 record and 2.95 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 20 walks in 42 2/3 innings.
Further muddling Sox pitching plans for the weekend is the status of lefthander David Wells, eligible to come off the disabled list next Sunday. That may be overly optimistic, manager Terry Francona said, noting that Wells has yet to throw since he took a line drive off his surgically repaired right knee and sustained a deep bruise. Rookie David Pauley, scheduled to make his second big-league start tomorrow night against the Yankees, probably will have to fare better against the Bombers than he did last week against Toronto (4 1/3 IP, 11 H, 6 ER) to warrant a third go-around. Abe Alvarez? He was called up earlier this spring but pitched in just one game, and given the way the Rangers handle lefties -- they are 9-4 against lefty starters and are batting .309 against lefties versus .270 against righties -- Alvarez wouldn't seem to be an ideal option, just as it didn't make much sense to the Sox brass to throw Lester this week against the Yankees (14-3 vs. lefties).
Rangers righthander John Wasdin will likely start the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, manager Buck Showalter said.
Mike Timlin (strained shoulder) is eligible (and expected) to come off the DL Saturday.
Youkilis said X-rays were negative. ``It got me mostly in the meat of the forearm and just cramped up," he said.
Francona expressed concern about whether Youkilis would be able to play tonight.
``You never know what's going to happen overnight," Youkilis said, ``but the way I feel now, I feel like I can play."
By winning and the Yankees losing in Baltimore yesterday, the Sox return to the Bronx a half-game ahead of the Bombers in the AL East. The Sox have won four of the first seven games between the teams, the Yankees winning the last two at Fenway Park.
Youkilis, for one, claims he is not surprised that the Yankees have continued winning (9 of 12) despite a wave of injuries or illness that have left stars Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield on the disabled list and have sidelined Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jason Giambi, and Alex Rodriguez in recent days.
``They've got good players," Youkilis said. ``You can't always rely on [stars]. Look at us; we've got young players and we're playing well. Young players are not supposed to be looked at as good players, but Andy Phillips is a Triple A All-Star, a great player. Melky Cabrera is a great player, [Robinson] Cano.
``Just because a guy is paid a lot doesn't mean they're going to produce. Why can't young guys produce? They've got some good young talent. They can play. I find it funny that teams look down on these guys. Obviously, they're not Alex or Jeter, but these guys are good players or they wouldn't be in the major leagues."
