Starting to impress brass

Pawtucket has some candidates

David Pauley, who boasts a 12-4 mark at Triple A, is available to the Red Sox in a pinch. (File/Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

The non-waiver trading deadline is in the rearview mirror. Justin Masterson, who impressed in his nine starts for the Red Sox, has long since been converted to a reliever, a decision made in part because of the organization's confidence that Clay Buchholz - off several strong outings in Triple A - was ready to be an effective big league starter in a pennant race.

Now, with 47 games remaining in the regular season, whom will the Sox turn to as a starter should one of their quintet falter or get injured? Without general manager Theo Epstein working some waiver wonders, the answer would likely reside in Pawtucket.

Former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon has probably proved to be a bargain already, going 4-2 with a 4.09 ERA in six starts. But there is little likelihood he would be ready any time soon to emerge from a second stint on the disabled list, this one from a strained back following a wild swing in an interleague game against the Phillies June 16. Under a tight pitch count, Colon began a 30-day rehab assignment Tuesday night, but lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up three runs on four hits and a walk in a loss to the Yankees' Triple A affiliate, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

According to director of player development Mike Hazen, the reports on Colon's stuff were fine. "We need to build him up," Hazen said. "He hasn't pitched in a while. It's going to take some time to build his arm strength back up, to build his delivery, and his conditioning."

Given that, who are the likely candidates? "I think there's three guys," said Hazen. "You're talking [David] Pauley, [Charlie] Zink, and [Devern] Hansack, who have put themselves in that position. I think Michael [ Bowden] is a touch behind that right now, but those three guys have really asserted themselves and pitched very consistently."

Pauley, a 25-year-old righthander, made a start for the Sox in April (as well as three in 2006), filling in when Josh Beckett showed up at Fenway Park with a stiff neck. Pauley got a no-decision in a 7-6 victory over the Angels, surrendering five runs over 4 1/3 innings. At Pawtucket, he has been rock steady, going 12-4 with a 3.36 ERA.

"This year, he's been outstanding," said PawSox pitching coach Rich Sauveur. "He doesn't get upset out there. I come out and talk to him, and he's calm and collected. He understands what damage control is."

Zink has also put together his best minor league season. Commanding his knuckleball, he has gone 13-4 with a 2.85 ERA. He leads the International League in victories and innings (145 1/3).

Zink, who is not on the 40-man roster, has never pitched in the majors. He and Pauley are roommates, and their possible futures are common topics of conversation. "It's something we talk about all the time," said Pauley. "We talk about it. We joke about it."

Hansack, who has logged time with the Sox in 2006 (including a five-inning, no-hit victory in a rain-shortened season finale that doesn't count as an official no-hitter) and 2007, is also deeply in the mix. A former lobster fisherman from Nicaragua, Hansack started slowly this year, but he has performed well of late. Before losing, 6-1, last night at Scranton, Hansack had made 10 consecutive quality starts.

Look at the future
Pauley will be on the hill tomorrow afternoon in the second game of the "Futures at Fenway" doubleheader. The third annual minor league doubleheader begins at 12:05 p.m. with the Lowell Spinners taking on Tampa Bay's short-season Single A affiliate, the Hudson Valley Renegades. Pawtucket plays Charlotte (the White Sox' Triple A squad) at approximately 3 p.m.

Tickets, starting at $5, are available by calling 877-REDSOX9, or by visiting www.redsox.com.

Olympian effort
During the parade of nations at tonight's Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing, a small - and possibly controversial - role will be played by Red Sox Nation.

Sox minor leaguers Chih-Hsien Chiang and Che-Hsuan Lin will be part of the delegation from Taiwan. Chiang, a second baseman for the Sox' Single A affiliate in Lancaster, Calif., is batting .303 with nine home runs. Lin, a 19-year-old outfielder, is batting just .249 for the Single A Greenville Drive, but he burst from anonymity last month by being named most valuable player of the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium.

In playing for Taiwan, Chiang and Lin will be representing a baseball-loving nation of 23 million whose most popular citizen is Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang.

Taiwan has known a great deal of baseball success on the international stage, from winning the Little League World Series for the first time in 1969 - and then 16 more times in the next 27 years - to capturing the Olympic silver medal in Barcelona in 1992.

Big success this time would likely not play too well with authorities from the host country. China has long sought to isolate Taiwan, considering the island part of its territory. So prickly is the relationship that as recently as late July, Taiwanese officials were publicly contemplating a boycott over what their teams would be called. Chinese officials wanted to use the term "China Taipei" (rather than the International Olympic Committee-approved "Chinese Taipei"), implying an ownership that the Taiwanese dispute.

The United States team in Beijing consists primarily of minor leaguers at Double and Triple A. Their participation can exert a subtle but significant impact on the major league pennant race. For instance, one of the pitchers on the US squad is Jeremy Cummings, arguably the most effective starter on Tampa Bay's Triple A team in Durham (7-3 with a 2.95 ERA). Should the Rays need to call up a spot starter over the next few weeks, Cummings would not be available - whereas none of the top Triple A starters for the Red Sox or Yankees would be out of commission.

"If you're in last place in August, it's not a big deal. You can withstand one call-up going away," said Hazen. "If you're like us - and the Rays and the Yanks and the Twins, the White Sox - it's different. Every game matters. It could come down to one game. If you're playing a doubleheader, or you have to make a spot start for whatever reason, that's important."

Hazen said teams can - and sometimes do - say no to the US Olympic Committee.

Another interesting Olympic baseball perspective comes from Springfield's Doug Clark, an outfielder who has major league experience with the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's. Clark is playing this year as one of two imports for the Hanwha Eagles in Korea's professional league.

So important is the Olympics in South Korea that the entire league has taken an almost month-long hiatus from games. "It's a major, major event," said Clark, who is batting .271 with 18 home runs and 62 RBIs. "It's important to people throughout Korea to make a strong showing, and to represent the kind of baseball they can play."

The US opens play against South Korea Wednesday.