After much consternation and hand-wringing, Boston skipper Bobby Valentine has filled out the back end of the Sox's rotation: Felix Doubront will be the fourth man to start the season, and Daniel Bard will be the fifth starter, the Boston Herald reports.
This means that the other serious contender for rotation detail, Alfredo Aceves, is headed for the bullpen, about which he is not pleased. Aaron Cook, meanwhile, is likely bound for the minors.
Among Valentine's options, there was no optimal answer. Bard's fringy changeup and control problems may prevent a successful transition to starter, and Doubront, given his limited ceiling, will be fortunate to post an ERA of 4.50 as a regular member of the rotation. Throw in the ongoing injury concerns for Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz, and rotation depth figures to be a terminal worry for the Sox. Worse, the rival Yankees and Rays can't relate in the slightest.
The team hopes that Daisuke Matsuzaka will be ready to return by June 1 (likely a full month after Andy Pettitte returns to the Yankees), but that means a minimum of one-third of the season with a back end that figures to hemorrhage runs and tax the bullpen. And control is the usually the last thing to return to a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery, as Matsuzaka is. Dice K, you'll recall, had command-and-control issues even when perfectly healthy. So how effective can he be in 2012?
The reality for Boston is that they may not have any long-term internal solutions. For now, though, they'll hope to catch lightning in a bottle with Doubront and Bard.
