Red Sox Set Pitching Rotation For 2011

After announcing yesterday that Jon Lester (right) would be the Red Sox' Opening Day starter, the Red Sox announced the rest of their rotation today. It goes like this: 1. Jon Lester, 2. John Lackey, 3. Clay Buchholz, 4. Josh Beckett, 5. Daisuke Matsuzaka. The biggest surprises to me are Josh Beckett being #4 after starting Opening Day the past two years, and John Lackey being #2 after a 14-11/4.40/156 season in 2010. There is no reason that Jon Lester (19-9/3.25/225) and Clay Buchholz (17-7/2.33/120) won't be sure things again in 2011. However, Josh Beckett (6-6/5.78/116) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-6/4.69/133) had injury-filled years in 2010 and Matsuzaka has been very inconsistent the past few years. There are questions, but with Daisuke Matsuzaka's 4.18 career ERA being the highest of the bunch, they may just be great. I'm glad that we fans know what is going on with the Sox in 2011 and it's becoming so exciting!