According to Tony Lee at NESN, Josh Beckett will start Friday night’s game against Tampa with Kyle Weiland being tapped to pitch Thursday night. Andrew Miller who was originally scheduled to start during the series is being skipped in the rotation all together. Why is Miller being skipped? Francona shed some light on the situation.
“I think we felt that with the righty against them [it would be better]. He had a real good bullpen. The other day down in Tampa, that was pretty tough circumstances for him. He got through his first inning. We just think he can rise to the occasion and give us a chance to win. I don’t doubt that [Miller] can do the same thing.”
Is it the right decision to start Weiland over Miller? It’s hard to say. As I explained earlier this morning, neither pitcher has been very good as a starter this season. Ultimately, I think Francona’s making his decision based solely off of their last start. In this case, Weiland’s was better. Regardless, Weiland/Miller isn’t really the story. Josh Beckett is returning to the rotation on Friday. Hopefully he’ll give the pitching staff the boost they need to close out the regular season.
In other news…
The Red Sox released their 2012 schedule this morning. They will open the season on the road in Detroit on April 5th; play their home opener against Tampa on April 13th; and close out the season at Yankee Stadium on October 3rd. Other highlights include Fenway’s 100 year anniversary game against the Yankees on April 20th, and home interleague series against the Marlins, Braves, and Nationals.