Jon Lester just became the most important man in the Red Sox rotation. Not by design, of course, but out of necessity.
Five and a half games is a strong lead. Not impenetrable, mind you, but strong enough where the Red Sox need to consider what life may be like in the Wild Card. Could we play Chicago? Texas? Detroit even?
What about the Yankees?
No team in the MLB has the home field advantage the Yankees do. While the wind tunnels do not exclusively carry Yankee fly balls over the right field fence, no team is more suited to take advantage of the currents than the Pinstripes.
The Yankees have seven, yup, count ’em, SEVEN batters capable of batting left handed: Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui, and Jorge Posada.
The Red Sox have one, yup, count ’em, ONE left handed starter: Jon Lester. Luckily for the Sox, he is among the best left handers in the league.
See where this is going?
The way the Sox playoff rotation projects today, Beckett gets Games 1 and 5, while Lester gets 2 and 6.
If they lose the division, the Sox play Games 1,2,6, and 7 in New York. Lester would then start twice in New York, where he is the only starter that stands a chance against so many lefty bats in such a lefty friendly ballpark.
On the other hand, if the Sox take the division, Lester gets 2 and 6 in Boston, leaving the Sox to start 3 righties in the Bronx: not a recipe for success. Who knows, maybe they’re better off LOSING the division.
While I would love the Red Sox to win the division as much as I’d love to see the Yankees lose it, it may be time to start getting practical.
With Lester in New York, the Sox have a great chance to take the series. Without him, they have a great chance at dropping three in New York. Maybe this is the silver lining in last weekend’s hurricane.
