Rotational Forces: Aces Wild

It may seem completely cliche, but at different points of the still evolving season, three different pitchers have emerged as aces of the Red Sox staff.


At the outset, Josh Beckett was both the ace of the Red Sox and, based on postseason performance, all of Major League Baseball. After early injury, frustration and -- comparatively speaking -- inconsistency, Beckett was forced to take a back seat with an eye on the later part of the season.

Luckily for Boston, Beckett's backwards evolution coincided with the meteoric rise of Jon Lester. The second-year lefty not only tossed a no-hitter less than a year after returning to the big leagues while recovering from lymphoma, he built on it.

Just as Lester's gradual development was a stark contrast from the slow yet steady mental collapse of Clay Buchholz, it was equally significant in the broader context of the team's shifting reliance. Lester emerged as a dominantly consistent power pitcher while Beckett was ailing and Daisuke Matsuzaka fought with control from start to start, mixing a deft knack for escaping jams with the occasional brilliant pitch.

Lately, Matsuzaka-san's performances have been full of more brilliant pitches  and less inconsistency. That's not to say that he's made it. Rather, Dice-K appears to finally be harnessing his immense talent and perfectionalism with a sense of comfort with the major leagues. On Friday, he mixed two hits with 24 outs against a team that's currently penciled in for the playoffs. That's not a perfect start, but it's awfully good.

Considering the fact that Lester hasn't exactly fallen off a cliff -- one loss in Toronto aside -- that leaves Boston with two healthy aces and one on the rebound. Should Beckett return next Friday, and Boston fans have to hope that he can find it in him to get back on the mound if this run toward the playoffs really is going to happen, then the Red Sox suddenly could find themselves with three starters stronger than any other team's heading toward October.

That's an awfully strong place to be, and it comes from out of the necessity for a new ace to emerge earlier this year, proving once again that necessity truly is the greatest mother of invention.

Here's hoping young Michael Bowden finds it in himself to go where Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have gone before him. If he does, he very well could find himself in a bullpen with Justin Masterson and other former teammates during the most exciting time of the year, in the most exciting place to be there.

After all, Fenway Park in October is a long ways from Portland and Pawtucket in July, even if it is just in between the two minor league outposts on the road.

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