26-year old lefty starting pitcher John Lester is the new ace of the Red Sox starting rotation. I know that Clay Buchholz has better numbers this year but Lester is a lefty horse who has better stuff than Buchholz does. Lester has already beaten cancer too which is another thing his teammates can look up to him for. Lester has started 30 games so far this year and he is 18-8 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He has only given up 156 hits in 197 innings pitched so far this year with 212 whiffs. Lester has now pitched in 122 games (121 starts) in his five years with the Red Sox and he is 60-24 with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.

The Red Sox have signed 30-year old switch hitting 2B/SS/3B Felipe Lopez for the rest of this year. Lopez played in 109 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 87 of 376 (.231 avg, .651 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 7 homers, 36 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,133 games in his 10 years in the majors and he is 1,112 of 4,181 (.266 avg, .730 OPS) with 586 runs scored, 87 homers, 427 RBIs and 123 stolen bases. The reasons for the Red Sox signing Lopez were two fold. First, they want to screw up the Yankees the rest of this year and Lopez could help them do that. Secondly, if the Red Sox decide not to re-sign Lopez over the winter they will likely be entitled to a draft pick from the team that signs him.

The Red Sox have shut down 25-year old switch hitting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia for the rest of the year due to a ligament injury in his left thumb. Saltalamacchia played in 10 games for the Red Sox after coming over in a deal at the trade deadline with the Rangers and he was 3 for 19 (.158 avg, .676 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 3 doubles and 1 RBI. The Red Sox were hoping to get a good look at Salty the rest of this year but they will now have to wait until spring training.

26-year old switch hitting 2B/SS Jed Lowrie has really played well for the Red Sox this year. He has played in 43 games for the Red Sox this year and he is 35 of 132 (.265 avg, .838 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 6 homers and 17 RBIs. Lowrie has had a lost year and a half due to injuries and sicknesses so it’s good to see him playing well right now. He will likely be the utility infielder for the Red Sox in 2011.

It’s amazing to me that the Red Sox are 80-64 on this season despite all of the injuries the team has suffered this year. Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Victor Martinez, Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury have all missed significant time this year. Instead of just folding up the tent the Red Sox continued to fight on. I give a lot of credit to manager Terry Francona, but not all of it. That is because 31-year old starting 3B Adrian Beltre and 34-year old DH David Ortiz have carried the offense. Beltre has played in 140 games for the Red Sox this year and he is 174 of 535 (.325 avg, .929 OPS) with 77 runs scored, 27 homers and 96 RBIs. David Ortiz started this year slowly but he has been raking for the last couple of months. Ortiz has played in 129 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 120 of 461 (.260 avg, .887 OPS) with 77 runs scored, 29 homers and 88 RBIs. It will take a miracle for the Red Sox to make up the 7 games they are behind the Yankees with 18 games to go….but it’s not impossible.