The Red Sox are currently 2.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the A.L. Wild Card. They are playing a day/night double header with the Yankees tomorrow and the scheduled starters for the Red Sox are 32-year old righty John Lackey and 45-year old righty Tim Wakefield. Both of these guys have pitched terrible this year, but all will be forgiven if they pitch well and the Red Sox win tomorrow. Lackey has started 27 games for the Red Sox this year and he is 12-12 despite having a pathetic 6.49 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield has pitched in 32 games (22 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 7-7 with a 5.08 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The Red Sox need both of these guys to come up big against the Yankees tomorrow to help them hold off the Rays.

With Josh Beckett and Erik Bedard hurting right now and the Rays only three games behind the Red Sox for the Wild Card spot. Lefty Jon Lester is the only starting pitcher the Red Sox can depend on right now. Behind Lester in the current rotation are John Lackey, Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller and Kyle Weiland. Lackey has been awful the whole year for the Red Sox. He has pitched in 25 games (all starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 12-12 with a 6.30 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield has his good days and his awful ones, as his performance has been inconsistent this year. He has pitched in 30 games (20 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 6-6 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Lefty Andrew Miller has not pitched too well this year either. He has pitched in 14 games (12 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 6-3 with a 5.58 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. Finally, rookie righty Kyle Weiland has been overmatched so far in his first taste of the majors. He has pitched in 4 games (3 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP. The desperate Red Sox should consider making a deal for a starting pitcher to try to help them make it to the playoffs, even though he would be ineligible to pitch in them.

With the addition of veteran lefty starter Erik Bedard at the trade deadline last Sunday, Andrew Miller has been bumped to the bullpen. Miller has pitched in 9 games (8 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 4-1 with a 5.44 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP. He has given up 55 hits in his first 43 innings pitched while also walking 27 batters. If Miller doesn’t start taking advantage of his good stuff and throw more strikes, he’s going to wind up back in the minors.

32-year old righty starting pitcher John Lackey has been putrid for the Red Sox. He inked a 5-year, $82.5 million dollar deal two winters ago with the Red Sox and he was probably wearing a ski mask because he’s stealing the cash. Lackey has started 15 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 7-8 with a 6.70 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He has given up 104 hits (11 homers) in only 84 2/3 innings for the Red Sox so far this year and that is pathetic! Lackey has now pitched in 48 games (all starts) in his first two years with the Red Sox and he is 21-19 with a 5.05 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. This is just one of the latest moves that shows GM Theo Epstein is far from the genius he’s considered on the Eastern seaboard of the U.S.

30-year old righty reliever Bobby Jenks has been awful for the Red Sox so far this year. He has pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 1-2 with a 9.35 ERA and a 2.54 WHIP. Jenks has given up 13 hits and walked 9 batters in his first 8 2/3 innings this year. He does have 10 whiffs, so the stuff is still there, but he hasn’t looked like he knows where the ball is going…and that is dangerous. If the Red Sox can get Jenks back to throwing strikes he could be effective for them. If not, he’s going to be a nightmare.