30-year old righty closer Jonathan Papelbon has rebounded from an off-year in 2010 with another great one in 2011. Papelbon has pitched in 56 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 4-0 with 29 saves, a 2.75 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. He has only allowed 42 hits in his first 55 2/3 innings this year while whiffing 75 batters and walking only 10…which is pretty darn good. Papelbon has now pitched in 389 games (0 starts) in his first 7 years with the Red Sox and he is 23-18 with 217 saves, a 2.29 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. Papelbon is already the Red Sox’ all-time leader in saves with 217 of them.

25-year old lefty reliever Franklin Morales is starting to get his act together in August for the Boston Red Sox.  Morales has pitched in 10 games (0 starts) so far in August for the Red Sox and he is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  He has whiffed 11 batters in his first 8 batters this month as he is starting to really trust his outstanding stuff.  Morales has now pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox this year and he is 0-1 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.  He has the stuff to be a dominating short reliever and it looks like he is starting to really trust his stuff.  The Red Sox stole him in a deal with the Rockies earlier this year.

27-year old lefty starting pitcher John Lester was selected to the All-Star team but he will bow out due to injury. Lester has pitched in 18 games (all starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 10-4 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has only given up 98 hits and walked 40 batters in his first 114 innings this year while whiffing 100 batters. This was the second time Lester has been selected to pitch in the All-Star Game for the American League, but he will likely pitch in a lot more of them if he can just stay healthy.

The Boston Red Sox are sending 1B Adrian Gonzalez, DH David Ortiz, CF Jacoby Ellsbury and righty starting pitcher Josh Beckett to the All-Star Game next week. Lefty swinging Adrian Gonzalez has been awesome for the Red Sox this year and the fans elected him to start. Gonzalez has played in 84 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 120 for 345 (.348 avg, .990 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 16 homers, 75 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Lefty swinging David Ortiz got off to a rare fast start this year and the fans have voted him in to start this game too. Ortiz has played in 81 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 85 for 282 (.301 avg, .947 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 17 homers and 49 RBIs. Lefty swinging Jacoby Ellsbury has had a great bounceback year for the Red Sox. He has played in 83 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 104 of 336 (.310 avg, .835 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 9 homers, 42 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. Finally, Josh Beckett has been incredible for the Red Sox this year. Beckett has started 16 games for the Red Sox this year and he is 7-3 with a 2.12 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. He has only given up 65 hits in his first 106 innings so far this year, as he has been downright nasty. The Red Sox are going to be represented well in next week’s All-Star Game.

It didn’t look like a big deal when the Red Sox sent lefty reliever Dustin Richardson to the Marlins for 26-year old lefty starting pitcher Andrew Miller. After all, Miller pitched in 79 games (54 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he was 15-26 with a 5.84 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. Miller was once a top prospect but he was rushed to the majors before he was ready and he looked like a deer in headlights. But, the Red Sox brought Miller up a couple of weeks ago and he’s pitching pretty well for them. Miller has started 3 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. The Red Sox might have stole Miller from the Marlins.