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It must be nice to earn $16 million a year to be mediocre at your job.
That’s exactly the winning lottery ticket that Angels ace turned Red Sox boondoggle John Lackey has found himself holding.
Since signing a 5-year, $82.5 million contract prior to the 2010 season, Lackey has gone from dominant to disaster. He’s posted a record of 26-23 with a 5.27 ERA, hardly the kind of numbers Theo Epstein was expecting when he signed him to that lofty contract. Essentially he’s been a right handed, heavier set version of Barry Zito, a once great pitcher who got a big contract and then suddenly forgot how to do whatever it was that earned him said contract in the first place.
This season, especially of late, he’s been more of a liability than an asset in the rotation. He allowed eight earned in 4 1/3 against the Orioles, saved only by the fact that he was facing off against a pitcher in Brian Matusz who is having a season drenched in nightmare sauce (1-8, 10.68 ERA) and an Orioles bullpen that has been even worse. During the game, someone tweeted that they were hoping that Epstein would walk on the field and put Lackey on waivers during the game. The Red Sox wound up winning the game 18-9 but you’ve gotta wonder how much longer Terry Francona can continue trotting Lackey out to the bump each day.
Right now the Red Sox find themselves in a position where every game is essentially a playoff game.
The Sox are trying to stave off a historic collapse, holding on to dear life to a two game lead over the Rays for the AL Wild Card with 8 games still to play. Their offense has been doing the job, ranking first in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, but their rotation has been godawful, ranking near the bottom of the league in ERA and quality starts.
Down the stretch, Lackey is expected to get at least one more start in the series finale against the Yankees. You have to wonder though if Francona might consider pushing him back a day so that he’s starting in Baltimore (granted, no gimme but still) instead of against the Yankees in a game the Red Sox are almost certainly going to have to win.
Part of the problem is the alternatives aren’t any better. Simply put, Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez are not walking through that door.
There have been reports of some players pushing for stud reliever Alfredo Aceves to get a start to help stop the bleeding. Aceves has been solid this season (9-2, 2.74 ERA in 105 IP) but he’s only started four games this season. Taking him out of that bullpen significantly weakens the bullpen, an area that, like the rest of the pitching staff, has been a sore spot around Fenway this season. Andrew Miller on the other hand has been as bad as anyone else that has been trotted out there as a starter not named Josh Beckett or Jon Lester, posting a 5.63 ERA in 64 IP.
But desperate times call for desperate measures. If I’m a Red Sox fan, I’d feel a whole lot better about seeing Aceves at the beginning of a ballgame than John Lackey or (gasp) Kyle Weiland, guys who haven’t inspired a lot of faith for a team that could use a whole bunch of it as they try to stave off the ignominy of losing a playoff spot that has essentially been theirs for the taking since June.
