I don’t know about anyone else, but the last 2 nights have been pretty boring. With a day game on Wednesday that I had to listen to at work, and then NO game yesterday, I’ve been stuck watching reruns of Dog the Bounty Hunter and South Park the last couple nights.

It was then that I realized that I am pretty much addicted to the Red Sox. When they aren’t on, I don’t know what to do with myself! Sure, there are plenty of things to do, like watching the Phillies game that was in rain delay for most of the night, or reading…

But no, I want my Red Sox! So, is it 7:05 yet? Clay Buchholtz comes back tonight, which I am very much looking forward to. I think this is a great move, especially since Clay has been tearing it up in the minor leagues. His peripherals on the year are actually pretty good as well - he’s struck out more than a batter per inning so far and only walked 20. Not great, but not that bad either. The ERA is a bit high at 5.53, but if you take away his last 2 starts when he was not 100% healthy and couldn’t get out of the 5th inning, it was only 3.73. Expect the second half to be a lot closer to 3.73 than 5.53.

Justin Masterson did a good job filling in while he was up here. He threw 53 innings as a starter in the pros, and about the same in the minors before being called up. I’m not sure exactly how many, but he is on a definite innings limit on the year which, if he remained a starter, would definitely come and go well before the playoffs. Since they do essentially have 6 (or even 7 with Colon) starters, it makes sense to transition him to the bullpen and give them some extra help out there. I really don’t like relying on Craig Hansen, and hopefully Masterson can step in and be more of a 7th inning guy.

It also appear that the Red Sox bats have awakened a bit after putting up over 20 runs in the series against the Twins. It’s going to be hot again this weekend and the Sox are facing some fairly weak pitching from the Orioles, so I’m looking forward to the team staying hot right in to the All Star Break.

And then, we can all start talking about when Big Papi should be back. I can’t wait for that debate!