Here you go Dirt Dogs, lets look at the starting rotation today and I’ll save the best for last, the Bullpen, for next week.

Josh Beckett Staff ace. This was suppose to be it, this was suppose to be the year he fully took over as staff ace, with Schilling retired and injuries behind him, its early still, but simply put he’s been a disappointment. For most of the spring he was as dominate as everyone expected him to be, all the way up to the end of the season opener all seemed in line up for a run at the Cy Young award. The numbers are ugly, only 4 wins in 8 starts, an average of just about 6 inning per start, and an ERA almost 6. Yes I know it’s early but an ERA of almost six and giving up more then a hit an inning are not what the Nation expected. Grade D+ Sorry Josh , hopefully we’ll see that turned right around for next quarter. (editor note: This was posted before his last start against the Mets)

John Lester Staff ace in waiting. Ok so Lester was downright scary good in the second half of the season last year and in the playoffs as well. All signs seemed to point to a young pitcher that had “gotten it” and was ready to become a stopper for the Sox. That has NOT happened. There have been some glimpses of him returning to form and again the season is still young, there is no reason to panic, with Lester OR Beckett right now, besides if they don’t turn this around soon, this might be as close as we get to first place for the season. Grades in school were based on cold facts, so the fact here is Lester with his ERA closer to 7 then 6 to go along with almost a hit and a half per inning has been a D pitcher so far.

Tim Wakefield The veteran after thought. Did I just say all grades have to be based on cold hard numbers — well forget that! Wakefiled has already pulled the Sox fats out of the fire twice this year! IF its not Jacoby’s steal of home that defines this team or this season, it just might be Wakefiled going into the managers office and telling him he knows what he has to do, and not matter what leave him out there so the bullpen gets a MUCH needed day off.  THEN he goes out and pitches a complete game near no hitter. He’s been the man this year and leads the staff in almost every category. His 4 wins in 7 starts and an ERA over 4 might not tell you the whole story but for this report card the team’s only reliable starter gets an A+.

Justin Masterson the stop gap. Ok so Justin had a great spring and fought for the last spot in the rotation,l but ended up in the bullpen to start the season – where he was very effective! Dice K goes down and with Buchholtz suffering from a very poorly timed hamstring injury, he was back in the rotation. All in all, its been a pretty mixed bag as far as his starts have gone. He started off well enough, then his next three starts were downright abysmal, but in his last start he showed signs of coming around. With Dice K back, Buchholtz dominating AAA and Smoltz poised to return to the big club, I doubt we’ll see anymore starts from Masterson this season — and if we do, you read it here first, the Sox season is in real trouble. I’ll give Justin a C- and credit served for his time in the bullpen to start the season.

Brad Penny the question mark. Penny struggled in LA last year, partly due to injury, but was an All-Star the season before. What was he going to be this year? Signed for short money and high hopes, I think Penny has done as well as should have been expected…If you disagree go look at other teams FIFTH starter stats. Hi ERA is massive and he’s not getting deep into games BUT he’s still got three wins with only one loss charged to his record. I know lots of folks were hoping for a full resurrection but it looks like that’s not going to happen, his velocity seems to be coming back but the movement is just not there. With Dice K back it looks like Penny will be dropped from the rotation and after that we’ll have to see what Theo and Tito decide. We could very well be looking at the last starts of Pennys Sox career over the next three weeks. Grade: a very soft D (Editor note: This was before the 5/25 start)

Disuke Matsuzaka- Grade incomplete — thanks to the WBC the Sox lost their #2 starter for the first two months of the season, I can’t see any club ever allowing that to happen again. Look for even Scott Boras to crawl out if his hole if Japan wants DiceK back again.

Overall the Sox starting rotation earns a C- and that’s just NOT going to get it done in the AL East.