Lester likey to start Game 1 of ALDS

Written by Rob Munstis | 25 September 2009

I spent much of yesterday debating this at Talksox.com and those that chimed in were split right down the middle on the subject. Many argued tha Beckett's postseason resume made him the clear choice for Game 1, while others sited Lester's stellar and consistent 2009 season as the reason he should start Game 1.

Bottom Line: You can't really go wrong with either guy, but Sean McAdam has some good points in his piece in the Herald and feels that the Sox have already decided to use Lester in Game 1:

... when the Red Sox open the playoffs in less than two weeks, their plan is to star Jon Lester - and not Beckett - in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. Beckett would start Game 2, to be followed by Clay Buchholz in Game 3.

The Red Sox have yet to make that declaration publicly, of course, since the team can't clinch a postseason spot until tomorrow while playing the Yankees in New York at the earliest. But the team's pitching rotation for the final week of the regular season sets up for just such a deployment and multiple clubhouse sources confirm that Lester is the team's first choice to open the playoffs.

The way the Sox have laid out their pitching for the final week, Lester, who starts tonight in the opener of the Red Sox' series in New York, will make his final start of the season Thursday against the Cleveland Indians. That would allow him a full six days' rest before the projected start of the ALDS against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Oct. 8

Beckett, meanwhile, will pitch Monday against Toronto at Fenway, then have five days before starting Game 2 in Anaheim, Calif.

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The Yankees, by virtue of having the best record, will almost certainly play the spread-out ALDS schedule with five games in eight days. If the Red Sox and Angels play the "condensed" schedule with five games in seven days, the Sox would retain the option of bringing back Lester to start Game 4 on three days' rest if they were facing an elimination situation back at Fenway.

That plan would also leave Beckett available for winner-take-all Game 5, should such a game be necessary, back in Anaheim.

Should the Sox have a 2-to-1 lead going into Game 4, on the other hand, they would likely turn to Daisuke Matsuzaka for Game 4, with Lester held back for Game 5, when he would be pitching on five days' rest. When Lester has started with an extra day of rest this season, he's compiled an impressive 2.43 ERA.

Thoughts?