Is this the end?

Written by Rob Munstis | 21 August 2010

When Josh Beckett imploded on Thursday, many decided that the 2010 season was over.

Personally, I was disappointed, but we'd managed to stay in the race all season despite Beckett, so I still had hope that we could take 7 of 9 at home before heading to Tampa.

Then Pedey went back on the DL... and Jon Lester coughed up 5 runs in the first inning against the Jays... and now Scutaro is complaining about pain in his shoulder.

In short, my Faith-O-Meter is at zero.

It's pretty clear to me that something is wrong with Beckett and I don't expect him to figure it out this year. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe he's tipping pitches. Maybe it's mechanics. All I know is this: 3-3, 6.67 ERA, .293 BAA.

The offense has been amazing, ranking high in all categories, through smoke and mirrors... and Adrian Beltre. But without Beckett or Lackey to round out the rotation, the Sox will never put that much needed 6-8 game winning steak together.

Lackey has 11 wins, but his ERA sits at 4.62 and opponents are hitting .291 against him, raking him 110th out of 126 guys with 100+ IPs this year. The easy answer is to say that he beat up on the weak teams on the AL West in the past and that the East is a tougher division, but his 2010 numbers don't match up. He's blanked the Yankees and been pummeled by the Indians. A better guess may be that his better years are simply behind him and that 4.00+ ERAs and lots of hits should be expected going forward.

Bottom Line: The 2010 season is starting to look alot like 2006 all over again. With September on the horizon and a make-or-break series with the Rays next week, the Sox are banged up and crying about it. If the Rays take 2 or more games in that series, you can kiss this season goodbye. Pedroia will stay on the DL and rest up for next year, guys like Scuatro and Drew will be platooned with kids like Lowrie and Kalish and the rest of the call-ups. And for the first time in years, we'll get 3 or 4 weeks of meaning less baseball...

Unless we see some magic over the next week or someone gives the entire Rays team the swine flu.