Around the Horn: Starting rotation - 美國職棒

Around the Horn: Starting rotation
Beckett leads elite staff in search of back-to-back titles
By Ian Browne / MLB.com

出處：http://kuso.cc/3c8s

BOSTON -- If there is one thing the Red Sox proved emphatically in both 2004
and '07, it's that quality starting pitching will take you a long way. In
fact, if the other areas of your club are strong enough, an elite starting
rotation will put you right over the top.

如果要說襪子國內在04和07年有和要強調的，那就是他們的投手都吃了班龍丸能夠
讓客倌們相當滿足。事實上，如果隔壁的老王也吃了班龍丸，或許你兒子會長的和
老王一樣而不是和你一樣。

So as the Red Sox go after their third World Series championship in five
years, their starting rotation -- provided it stays healthy -- once again
looks to be a major strength.

所以如果襪子們要去追尋他們五年來第三座冠軍，投手群們--如果在健康狀態下
--將會是最主要的力量。

In Josh Beckett, the Red Sox not only have one of the best aces in the game,
but also a man who is likely entering his peak at the age of 27.

有了北極，襪子不僅僅是有了一位能夠主宰比賽的王牌，而且這一位王牌才27歲，
正要來到他生涯中顛峰的階段。

Ask Curt Schilling what the key to the 2007 postseason run was and the righty
doesn't even blink.

問看看老大在07年季後賽時候有什麼事情讓他馬上就高潮了！

"For me, it was the first fastball Josh threw," Schilling said. "It was the
proverbial [case of taking] the bull by the horns. We had him either on the
mound or in our pocket for future use whenever we needed him. I thought he
set the tone in a way that very few guys ever have or could. We're down, 3-1,
against Cleveland. We knew -- I think we knew with him on the mound -- it was
going to be 3-2. Guys like that, they affect the staff, they affect the team.
For me, that was it."

"你問我喔，和北極共度那一晚之後..我就...."老大說道"就像是長了角的公牛一樣，
我們不論是在未來或者現在需要他站上投手丘時，他都能立刻給予我們所要的。我認
為他有著少數人所擁有或做到的能力。我們都知道在和笑臉人的那一系列對戰時，
我們是在絕對落後的狀態下派出他出賽，在和他共度那一晚後知道他床上表現，我就
知道我們一定可以贏得那場！我們就需就是這樣的人，能夠影響整個球隊，能夠影響所
有人"

Backed by a 20-win season in 2007, Beckett finished second to Indians
left-hander C.C. Sabathia in the American League Cy Young Award race. Once
October came around, Beckett took it to an even higher level, going 4-0 with
a 1.20 ERA.

在07年球季有著20勝，北極在美聯賽揚獎投票上僅僅輸給笑臉人的吸吸胖。到了十月份
時候，他更拿進化為拿著+10十字弓的精靈，有著4-0且1.20防禦率的成績。

Of course, Beckett didn't do it by himself last year and he won't be able to
do so in 2008. That's where the rest of the rotation comes in.

當然拉，北極不是靠他自己拿到這份成績的而在而且他也不需要在08年一次滿足那麼多人
，因這次我們有了更多的好手在我們的投手群內。

The pitcher to watch in Spring Training will be Daisuke Matsuzaka. After his
well-chronicled arrival from Japan, Matsuzaka had his share of peaks and
valleys in 2007, which was understandable considering all of the baseball and
cultural adjustments he had to make.

在春訓時候我們一定要看看牛肉的表現。帶著日本輝煌的成績飄洋過海，他必須要適應
文化以及棒球上的差異，但他仍舊在07年時候展現了他的威力以及價值。

Will Matsuzaka be able to make a leap similar to the one Beckett made in his
second season in Boston? If so, the Red Sox would have a 1-2 punch as strong
as any in baseball.

牛肉在襪子國內的第二年可以和北極有著相同的威力嘛？如果可以，那我們就可以
看著所有大聯盟的球隊然後科科兩聲，因為我們有著全大聯盟最棒的一二號先發。

And even with Matsuzaka's inconsistency, he still won 15 games and had 201
strikeouts, capping his season with a strong performance in Game 3 of the
World Series.

而且即使是牛肉去年不太適應這裡，他還是贏了15場比賽並交出201次三振，並在WS
第三場交出了完美的表現為他這一季作最棒的結尾。

先回家...山上太冷了...一直斗斗斗......
身旁溫度計才9度

One of the best late-season stories surrounding the 2007 Red Sox was the way
Schilling remade himself. After coming off the disabled list, Schilling was
hopeful he would regain his velocity. When that didn't happen, he adjusted,
learning how to thrive on location and improved offspeed stuff.

If there were any doubts Schilling's new approach could survive against the
toughest competition, they were laid to rest in the postseason when Schilling
once again came up big, going 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in four starts.

The 41-year-old Schilling has stated numerous times that 2008 will be his
last Major League season. That said, you can be sure Schilling will be highly
motivated to close out his stellar career in strong fashion.

In case you forgot, there is another 40-something pitcher in the Boston
rotation, and that is knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. You might have also
forgotten that Wakefield matched a career-high with 17 wins last year.

Assuming Wakefield is over the back/shoulder woes that plagued him late in
2007, he will once again eat up innings and probably reach double digits in
wins.

Wakefield will once again have long-trusted batterymate Doug Mirabelli behind
the plate.

The Sox could have an old-fashioned Spring Training battle on their hands for
the fifth spot in the rotation. Left-hander Jon Lester was last seen earning
the win in Game 4 of the World Series. This spring, he comes in without the
burden of regaining his strength following chemotherapy treatments. This time
around, Lester will be at full strength and determined to break camp with the
Red Sox.

But he could get a stiff battle from the team's top pitching prospect,
right-hander Clay Buchholz. How could anyone forget the no-hitter Buchholz
threw against the Orioles on Sept. 1? Still, Buchholz only has three Major
League starts under his belt and, no-hitter or not, he is still in the
development phase.

Buchholz will be heard from at some point in 2008. He added muscle and
improved his winter training program.


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