Projo Sox Blog

Junichi Tazawa will remain in the rotation and pitch in his regular spot on Thursday, while Brad Penny will be replaced by Tim Wakefield, and kept in reserve as an insurance starter for the time being.

Penny and Tazawa have been on divergent paths for some time now. The veteran Penny has been terrible over his last five starts, while the rookie Tazawa has continued to develop. Penny was shelled by New York Friday, while Tazawa held the powerful Yankee lineup scoreless Saturday. The result? Tazawa will keep his rotation spot, while Penny will be used only in case of emergency for now.

While under more normal circumstances the team might not want to carry six starting pitchers, injury concerns regarding Wakefield's balky left calf are prompting the Red Sox to hold Penny in reserve and keep him prepared to step in at any time. He'll stay in the bullpen as insurance both Wednesday and Thursday in the event that Wakefield or Tazawa flame out due to health or ineffectiveness.

"To protect ourselves, because that is Brad's day to pitch, he'll be in the bullpen on Wednesday. If we ever ran into a problem, he would be available out of the bullpen," Francona said. "If everything goes good, like we certainly want it to, we will have him in the bullpen the next day, which is Thursday, Tazawa's day."

Assuming Penny isn't needed either day, the 30-year-old will pitch a simulated game Friday.

After that, it's anybody's guess. The expansion of rosters Sept. 1 will allow Boston to have room for all the pitchers on the roster, but Penny has stated he has no desire to pitch out of the bullpen.

"We don't just want to turn him into a reliever. That's not in anybody's best interest. But we want to protect the club, we want to help him, and that's about as far as we can go. We communicated that to him today," Francona said.

 Tags  Brad Penny Junichi Tazawa Terry Francona Tim Wakefield Dan Barbarisi

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