Who becomes the Ace

[EvilDonut]

Everyone has been saying that we have four potential Aces, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Papelbon, and Schilling, so which one do you think will overacheive and become our Ace next year?

 

I think Matsuzaka, he has incredible sheer talent, and if Nomo had a Cy Young year with two pitches it's safe to say Mats will be amazing too.

 

Who are you thinking?:dunno:

[kreinbihl34]

I dont think it'll be one stand out pitcher the whole year. I think Schill and Matsuzaka will start out strong. Second half I see Matsuzaka being are only one. Paps will have some setbacks during the year, I think he needs another great pitch. Beckett though is a total unknown, will he get hurt or will his learn that his fastball will not get him by. If he learns to use everything in his arsenal, then we might have a couple of aces in the 08 staff, in Beckett and Matsuzaka. Paps I think will be a 2/3, he just doen't have the numbers of stuff like the other two.

[Gom]

If I had to guess, I would say Mats.

[EvilDonut]

I dont think it'll be one stand out pitcher the whole year. I think Schill and Matsuzaka will start out strong. Second half I see Matsuzaka being are only one. Paps will have some setbacks during the year' date=' I think he needs another great pitch. Beckett though is a total unknown, will he get hurt or will his learn that his fastball will not get him by. If he learns to use everything in his arsenal, then we might have a couple of aces in the 08 staff, in Beckett and Matsuzaka. Paps I think will be a 2/3, he just doen't have the numbers of stuff like the other two.[/quote']

 

 

Well i believe i read that Papelbon is going to incorporate a curveball and another pitch into his repertoire, so if he goes that hes going to be considerably better. I don't see Beckett as strong as the others personally.

[Cocos Disciples]

I kind of agree with kreinbihl, I don't think anyone is going to stand out above everyone else. If I had to pick one though, go with Matsuzaka.

[jacksonianmarch]

Schilling starts the yr as the ace in position only. Schilling will end up as the 2 but this is the yr his decline becomes evident. Matsuzaka becomes the ace by the all star break. Beckett only shows marginal improvement and Paps is treated with kid gloves.

[kreinbihl34]

I doubt the front office has any kind of plan of treating Paps with kid gloves. The doctor said/says his shoulder will improve with starting. We've seen how he preforms as a closer, the Sox expect an impact from day one. They have no worries about throwing him out there for 200 innings. Also while I'll admit Schilling will have a break down, I do not think it will be as major as you do jackson. He'll fit fine in the two spot.

 

I'm a firm believer that Beckett will make leeps of improvement this season. He just comes of as the in-your-face kind of guy. Reminds me of what I have heard about a young Schilling. I dont think he likes to be known as mediocre. He will believe in his stuff more this year, this result will be a 3.5-4 era with no more than 25 bombs.

[jacksonianmarch]

the doctor said he'd have less chance of hurting it starting. He said nothing about improving.

[v2freak]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say still Schill

[BSN07]

I Picked Beckett in another thread followed closely by Matsuzaka.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Matsuzaka has the most talent and the most pitches so he has a good shot. Josh Beckett would probably be second in line with a top notch fastball. If he gets his curveball back to the way it was...he is one hell of a competitor. Jonathan Papelbon is also a hell of a competitor but probably needs a strong off-speed pitch to become a true caliber ace. I know he is working on a curveball but that doesn't mean its effective. If he can make it effective then he certainly could be an ace.

 

However, my vote still goes to Curt Schilling. He had another solid season last year, one year removed from serious injury problems. Schilling is a incredible competitor and lives for the big stage. His velocity may have dropped but he still has more pitching intelligence than any of our 26 year old young studs.

 

This is a tough question but I still believe the Red Sox ace....is the guy who is already an ace

[Ray10]

I say it's either going to be Mats or Beckett that becomes the ace of this staff. Paps will have some set backs since it's his first year being a starter and with Schilling and Wakefield I think the age factor might get to them a bit. I don't really know we are going to have to wait until the season starts to really know for sure.

[TheKilo]

THE ACE OF SPADES

 

duh duh duh-duh-duh-duh duh da-duh da-duh

[adam123]

I would like to say beckett he has the stuff ... but it might just be the new guy dice -k ... but shill will be the glue for rotation

[Fried Neckbones]

Why does there have to be a bona fide ace? All this talk of "Beckett is no ace" or " will Matsuzaka become an ace and prove that he's worth $100 million+"? Who was the ace in Oakland with Zito, Hudson, and Mulder? Who was the ace in Atlanta with Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddox? Screw all that. We have four starting pitchers who are all - if the breaks go right - going to be freakishly good. Three of them are 26 or under. If Lester comes back and only one of the B's makes it as projected, that's a hellaciously good rotation for YEARS to come. So what if there is no "ace"?

 

God I want the season to start.

[jacksonianmarch]

Hudson and Maddux

[adam123]

Why does there have to be a bona fide ace? All this talk of "Beckett is no ace" or " will Matsuzaka become an ace and prove that he's worth $100 million+"? Who was the ace in Oakland with Zito, Hudson, and Mulder? Who was the ace in Atlanta with Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddox? Screw all that. We have four starting pitchers who are all - if the breaks go right - going to be freakishly good. Three of them are 26 or under. If Lester comes back and only one of the B's makes it as projected, that's a hellaciously good rotation for YEARS to come. So what if there is no "ace"?

 

God I want the season to start.

 

sounds good to me bro ..that will be awsome .. i think in age wise and talent we have potental to have great bul pen and rotation .. we all love starter in there 20s

[example1]

Hudson and Maddux

 

Hudson was the "ace" in 2002 when Zito won the WS Jacksonian? That's a weird thing to say.

[Fried Neckbones]

In the case of both the Braves and A's each of the three (pretty much) had a year where they would qualify as a traditional "ace" - leading or near leading the team in ERA, wins, starts, innings, etc. I think the Sox could be heading down a similar road with the young talent in the starting rotation they have, and will have, for a long time to come (knock wood).

[hoke3182]

Zito and the A's didn't win the WS

[castigs850]

im sure he meant cy young award

[example1]

im sure he meant cy young award

 

Yes, indeed I did mean the Cy Young. It's a more powerful argument when you use Cy Young instead of WS, isn't it?

 

touche!!

[exsubmariner]

Why does there have to be a bona fide ace? All this talk of "Beckett is no ace" or " will Matsuzaka become an ace and prove that he's worth $100 million+"? Who was the ace in Oakland with Zito, Hudson, and Mulder? Who was the ace in Atlanta with Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddox? Screw all that. We have four starting pitchers who are all - if the breaks go right - going to be freakishly good. Three of them are 26 or under. If Lester comes back and only one of the B's makes it as projected, that's a hellaciously good rotation for YEARS to come. So what if there is no "ace"?

 

God I want the season to start.

 

 

Amen

[DiceK]

i think you have to go with schilling. he's got the experience and you can't expect daisuke to be thrown into the fire immediately.