Oct 6, 2009 1:44 pm US/Eastern
Delcarmen, Baldelli On ALDS Roster Bubble
Reporting
Dan Roche
ANAHEIM (WBZ) ―
The Red Sox are expected to finalize their roster for the American League Divisional Series against the Los Angeles Angels very soon.
There are a lot of decisions that have to be made.
The Red Sox will meet out in Anaheim today to discuss the 25-man roster that they'll put together and a lot of it has been injuries creating problems for that roster.
Take your pick.
BULLPEN
At the back end of the bullpen, Manny Delcarmen or Paul Byrd.
Delcarmen got into a car accident on Saturday en route to the ballpark. He wasn't sure whether or not he'd be able to physically be ready to be on the roster for the ALDS. That's one decision that will get taken care of.
INFIELD
Jed Lowrie will probably be your utility backup infielder. He's had wrist and forearm problems, but Nick Green has had back problems, he took on that role for pretty much most of the year.
Chris Woodward is a utility infielder who's been with his wife during her pregnancy so it looks like Jed Lowrie will emerge there.
OUTFIELD
Rocco Baldelli has that left hip flexor strain, he suffered that injury on Friday.
So, if he can't go, it will probably be Brian Anderson, a guy Red Sox fans don't know too, too much about. He did homer this past weekend. He's a backup outfielder that can play pretty well, he was with Chicago, so a lot of injury questions will be resolved over the next day or so.
STARTING PITCHING
The Red Sox are pretty much going to go as far as Jon Lester and Josh Beckett take them. I think that's the biggest question going into this series.
Can Lester and Beckett carry this team?
If they're both healthy, then the Red Sox have a pretty good chance at winning another World Series.
ROCHE'S ROSTER
So here's my latest best guess:
Starting Pitchers (4): Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Matsuzaka
Relief Pitchers (7): Papelbon, Wagner, Okajima, Bard, Saito, Ramirez, Delcarmen (short series so they won't need Paul Byrd and if MDC is healthy after car accident)
Catcher (2): Martinez, Varitek (a risk but don't expect Tek to play much, although the Sox talked about having Tek catch Beckett in Game 2)
Infielders (6): Youkilis, Kotchman, Pedroia, Gonzalez, Lowrie, Lowell
Outfielders (5): Bay, Ellsbury, Drew, Baldelli/Anderson, Gathright
DH (1): Ortiz
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