And The 5th Starter Is.........

With less than a week before the new start of the regular season the 5th spot in the rotation is still up in the air. The Red Sox wanted Clay Buchholz to be there from the start but he has not pitched well this spring with an ERA over 9. When they aquired Colon they thought he would take a month or two to get his speed up to major league level but he was able to do that much more quickly. The next two games in L.A. will help determine who will win the spot. Bartolo "el Gordo" Colon will fly out to meet the team in L.A. today (hopefully he doesn't get a middle seat) He will start Friday's game exhibition game against the Dodgers. If he pitches well he could very well be named the 5th starter. Clay Buchholz pitches Sunday against the Dodgers in a game where he must pitch well or he will start the season out of the rotation. Colon has an incentive clause in his contract if he starts the team in the majors so to save money Boston will try to go with Buchholz, but if Clay has another bad outing and Colon pitches well; Bartolo gets the spot. Don't forget if they both stink it up Tavarez is lurking in the background and would be happy to go back to the rotation.