Trending Toward Normalcy

First of all, deep WMYM apologies for a weekend absence. Certainly not the typical scene, but amidst forced work following of brackets and optional extracurricular adherence to results from a team that resides atop a certain hill in the nation's capital and another that resides in a state capital with particular proximity to the Mexican border, there hasn't been too much time to reflect on the Red Sox.

That's a crying shame, because the Sox seem to have finally hit a stride that indicates nearing a regular season stature. They strung together a pair of wins before Sunday's loss - once pummeling expected starting pitchers for Baltimore when using their projected starting lineup - both of which brought along mediocre starting pitching (Doh! Jon Lester was back up to 70 pitches in four innings), but also reassured that the anemic offense of a week or two ago won't be around for the long term.

Even more encouraging was the sudden stability of the starting rotation. While Josh Beckett won't make the impending season-opening trip to Japan, he threw strenuously at 75 feet yesterday, an encouraging sign that he'll be back without missing time. And Daisuke Matsuzaka, previously a huge question mark for Japan because of his wife's pregnancy, is now a full-on go after learning that his wife had given birth on Saturday morning.

Suddenly, the Sox won't have to pitch Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield back-to-back in the season's opening games overseas. Suddenly the offense won't bat Alex Cora and Doug Mirabelli in the same order (though, not surprisingly, that's a sore point for one Tim Wakefield).

Suddenly the Red Sox look just a bit like the reigning World Champions. That shouldn't be surprising, but after a couple of preposterously rough weeks, it was getting a bit questionable.

Now, if someone could find an aging elixir for Jason Varitek and teach Kevin Cash to hit, Boston might really be in business ... maybe even overseas.

Cameron covers the Red Sox on his blog, Who Made You Mirabelli?
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