Staying healthy could prevent a "Red October

Coming off a 96-66 record in 2007 and having won a second World Series title within the last four years, the Boston Red Sox find themselves in high water if they wish to recapture their crown and go back-to-back, a feat which hasn't been accomplished since the New York Yankees did so in 1999-2000. Any educated baseball fan will tell you that pitching wins championships. It did so for the Sox last year (team ERA 3.87-which is amazing in this day in age), did so in '04, and that trend will presumably continue. So, if sure you're asking, "what's my beef?" I'm getting to it...

When one assembles a combination of an old/injury-prone/inexperienced pitching staff, you're just flirting with disaster. Let's begin with Curt Schilling, at the ripe-old age of 42, not only is his career possibly over with his shoulder injury, not only does this put the axe to your projected third starter, but it also puts unneeded pressure on young pitchers Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, the projected fourth and fifth starters, both of whom were outstanding during the stretch run last season. I would still like to see what happens with a full 180-200 innings pitched.

At 41years old, Tim Wakefield isn't getting any younger and had arm issues in the playoffs last season as well, so his past condition has raised my eyebrows. At least you'll have old reliable, the "Big Texan" Josh Beckett, who should have been 2007 Cy Young Award winner, to help shoulder the load. Oh wait, he came down with back spasms last Saturday and, according to ESPN.com, he'll miss the start of the season when the Sox take on the Oakland A's in Tokyo on March 25 and 26.

Despite these reports, Red Sox skipper Terry Francona says nothing has been officially released yet from the team either way. As a result, I guess seeing Beckett in the land of the samurai is still a possibility.

Personally, I don't think it's anything to worry about; these things are common with pitchers. I'd rather have him stay in the U.S., relax his back and not have to bother with a 20-hour flight. Get him set for play in April.

That leaves you with Daisuke Matsuzaka, who's coming off, for the most part, a fairly successful rookie year which saw him pick up a 15-12 record and a 4.40 ERA. Now that the Daisuke "craze" it sort of behind us and the media circus has tapered off, he's come into spring training with a new training regiment, he's bulkier, stronger, and has a full MLB regular season under his belt. I predict that for the time being, until Beckett gets his back taken care of, Matsuzaka will have to be the ace of this staff, because it sure won't be Lester, Wakefield, Buchholz, Julian Tavarez, or Kyle Snyder. AROUND THE REST OF THE INJURY WARD

Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo has been dealing with back woes of his own lately and after taking some batting practice earlier in the week, he said he felt "OK." Francona claims that we won't see his shortstop for a couple of weeks or so, as he too might be trying to come back into action earlier than expected.

Backup outfielders Coco Crisp (groin) and Bobby Kielty (sore calf) have seen limited action this spring as well and both continue to rehab and their status, for the time being, is "day-to-day." PEDROIA and ELLSBURY SETTING THE TABLE

The possible one-two punch at the top of the Red Sox batting order, second basemen Dustin Pedroia and rookie center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury will without a shadow of a doubt have to play the role of "table-setters" for David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and JD Drew. Bouncing around from leadoff hitter, to the number two hole, to seventh, eighth, etc, Pedroia was still able to bat .317 in 139 games played and compile an OBP of .380, taking home Rookie of the Year honors in the process. Red Sox Nation will be looking for a little more of that same gritty, "Trot Nixon-esque" attitude from their stalky, "get your bat on the ball, dive into stands" second basemen.

Thinking that Ellsbury will bat .353 this year would be absurd, but, believe it or not, some people think that. What we should see out of Ellsbury is a speedy, contact-hitting center fielder who's skills still lacks when compared to Crisp, but his offense, as of now, far surpasses Crisp and he has all the qualities the Sox look for in a leadoff hitter. Ellsbury can hit for contact, steal bases, frustrate the pitcher, and turn first and second situations into first and third situations. These are the little things people tend to forget about because they don't show up on the stat sheet. If we see Ellsbury hit between .270-.300, steal 30-50 bases, and not make too many errors, then consider his rookie year a booming success. PAPS' BULLPEN TAKES CHARGE

Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has been dominating opposing hitters since taking over the closer role two years ago. If the American League league hasn't figured him out yet, they aren't going to make much progress against him this season. Look for Pap to once again control the ninth inning; he'll get at least 40 saves, and will hold onto a lot of late leads, which is all that a team can ask of its closer.

Set-up guys Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajimi, and Javier Lopez will give the pen some much-needed righty/lefty depth and the agless wonder himself Mike Timlin will see much action in possible mop-up situations.