Ok, as I was saying. With the Sox’ offense bound to be a tick or two below rosy projections by the end of the season, the boys’re gonna have to rely heavily on their starting corps. There’s going to be a lot of 2 and 3-run grinders throughout 2007, and the difference between winning and losing will come down, more often than not, to how badly the front 5 are going to demoralize opposing teams, holding on to slim leads with cagey hurling.

Here’s why I’m optimistic:

Curt Schilling: Sure, the Iron Horse is turning 40. In this day and age of massage therapists, performance coaches, private jets and pilates, I say to you: So?

Mr. Cursebuster has pitchability, which is why old-homers like him, Glavine, Smoltz and Clemens are still thriving into their 40’s. They don’t just throw; they pitch. Nobody beats the Big Schill for preparation and mental makeup. Aside from that, he’s still got good life on his fastball - certainly enough to keep hitters honest - a fine splitter, and, now, an acceptable offspeed pitch, years in the making and now ready for deployment. On baseball’s biggest stage, he’s dominated - repeatedly. He’ll pitch and be successful, no matter where he lands after ‘07, until he’s ready to call it quits.

Hopefully, it’s in Beantown.

Yeah, I’m a little bit of a fanboi. Sue me.

Josh Beckett: Yeah, I know. You look at his ‘06 statistics any deeper than the “W” column, and you regurgitate a little. Most articles about Beckett from about 15 minutes after the ‘06 Series ended until today had something along the lines of “Beckett still has a lot to prove” somewhere in the text body. Maybe. But I think he proved enough in ‘03 to enjoy a bit more confidence than what’s floated his way now.

‘06 was an adjustment year for Beckett, a stranger in a strange land. No more double-A lineups, nobody to pitch around, ever. His most oft-stated goal as he entered the season? Pitching 200 innings and avoiding the blister issues that plagued him for years. Well, he hit his 200 and avoided his blister issue, which Red Sox docs have now diagnosed: Excema. Not, as he’d previously thought, his curveball.

With that knowledge under his belt, what have we seen so far this year? A lot more curveballs and offspeed pitches. He’s also slowed his delivery back down, giving him a better chance of maintaining his own internal tempo, and controlling the speed of the game. Mixed with an explosive fastball that can trail away from lefties and cut in to righties, Beckett has all the tools he needs to succeed, this year.

Daisuke Matsuzaka: Oh man. Here’s the guillotine blow to the back of the neck for the entire AL. Here’s the fulcrum on which the Red sox season will teeter.

Long story short: This dude throws no less than 6 pitches, confirmed. If you ask Bobby Valentine, who would know, he actually has 9. He can throw any of them for strikes, in any count. He has the composure of a Samurai warrior on the mound, and huge grins and laughter for his teammates in the clubhouse. Two starts in, and it’s very, very easy to understand the 51.1m posting fee and the 52m contract.

I could soliloquize endlessly about this guy, but all you need to do is watch a game he starts. Once you see the movement on, well, on all of his offspeed stuff, you’ll know that the only person who’ll be able to beat Matsuzaka, is Matsuzaka. And once you see how he behaves in a game, you’ll understand that the chances of that happening often are very slim.

Tim Wakefield: He only throws one pitch that’s worth a shit, sure - but it’s a knuckler, and a good one. He’s been such a model of stability and consistency, that you can pretty much bank on this: He’ll win more than he loses, with an ERA of somewhere around 4.25 to 4.50. He’ll do what he needs to do to stay healthy, he’ll give you 30+ starts, and hold down the back end of the rotation admirably. Like Schilling, he’ll likely do this until he decides he’s had enough, not before performance forces him out.

Julian Tavarez: Yeah, right. I can’t stand Tavarez - he’s a smug, aloof cocksucker at the BEST of times, and at the worst, he’s sucker punching Joey Gathright in the face. Everyone knows he’s just a placeholder for the REAL number 5, though, who will be…

Jon Lester: We know, based on last year’s performance, that Lester is a kid that maintains his composure in “nightmare” situations - bases loaded with one away, man on third with no outs, that sort of thing. How many times did we see him dance between the raindrops and come out dry? Too many for comfort, sure. But he battled, never gave in, and often triumphed. He displayed tenaciousness and character. He did all that while unknowingly being dragged down by cancer, which he was treated for in the offseason.

Here’s what the number-5-in-waiting did in his 05-06 minor league stints:

W        L        ERA        BB        K        IP        K/9        WHIP

11       6        2.61       57        163     148     9.89       1.15   - AA Portland

3         4        2.70       25        43       46       8.29      1.46   - AAA Pawtucket

And, his pre-All Star numbers from ‘06, in Boston - before Lymphoma was likely beginning to invade his system and compromise his physical ability:

4        0        3.06       20        30        32       9.37      1.56   - Boston

By the end of this season, a healthy Lester will be manning the 5-hole, likely throwing up something like a 4.25 ERA, 8.5 K/9 with a 1.50ish WHIP. Consider, also, that this is a 22-year old kid who will continue to develop for the next 3-4 seasons. I’ll put that up against any other #5 man out there, and bank on the Sox taking many of those games. With Wakefield as a decent #4 and the 1-2-3 of Schilling, Beckett and Matsuzaka? I’m unconvinced there’s a rotation in the majors to match it.

Presuming, of course, they all stay healthy.