Red Sox Sit at 20-20

 Beckett landed on the DL today to add injury to insult thus far.

I have admittedly been avoiding writing about the Red Sox the past 7-10 days. With so much going on with the Celtics and Bruins, coupled with the inconsistency of the Sox, it's been tough to get a grasp on what points to touch upon.

As a whole, the team has been inconsistent. The pitching, which is supposed to be the team's strong suit, is atrocious. They currently have the highest ERA in the American League (4.89) and have dished out the third most walks (160). Starters Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka have been a pain to watch and John Lackey has been inconsistent. In the bullpen, Terry Francona can't trust anyone in a big situation outside of Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard and even these two have been have been susceptible to giving up the long ball early on.

Mike Lowell, the good soldier, is starting to talk his way out of town too asking for his release. In New York the past couple of days he saw the writing on the wall after David Ortiz was penciled in against lefty C.C. Sabathia. Now that Ortiz is getting hot, Lowell's small role as the DH against lefties appears to be fading. Lowell has only started 21 of the team's 40 games thus far and the aging veteran hasn't been asked to do much for this team since they acquired Victor Martinez last July.

There are too many loose parts on this team right now. They has been very inconsistent and it's impossible to pinpoint the problem. At 20-20, the Sox are reaching that point of the season where they will find out whether they are contenders or pretenders.