Current State of Pitching for the Red Sox

Before the season began, I was worried about three things, Schilling, Beckett and Foulke. Who knew Papelbon would take over the closers role (something I have mixed feelings about.. more later). Schilling looks great and Beckett isn't on the DL, yet.

Here's how the pitching looks as of right now for the Boston Red Sox:

Pitching - Basic
No.	Player	P	GP	GS	W	L	SV	SVO	CG	SHO	R	ERA	IP	SO	BB	AVG
19	Josh Beckett	SP	3	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	1.29	21.0	12	6	.211
30	Matt Clement	SP	3	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	14	7.00	18.0	14	7	.329
55	Lenny DiNardo	RP	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	3.48	10.1	5	2	.357
29	Keith Foulke	RP	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4.32	8.1	6	1	.241
58	Jonathan Papelbon	RP	8	0	0	0	7	7	0	0	0	0	8.0	8	2	.111
54	David Riske	RP	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	18.00	1.0	0	0	.400
38	Curt Schilling	SP	4	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	5	1.61	28.0	23	4	.172
37	Rudy Seanez	RP	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	9.00	6.0	7	3	.370
51	Julian Tavarez	RP	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2.25	4.0	2	0	.214
50	Mike Timlin	RP	7	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	1.35	6.2	2	3	.308
49	Tim Wakefield	SP	3	3	1	2	0	0	1	0	11	4.34	18.2	13	5	.263
16	David Wells	SP	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	15.75	4.0	1	1	.476
	Total		15	15	11	4	7	8	1	0	60	3.76	134.0	93	34	.262

Very impressive, no?

My only problem is, I don't want Papelbon to become a closer. I'd rather have him as a starter. But how do you take him out of a role he's filling so well? The only way is if Lester comes up from the minors, there's no question Foulke has regained his form, or if our number 4 and 5 pitchers are so bad they are forced to make a move. I don't see any of these things happening for quite some time. So it looks like Papelbon will be our closer for a while.

I know I shouldn't be complaining, but I feel that Papelbon could be the next big thing as a starter.