Two Words - Jason Varitek

Have you noticed something in the wind -- the Red Sox are winning and winning big. Notice that everyone's ERA has plummeted. Notice that Jason Varitek is behind the plate again. Notice that the Rays were befuddled by Sox pitching. Suddenly John Lackey is pitching well.

To say that Varitek is a better catcher is understating it. Granted, Jason can't save bad pitching but he can make a good pitcher look great.

Consider Oki. V-Mart was calling all fastballs. That was an incompetent decision. Oki is a junk ball pitcher. He can't throw beyond the 80's but if you mix it up, Oki looks great out there.

Consider Delcarman. Suddenly Manny D. is pitching well as is Bard and Papelbon. It's amazing how well these guys are throwing with Varitek. I can honestly say that V-Mart is terrible at setting up the plate and calling the game. Varitek is significantly better in all categories. He's a great catcher.

Consider the circumstantial evidence. Lester, Clay, Shilling (almost), Dice-K (almost) all came close or threw no hitters. Varitek knows what he's doing and his loss this year has really hurt the Sox offensively. Sadly Varitek has been saddled with Beckett who can't find the plate and has no movement on his pitches.

When V-Mart comes back, I suspect the ERA is going to explode. I could be wrong. What do you think?