Franklin Morales to start Wednesday's game against Rays

The Red Sox have named Franklin Morales the starting pitcher for Wednesday night's game against the Rays.

While Franklin Notaceves--sorry, Morales--had one of the worst outings we've seen out of a Red Sox pitcher this year against the Angels, when he walked four batters (two for runs) while recording just two outs, he also tossed five innings of two-run ball against Philadelphia back on May 30th. With the Red Sox in need of a spot starter, they'll hope a return to starting means a return to productivity for Morales.

As bad as Morales was on Saturday, Red Sox fans saw what the lefty could do when stretched out last year, as he threw 45 innings of 4.14 ERA ball. For a while there, before his back started getting to him, Morales was looking like a legitimate option for Boston's admittedly terrible rotation. Add in the mitigating factor of rust, and one bad day wasn't going to keep Morales out of the lineup.

After Wednesday, it will presumably be Felix Doubront's turn in the rotation before the Sox ask Buchholz to test his tight neck out again. That gives Boston's top arm a few more days to get back to 100% where the Red Sox need him.