Bronson Arroyo makes his last start as a participant in the Red Sox’s starting rotation this evening. He will subsequently resume his long man duties as Byung-Hyun Kim fills the number 5 starter role. Still, last impressions are lasting impressions and it would serve both Arroyo and the Red Sox quite well if he could turn in another solid outing. It won’t be easy. These Rangers can hit and they have a young nucleus of offensive firepower unmatched perhaps anywhere else around the Majors. Mark Teixeira, Hank Blalock, Laynce Nix and Gerald Laird are all under the age of 25. Michael Young and Kevin Mench are just 26 and Alfonso Soriano, though older than we thought 3 months ago, is just 29. And in Brian Jordan and Brad Fullmer, the Rangers added two quality roster fillers. The Rangers are currently third in Major League Baseball in OPS.

Texas will send Ryan Drese to the mound to counter Arroyo. Yes, he of the 5.88 career E.R.A. Ryan Drese. “Well what of his 2.87 2004 E.R.A.”, you ask? Relax. Drese has made just 3 appearances this year. He contributed some stellar relief work in a 9-4 loss on April 14th against Oakland. The A’s pounded teammate R.A. Dickey to the tune of nine earned runs before Drese came in and shut the A’s down. In two starts, both against Seattle, Drese sports a 3.97 E.R.A. Not terrible for sure but what is terrible is his 1.68 WHIP he has to show for the two starts. Drese has never been an effective Major League starter and I do not expect that this season he will start to be. I do, on the other hand, expect the heretofore relatively dormant bats of the Red Sox to continue their gradual awakening.

Like Wild Bill Hickok said recently on HBO’s original seriesDeadwood, “there’s thunder in the distance.”