Boston’s Papelbon promising

They may not be sure how he will be used the rest of the year, but the Red Sox are sure they have a winner in pitcher Jon Papelbon.

He has been inserted into the rotation for the moment while Wade Miller is on the DL. Because Miller is not ready to return, Papelbon will get at least one more start.

In his first two starts, he has worked 10 innings without a decision, surrendering 10 hits, walking seven, and striking out 13. Against Detroit this week, he displayed the upstairs fastball that the Tiger hitters could not lay off.

Tiger catcher Vance Wilson hit against him. “He has a very heavy pitch,” said Wilson. “He throws so hard and the ball is so heavy, it’s really tough to hit against him.”

It also hurts when he hits you. Wilson took one on the elbow. “I’m telling you, that stung,” said Wilson the next day with a patch on the arm. Batters will remember that.

Red Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione says, “He has the best arm I’ve seen with the Sox since Roger Clemens came up.”

Sox pitching coach Dave Wallace has worked with Papelbon all year. “His fastball is 93 to 96 mph and explodes when he gets to the dirt portion area in front of the plate,” said Wallace.

“What he has to work on now,” continued Wallace “is a third pitch and his pitch sequence. That’s an ongoing process we’ll continue this year and into the winter.”

Right now the third pitch is a splitter. Wallace says, “I don’t know where he learned that, but I’d sure like to take credit for it.” A changeup with a big speed differential from his fastball could be very effective if he can hide and control it.

What Wallace and everybody else who has watched Papelbon inevitably mention is his attitude. He is a bulldog at an early age. That makes his fastball even more effective since he will come inside to claim his part of the plate; and he throws strikes.

“For the long term,” says Wallace, “he is a starter. For this year, we just don’t know.”

Papelbon had been recently used in the bullpen in Pawtucket in case that was the immediate need for the Sox. It is.

Keith Foulke is not ready to come back as the closer. The Curt Shilling experiment in that role continues to be iffy and he clearly wants back into the starting rotation.

Mike Timlin is being overworked as the setup man. The pen needs help.

“We have a lot of questions as to starters and the pen,” says Wallace. “That’s why we will keep our options open on Papelbon for this year.”

There is little question that with the fastball and splitter he now has, he can be an effective performer as a setup man or a closer. If the Sox can stretch Schilling out to return to the rotation, Papelbon could be a key to settling the shaky pen.

Sometimes the worst tag for a player is that of a “prospect.” For better or worse, that’s what Papelbon is and the chance to prove the tag correct may come this year.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.