After throwing six solid innings in a 6-4 win over the Florida Marlins on Thursday, Wakefield cast an eye toward the regular season, one he expects to begin as a member of the Red Sox rotation.
There will be one more Grapefruit League start for Wakefield on Tuesday. However, with Boston getting three days off in the first 10 days of the regular season and the back end of the rotation still undefined, what happens after that outing is anybody's guess. Including his.
"I'm very curious," Wakefield said. "Normally I kind of know what's going on but they have decisions to make. We'll see what happens."
The 43-year-old, who has two more wins than anyone else in camp and a tidy 3.66 ERA, is among several starting pitchers staring at the final week of spring training with a curious eye.
Josh Beckett appears to be in line to get the opening day nod, but he has yet to be given such an indication. He said after winning in Bradenton on Wednesday that such decisions were "Tito's deal," referring to manager Terry Francona. "I'm sure they have an idea," Beckett said.
Francona may have let the cat out of the bag when he said that "even Beckett" would make the trip to Washington for a game April 3, the day before the opener in Fenway. He quickly covered his tracks and stressed that no final decisions have been made.
In relief of Wakefield on Thursday came Daisuke Matsuzaka for his first taste of Grapefruit League play. He allowed a run in two innings and threw 25 pitches. Due to the neck issues he had earlier this month, Matsuzaka will need time to catch up to the other five starters in camp, after which he hopes for some sort of answer as well.
"At this point I want to rejoin the rotation as quickly as possible and I'm training with that as the only thing in my mind," the right-hander said through an interpreter. "For now the plan is for me to leave [Fort Myers] with the team."
None of the three have hurt their chances of getting what they want — starts and lots of them. The way Wakefield has pitched, it seems unlikely that he'll wind up with anything less.
Through five scoreless innings Thursday, he had struck out four and walked one. The knuckler was working and his strength was a non-issue. Wakefield tired in the sixth and gave up three runs, but he ended the inning with his fifth strikeout on just his 73rd pitch of the afternoon.
The 17-year veteran was the first Red Sox starter to finish five innings this spring when he did so in a 6-0 win over Baltimore last week. Facing Florida he became the first to complete six, essentially paving the way for others to follow suit.
"I've made all my plateaus that I needed to make as far as innings are concerned," Wakefield said. "There have been no setbacks. I feel great and ready to go."
As the innings mount and the days left in spring training shrink, the questions posed to Francona surrounding the rotation have simply skyrocketed. He stressed multiple times in camp Thursday that he needs to talk with general manager Theo Epstein, pitching coach John Farrell and then each of the starting pitchers before any announcements are made on either the front or back ends of the rotation.
The last thing he wants is to set a plan too soon and then have to blow the thing up when another neck strain or rainstorm pops up.
"The first 10 days of the season is a little bit … with those days off, I just want to make sure we have a plan in place, and a second plan for weather, and then we'll talk to our guys," Francona said.
The "guys" will be waiting.
