Craig Hansen, a figure of much controversy during his first few professional seasons who was thought of as our future closer several years ago, has been promoted to the Boston Red Sox. Hansen sports a very impressive ERA of 0.00 to go along with a line of 12.1 IP, 4 BB's and 13 K's. His record stands at 1-0 and reports have him going back to the old way that he threw the ball that made him a top draft pick out of St. John's University in 2005. Another factor possibly contributing to Hansen's recent success is the fact that he underwent sleep apnea surgery in the offseason. Mechanics-wise, the big thing here is that Hansen used to short-arm the ball, causing his slider to have more bite; he tried to lengthen his arm motion to put less strain on his elbow, but it caused his slider to flatten out and he lost some control over it. I for one hope that the next time Clay Buchholz pitches, Ellsbury and Lowrie start in the field, with Hansen coming out of the pen later in the game. That would mean we get to see our top four draft picks from 2005 playing at the same time, a real testament to the success and foresight of the Red Sox scouting department.

The counter move was of course sending David Pauley back to the minors. Pauley is a great guy to have as a 6th or 7th starter for a team that is contending like the Sox and probably would be a 4th or 5th starter on a less impressive team. Two other minor leaguers to make note of;Josh Reddick, an outfielder and the 10th ranked player in the Red Sox farm system according to Baseball America, was promoted to Lancaster yesterday after a short stay in Greenville. Reports have Reddick's stay being family related and since those matters have been cleared up, he will be playing in Lancaster shortly. Also, shortstop Oscar Tejeda has joined the Greenville Drive after recovering from an arm infection while in extended spring training. Tejeda was the Red Sox's 9th ranked prospect according to Baseball America and the young 18 year old is quite talented, so keep an eye on his progress.

In regards to tonight's game, The Boston Herald is reporting that Dice-K will miss tonight's start, making it 2 nights in a row that scheduled starters have been scratched for the Sox. Neither he (undisclosed illness) nor Josh Beckett (stiff neck) are expected to miss any more time with their respective injuries, but it's certainly not an encouraging sign that our top 2 SP's have missed back-to-back nights. Jon Lester will start in place of Dice-K.

UPDATE (9:00 PM):
With all these pitchers getting sick, the Red Sox have decided to call up prospect Justin Masterson for the 1:30 PM start tomorrow. Masterson is the Red Sox's top pitching prospect in the minors currently. He is a big kid at 6-6 and 250 pounds and throws from a 3/4 arm slot; it almost looks like he is slinging the ball towards home. His arsenal consists of a big sinking fastball, a slider and a change up. The sinker is his best pitch and it sits between the high 80s to low 90s, and his slider can be used as a strikeout pitch. I am really looking forward to this start tomorrow; too bad so many people will miss it with the early start time. Set your DVRs and Tivos, folks.

You A Bad Mang is a senior writer for Boston Sports Buzz.