Clay Buchholz put in another fine spring outing on Sunday. So far he is carrying a 1.03 ERA this spring. But unless Brad Penny is not ready for the regular season, Buchholz likely starts the 2009 season in Pawtucket.

And even if Penny is not ready, the Red Sox could use Justin Masterson as the No. 5 starter.

With Buchholz showing signs of coming back from a terrible 2008, the Red Sox are creating a wonderful problem of too much pitching.

Say Buchholz goes to Pawtucket and absolutely dominates, what can Boston do if all its starters are healthy? And then there is the John Smoltz factor.

Buchholz could be pitching great and actually drop from No. 6 to No. 7 on the depth chart when Smoltz is declared ready to go.

Again, it is an enviable problem.

One pitcher to watch is Tim Wakefield. He has a 7.71 spring training ERA, which is no big deal. But Wakefield, 42, has been slowed by injuries in previous years. If he is not effective in 2009, how long will Boston wait for him to get into a groove?

One other spring note: Josh Reddick finally drew a walk this spring. The free-swinging Sea Dogs outfielder has been batting .500, but with no base-on-balls until Sunday.

If Reddick gets off to a great start in Portland in 2009 (ala Jacoby Ellsbury in 2007), he could move up fast.

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