Going to Kansas City.

Onto bigger and better things, I guess.

Scheduled to go first for Kansas City on Friday is Kyle Davies. Davies versus Wakefield is actually a rematch of Davies major-league debut (when he was with the Braves); a game he won. On May 21, 2005 at Boston, he went five innings and gave up four hits, with no runs. He walked three and struck out six. That was the last time he faced the Sox.

He throws a low-nineties fastball, a curve ball, and a change up. He had a slider but mostly abandoned it in favor of a cutter last year. He has good stuff but has never really been able to harness it. He gets plenty of strike outs but gives up lots of hits, walks, and way too many home runs in the process. He was faring better toward the end of spring training, though.

Zack Greinke takes on Josh Beckett on Saturday. In his first start of the season, Greinke gave up one earned run on six hits in six innings. He had one walk and four strike outs against the Tigers. Greinke was pretty much grooving until the sixth inning when he gave up three singles in a row and allowed a run to score. I guess somebody's got to do it.

And Gil Meche is supposed to come off of the disabled list to take the ball on Sunday. He was on the disabled list with shoulder bursitis. He throws a low-nineties fast ball, a slider, a curve ball, and a change up. He's a ground ball pitcher. Results-wise, he's similar to Kyle Davies: lots of strike outs and lots of hits but he gives up fewer walks and fewer home runs. Last season Meche started once against Boston and lasted only 3 and two-thirds of an inning. He gave up six earned runs on six hits (two home runs: one from Jason Varitek and one from Kevin Youkilis), while walking three. Of the eleven outs he got, six of them were strike outs.

With the exception of Soria, the bullpen in KC is somewhat of a motley crew. This is a group that contains both Kyle Farnsworth and Luis Mendoza. (Admittedly, Mendoza is much better in the bullpen than he was as a starter for Texas.) If he can throw strikes, Juan Cruz is worth watching, though.

Meanwhile, the players that make up the 2010 Kansas City Royals are not, historically, a group that walks a lot. It seems like Wakefield has fared well against the Royals in the past. If the knuckler is working and they're up there swinging away, it might make for a very quick night. There also isn't a whole lot of power in the group.

For their off-season acquisitions they got Scott Podsednik, who always seemed to be a thorn in the side of the Red Sox; they declined the option on Coco Crisp and got Rick Ankiel; they also declined the option on Miguel Olivo's contract and brought in Jason Kendall . And they traded Mark Teahen to Chicago for Chris Getz, who's got some speed. Of course, there's always the hope that David DeJesus will blossom. And there's Billy Butler.