What is the Red Sox's current rotation ?

1. Jon Lester

2. Josh Beckett

3. John Lackey

4. Tim Wakefield

5. Andrew Miller

That's their rotation right now.

Some time in the next few weeks, Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners will likely outrace a second baseman's throw or guide a low line drive into right field to collect his 200th hit of the season, making this the ninth consecutive year he has reached the milestone.

Mr. Suzuki already holds the record for most base hits in a single season (262) and is a hair behind the Cardinals' Albert Pujols for the highest career batting average among active players (.333).

But as prolific as he's been, Ichiro is a significantly less productive hitter than other players with similar batting averages. Of his 1,974 hits with Seattle, an astounding 81% have been singles, a higher proportion than any modern-era player with at least a .320 average. More remarkably, nearly one in four of his hits never left the infield. The problem: singles don't translate into runs as well as other kinds of hits. And when he's not hitting, he very rarely walks. Despite leading all batters in hits this season, Ichiro ranks No. 25 in on-base percentage and No. 39 in runs scored.

Thanks to a combination of formulas created by statisticians like Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer, it's possible to compute how many extra wins a hitter creates for his team per season. By that measure, Ichiro has averaged two "batting wins" a year during his career. Mr. Pujols, who leads the majors in on-base percentage, averages six.

We're not saying it's Ichiro's fault that the Mariners have lost more than 90 games in three of the last five full seasons. But maybe the wizard of the one-bagger isn't quite as valuable as he seems.

1st is Jon Lester

2nd is Josh Beckett

3rd John Lackey

4th Tim Wakefield

5th Andrew Miller

Jon Lester was injured today, and may be replaced for a while.