There's always a jolting current of electricity running through the air at Fenway Park when the newest and hottest prospect makes his debut, and the wattage will be chart-topping this afternoon when sinkerballin' Son of a Preacher Man Justin Masterson makes his big league debut with the Sox against the LA Angels of Anaheim.  The start is out of necessity, to be sure, after the flu has basically ransacked the Sox roster, but that takes nothing away from the excitement of a 23-year-old getting to "The Show."

Masterson's sinker/slider combo reminds many of Derek Lowe and his numbers have been dominant at Double-A Portland thus far this season, but fans shouldn't expect anything more than five innings from the 24-year-old this first time around the Fens. He's been on a pitch count watch early in the season with Portland that no doubt has him earmarked for a return to Fenway later on in the season -- possibly in the relief role that many think Masterson will eventually thrive in at the big league level.

With Masterson's debut in mind, here'a quick quick Q&A with Sox Director of Player Development Mike Hazen after the announcement was made last night. Hazen earns extra points for sticking to the "Masterson is scheduled to pitch for the Portland Sea Dogs" mantra until after Sox Manager Terry Francona made the post-game announcement last night. 

Just talk a little about why Masterson gets the call at this point in the season?
MH: Given the developments of today [Dice-K getting sick and Jon Lester getting pushed up] it’s obviously more of a need-based start than anything else, but we obviously feel like he’s ready to answer the challenge at the Major League level at this point. We obviously don’t think he’s locked down a spot in the rotation for the next twenty years, but we just want to put him in a spot where we need him and we’re hoping he does the job.

Justin obviously has a pretty special make-up as a player, but how beneficial of a motivating factor is a spot start in the big leagues for a young guy working through the minors?
MH: There’s no doubt that something like this puts that carrot right out in front of him, and not just for him but for all of the guys that are in the rotation with him in Portland and all of the guys in Pawtucket as well. This gives those guys that feeling that ‘Hey I might get a chance to go up there and contribute a little bit’ and I think that really helps all young players coming through the system.

Justin won the Eastern League Pitcher of the week and had a dominant 10-strikeout game already this season. What have the reports been like from his starts in Double-A Portland?
MH: The reports have been very good. Sinker is looking really good and the slider is really coming along. The change-up has really entered the mix and now he has three good pitches that he’s mixing together. The one thing we have seen in the early going – and obviously you’re going to see this in a 10 strikeout game because if you’re striking a lot of guys out then you’re really getting the pitch count up there – is that he can get kind of high in the pitch count quickly here in April. Obviously that’s something that comes into play when we’re limiting his pitch counts here early and something that will become less of an issue as his pitch count number increases over the season. Working on the command of his change-up and refining that secondary stuff, he’s been good and he’s really carried over some very solid work from spring training. He’s been good.”