Wakefield left off roster because of bad back

BOSTON -- Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, one of Boston’s most experienced postseason pitchers with 16 playoff appearances, was left off the Red Sox roster for the American League division series because of a bad back.

Manager Terry Francona said Tuesday that Wakefield, the team’s second-winningest pitcher with 17 victories, was bothered by a bad back in September when he won only once, averaging less than five innings a start and posting an 8.76 earned-run average. Francona had hoped to have him available to pitch in long relief in the division series, but when a recent cortisone shot failed to alleviate the pain, the Red Sox had to change plans.

“He’s not ready to do that,” Francona said. “It wasn’t fair to him and it was putting the team in a very difficult spot. We all know Wake. He bleeds for us. But he understands this is the right thing to do.”

Wakefield’s spot on the roster will be filled by left-hander Jon Lester, who fought his way back from cancer to make 11 second-half starts for the Red Sox, going 4-0 with a 4.57 ERA.

The Red Sox are carrying only 10 pitchers on their playoff roster, using the extra spot to add seldom-used catcher Kevin Cash behind regulars Jason Varitek and Doug Mirabelli. Francona says that gives him the flexibility to pinch-run for his catchers late in games, creating a role for speedy rookie Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Angels were second in the American League with 139 stolen bases during the regular season, including 10 steals (in 11 tries) against Boston. But Varitek says stealing bases is only one way they put pressure on opponents.

“They try to take an [extra] base on every ball hit to the outfield. That’s what we have to be worried about,” he said. “We have to back up every base and do all the little things.”

Boston’s coaching staff met with the team’s advance scouts for more than four hours Monday, discussing tendencies for the Angels, who laid down more sacrifice bunts (65) than any team in the league and attempted the hit and run 14 times in 10 games with Boston.

“They play very fundamentally sound,” said Josh Beckett, Boston’s Game 1 starter. And that means the Red Sox must do the same.

“You’ve got to play the game right,” he said. “You’ve got to hold base runners. You’ve got to know in bunt situations what bunt defense that we want to do. You know it’s a fun thing to watch them do that, but it’s also something that is fun to watch whenever people defend it right.”

When Detroit Tigers pitchers made five costly errors in their World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals last October, it called attention to the fact few pitchers work on fielding after spring training. So after the Red Sox began their afternoon workout with 20 minutes of pitchers’ fielding practice, Francona was asked if it had anything to do with Detroit’s experience.

“No, no, no,” he said. “Just trying to cover everything, get the blood flowing. We had a little meeting with the [other] players to go over some [things] we needed to go over. And rather than bore the pitchers, we let them catch some grounders and move around out there.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com