Former Red Sox players Nomar Garciaparra (left) and pitcher Derek Lowe (right), both now members of the Dodgers, talk to ex-teammate Tim Wakefield during warmups last night.

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The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

LOS ANGELES — Two games have already been played, but with this weekend’s interrupting of exhibition play, there’s plenty of season left — more than six full months and 160 games worth, to be precise.

Here are five questions to ask before the World Series-champion Red Sox tackle the rest of the season:

1) Can the young pitchers on the staff take the next big step?

Two of the Red Sox’ projected five starters to begin the season — Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz — are relatively inexperienced at the big-league level. Buchholz, in fact, has just three major-league starts to his credit.

But if the Sox are to be as good as they hope, both will need to contribute in a significant way. Lester has to show better command than he did in his first start of the season, last Wednesday in Japan. The club believes that some mechanical adjustments made at the end of last season will help in this regard.

For Buchholz, the issues are more about durability. He has a slight frame and he wore down late last season, leading the Sox to keep him off the postseason roster and instead enrolled in a shoulder-strengthening program.

2) What happens to Coco Crisp?

While the Sox continue to be open to moving Crisp for the right package in exchange, they’re in no hurry to deal him.

The thinking is that Crisp can still contribute off the bench — either to spell rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, as a pinch-runner or a late-inning defensive replacement.

How long Crisp is content with that role, however, is an open question. From the day he arrived in spring training, Crisp made is clear that he would not be satisfied with a reserve role.

For now, the Sox want him to play enough to remain useful and maintain his trade value. Within a month or so, they expect that injuries elsewhere will open a market for Crisp. Until then, it will be manager Terry Francona’s job to keep him happy and occasionally in the lineup.

3) How will the bullpen evolve?

Look for Manny Delcarmen to take a bigger role in the late innings, occasionally filling in as the closer when Jonathan Papelbon needs the night off. Still unclear is who will occupy the seventh spot in the bullpen — behind Papelbon, Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Mike Timlin, Kyle Snyder and Julian Tavarez.

That will probably go to Bryan Corey, which, in turn means that Okajima will be the sole lefty in the pen. Given that he wore down in September, the Sox will also have to be careful in managing Okajima’s workload in his second major-league season.

Tavarez, who is versatile enough to start, could be used in a deal if the Sox feel they have adequate depth in the system.

4) What shape will the batting order take?

Initially, at least, the Sox will go with Dustin Pedrioa at the leadoff spot with Kevin Youkilis in the second spot. Given his lack of speed, Pedroia may not be the typical leadoff man, but he hit there enough last season to get a sense of the role and if nothing else, he does grind out at-bats and get on base at a good clip.

Eventually, though, look for the Sox to elevate Ellsbury to the top spot in the batting order. They want Ellsbury to get comfortable first and that’s better achieved with him lower in the lineup. But Ellsbury has too much to offer in terms of speed to keep him out of the leadoff spot for long.

5) Are there any weaknesses on the roster?

None that is now obvious. The Sox have a deep lineup, a veteran bench, a strong rotation and a dominant bullpen.

As always, though, injuries pose a risk. If anything happens to sideline either Josh Beckett or Papelbon, the Sox will be in deep trouble; they are the most irreplaceable part of the roster.

The same, though, can be said about virtually every other team and the Sox are better positioned than most when it comes to withstanding the usual nagging injuries that dog teams throughout the season.

smcadam@projo.com