No ace? No Problem.

Ever since Jon Lester decided to sign a six-year, $155-million contract in the offseason with the Chicago Cubs rather than stay in Boston, the Red Sox have been asked one question:

Who is the ace?

General Manager Ben Cherington acquired Rick Porcello from Detroit and Wade Miley from Arizona after Lester’s departure, and the team brought back Justin Masterson. These three join Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly.

But these are all middle-of-the-rotation guys. That’s the perception, at least.

In Boston’s defense, an ace isn’t always known at the beginning of the season. Sometimes they pitch their way into that spot. Take Cleveland’s Corey Kluber, for example—nobody expected him to win the AL Cy Young before last season, but he emerged with the trophy.

“There’s only so many times you can ask somebody, ‘How are you going to do this without an ace of the staff?’” Buchholz was quoted as saying in USA Today. “I think everybody is getting similar answers: ‘We’ve all been really good at certain points of our career. Being healthy is the key. If all five of us stay healthy, we’re not going to be easy to get past.’”

Buchholz may have a point. In 2013, he was 9-0 before a neck strain put him on the disabled list from June 18 to Sept. 10. Despite that, he ended the year 12-1 with a very impressive 1.74 ERA.

Kelly said last week that the “word ‘ace’ is a little overrated,” according to MLB News. Kelly even went so far as to claim himself the early favorite for the AL Cy Young Award.

But having a clear, experienced leader on staff doesn’t hurt. Before Lester left, he was the leader in the clubhouse among pitchers. The Red Sox don’t seem to have any guys like that at the moment. But one guy that has been on the Red Sox’s radar is Cole Hamels.

Hamels has the experience that the Red Sox need and he is skilled enough to be an ace. With the Phillies in rebuilding mode the price of obtaining Hamels will only go down, and it still is unknown what the trade market will hold with so many “ace”-type starters heading into free agency. So, the Red Sox seem to be in a good position to get somebody to solidify the rotation down the road if the need arises.

Heading into the April 6 season opener at Philadelphia, the Red Sox don’t seem to need an ace. Buchholz had a 1.80 ERA in spring training before he gave up 12 hits on Friday and saw his ERA balloon to 3.60.

John Farrell, the Red Sox manager, is hoping that was an aberration. He named Buchholz the Opening Day starter on Sunday, and Buchholz may very well turn out to be the ace of the staff.

“The ace category is always more of a fan/media type of thing,” Masterson said in a story by Ian Browne for the MLB website. “If you come together within a staff, there’s always someone who’s leading that staff. If they want to call that the ace, they can call it whatever they want. Usually there’s a leader within that.”

Masterson might very well be predicting just such a 2015 scenario for the Red Sox.

“Whether it’s me, Clay, Joe, Rick or whoever is facing the top pitcher of whatever team we’re facing, it doesn’t matter,” Masterson said. “We’re all going to give the best effort and we’re going to give something good. I think that [the ace factor] is slightly overrated, because in the end, what you get is as you become a playoff contender, whoever the hot hand is, that’s the person that’s going to be out there.”