The Boston media has descended on Fort Myers to start to cover spring training. Finally we get some updates about the players that have arrived and what they have been up to. President Obama will be in Fort Myers today to deliver a speech so there may be some traffic around town. I have to admit it does seem strange to not have the "When will Manny arrive?" storyline out there, although we do have the "When will Manny sign with a team?" storyline.
Read more...The Boston Red Sox have announced the 2009 Spring Training schedule. Tickets for all Red Sox spring training games go on sale Dec. 6. They will face the Yankees at home on March 13 and in Tampa on March 24. You can see the entire schedule and ticket prices here.
Read more...
It takes skill, this following baseball. I mean following a single game, in progress. It takes practice. It takes training. Especially following a game on the radio, which I do a lot living out here in the Rocky Mountain West, where most of my Red Sox fixes are injected either through MLB.com or via XM Radio.
So while the BoSox are in spring training, so am I. I'm getting this football softened brain back into shape -- working hard on my ability to maintaining a running consciousness of the status of a ball game whilst keeping up the pace of my multitasking of daily work and life. It takes me a few weeks before my mental dexterity returns to its major-league game-ready regular-season agility. So I'm thankful for those few weeks of spring training games to work on my own game.
But the reward of this spring training is more than merely sharpening my mental game-tracking skills, of course -- just the same way that the joy of following those Grapefruit League games is more than just notching the (relatively) meaningless wins and losses. Spring training is about ... spring. (And here in the southern Rocky Mountains, where this ex-pat New Englander now lives, spring is most welcome this year.)
So when I tune my browser to a spring Red Sox game, sure, I'm rooting for each at bat. And, yes, I'm working on my ability to follow the game while I do my work, since games that matter are only a few weeks away (and work never goes away). But, really, what I'm doing is listening to music, like some cool jazz, feeling the groove, tuning in to musical soundtrack of spring itself.
With Joe Castiglione on vocals.
According to the Boston Globe, Bartolo Colon is not yet in camp and is said to be driving across the state. With the large number of Waffle Houses he will pass on the way it may be a while.
Update: Colon arrives at camp....sorry about the maple syrup on the hand.
Rob Duca of the Cape Cod Times caught up with some of the Sox coaches and players following the first live batting practice yesterday.
As is usually the case, pitchers were ahead of hitters.
Tito told Duca, "This is probably the toughest day for hitters in camp. Any bit of confidence that they accrued over the winter is gone today. But when you take that screen out in front of the pitcher it will come back, for whatever reason."
Numerous pitchers took turns throwing, including Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, Bryan Corey, Javier Lopez, Mike Timlin, Craig Hansen, David Aardsma and invitee Lee Gronkiewicz.
"What we want to get done is, since it's the first time they've seen hitters since last season, not to fear the swing of the bat, not to pitch away from contact, to take almost a more aggressive approach to inducing contact," pitching coach John Farrell said. "See the ball hit, see the ball hit the ground, because once we get in games they have to pitch to the strike zone early in the count. So that's the main key — as well as getting up their volume."
Papelbon told the Cape Cod Times, "I'm just trying to get my lower half and my legs underneath me and worry about my mechanics. My arm will catch up later. I'm not going out there trying to throw 95 right now."
The most hyped battle of spring training will be between Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury for the center field job, followed closely by the competition for the #5 spot between Buchholz, Tavarez, Snyder, Pauley and Masterson. There is also another big battle going on between relief pitchers for what is likely only one remaining spot in the bullpen. The Providence Journal broke down the scenario well in today's paper: That leaves a handful of pitchers — Javy Lopez, Dan Kolb, Craig Hansen and David Aardsma — to compete for the final spot. And their auditions are being sped up by the calendar." It all begins on Thursday with the game against Boston College.
"Assuming that Clay Buchholz wins the No. 5 spot in the rotation vacated by Curt Schilling, Julian Tavarez will make the team as a long reliever and spot starter. Kyle Snyder, too, must be considered another roster inclusion.
WEEI is broadcasting from Fort Myers all week, they have interviews with Buchholz, Lester, Francona, Manny and Coco. You can listen to all of the interviews here.
Read more...Not only did Manny show up early but he spoke to the media. He says he wants to stay in Boston but he also said he did not want them to pick up his option. It wouldn't be Manny if it all made sense.
Dice-K throws a football as part of a pitching drill
in Fort Myers today. (Boston Globe Photo)
According to the Boston Herald, Manny Ramirez has arrived in Fort Myer. He dropped off his equipment and left. The only players not at camp yet are Bobby Kielty (who has an excused absence because his wife is about to give birth) and Alex Cora. Tito spoke with Cora and said he would be on time....that is if he does not get arrested on the way.
Add David Pauley to the list of pitchers competing for the #5 spot in the rotation. Last season Pauley led the Paw Sox in starts and went 6-6 with 110 K's. Pauley will have an uphill battle to earn the spot because he will have to beat out Tavares, Snyder, Masterson, and Buchholz. Here is what Soxprospects.com has to say about David Pauley.
"Pauley mixes an excellent sinker with a low 90s fastball with good movement, a good changeup, and a top-notch curveball. Has 4th or 5th starter potential. Has been very consistent in recent seasons, with some flashes of brilliance. Seems to fade out late in August and September. Needs to improve his control somewhat. Gives up a lot of home runs. Good fielder with a strong pick-off move. "
Coco Crisp arrived at spring training and spoke with reporters about the possibility of being traded and the center field job. Here is some of what he had to say:
“I know with Schill going through what he’s going through, they might want to fill another spot in the back of the bullpen and bring one of those guys to the front to fill a starting position. I don’t know it’s going to work out, but I could definitely see (a trade) happening.....I just want to play, I don’t care where."
I can understand his wanting to start and he can not say he is ok with riding pine before he even begins a competition with Jacoby. He did handle himself very well when he was taken out of the lineup last fall and did what he was asked to help the team win. I am fine with him getting the starting job if he can prove he can hit consistently which is something he has yet to do with the Red Sox.
David Ortiz arrived in Fort Myers today and said he was almost fully recovered from the knee surgery he had last fall. He took a few swings in the cage and said he felt good. The first team workout will take place on Friday. Time to start the Manny watch.
Read more...Curt Schilling is in camp after getting a cortisone shot last week. He is following the Red Sox plan for recovery even though he would rather have surgery. He did not speak with the media yesterday(watch the footage below)and has not posted on his blog since his initial announcement on the injury. Schilling has done what he has been asked so far and he seems willing to go through the motions for the Red Sox. The Boston media will not accept silence from Curt; it will lead to speculation of all kinds. Look at this article from today's Herald as an example. At one point Schilling is going to talk and it is most likely going to be about the media, not his shoulder. Sports writers do not like having negative things to said about them and they always respond. Think about the relationship Ted Williams had with the press in Boston, you can also put Manny in this category. In the end some bad press this year could taint Schilling's place in Red Sox history.
"I never thought about it until I came here," Francona said. "It doesn't surprise me here. What should surprise me, and it probably really won't, is that people will watch it because they care so much. I think that's a testament to how much people care about baseball in New England."
Terry Francona talked about Coco and center field today and said the following:
"I just think, coming into camp, we're not going to forget as an organization that he's(Coco) the incumbent. We also understand, Ellsbury, what he can do. Again, I'm probably going to remind people from time to time what Coco has done for us, and I won't lose sight of that. We'll see how this shakes out."
The way I read this is that CF is Coco's to lose and Jacoby will have his work cut out for him. They may have to revive www.startjacoby.com. This could be a big issue if they both have an average spring. I really think they are going to give Coco the starting job to increase his trade value during the spring and trade him at the deadline. It might be tough to see Jacoby start the season riding pine but it might be best for the club in the long run.
Pitchers and catchers need to report to Fort Myers by 5 pm today, the sign that winter is officially over. It is pretty easy to say that from Northern California where the temperature has been in the 70's this week. For the second time in 4 years the Red Sox go into Spring Training as defending champions but somehow this one feels a little different than 2005. After the 2004 World Series there was not as much pressure on the team to repeat; several of the players were in new locations and fans could hold onto the memories of beating the Yankees in the ALCS for a few years. This year there is more pressure; the team is mostly intact, the bench is deeper than ever, and the young players have high expectations. Boston is no longer the lovable underdog around the country and teams will be looking to knock them down. The Red Sox are in a tough situation where anything short of making the World Series will be seen as a failure. As a reality check just remember how close the team was to losing to the Tribe last fall. The Sox are not going to dominate and win 120 games this year but they are going to be good. There will be the rough losing streaks and the Big Papi walk offs and with pitchers and catchers reporting today the predictions will be coming to an end soon and we get to see what the team can really do.
Read more...
With an abundance of pitching on the Red Sox, John Lester is not taking any chances. He has arrived in Ft. Myers early to begin throwing and told mlb.com: "I had a full offseason this year to work out and didn't have any [chemotherapy] drugs going through me, I feel good. I just put on a little weight -- I'm about 225 now. Hopefully, I can maintain it and not lose it the first week I'm down here in the sun. Maybe [I'll] be a little stronger for the long haul this year." Lester is not an automatic for a spot in the rotation and will most likely have to compete with Clay Buchholz to become one of the starters. There is still a chance Boston will go with a 6 man rotation keeping both Lester and Buchholz as starters.
Even though the Red Sox are returning most of the players from last year's championship team there will still be a few things to watch for at Spring Training:
-The Coco-Jacoby tryout for the center field starting job
-Kolb, Miceli, and Aardsma competing for a spot in the bullpen
-Lowrie putting a little pressure on Julio Lugo
-Lester and Buchholz....who goes to the pen? or do the Sox go with 6 starters?
-Manny's official arrival date
© Blogger templates The Professional Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
