I know, 'it's only spring training' but the highly anticipated 2011 Red Sox must think it's the bizarro version of the regular season and that they need to lose as many games as possible. Right now the streak stands at 9. Before certain members of the Red Sox farm system, or a group of Fort Myers pizza deliverymen (sorry, I couldn't tell by their defense which group they were. I'm leaning toward the pizza guys) clowned up the top of the ninth and made Bobby Jenks look like a befuddled ringmaster in a circus gone awry, the Sox had a healthy 5-run lead. The lead had even been more robust, at 7 runs, before Dan Wheeler started the game down that slippery slope in the 8th with 3 doubles (one of which might have been an out had Carl Crawford still been in the game).
Daisuke Matsuzaka's third straight solid start and a good showing by the Sox offense, including Adrian Gonzalez's first dinger in a Sox uniform had the Sox looking like they might stop the deep slide they've been on since...well, it's been so long I can't remember when they last WON a game. But it wasn't to be.
During this epic Grapefruit League nosedive, the Sox have seen Buchholz get annihilated to the tune of 11 runs, Beckett serve up 7, Andrew Miller punch his ticket to the minors, and Dan Johnson continuing to take the Sox' lunch money. Lester has looked vulnerable in this stretch, as has Lackey. Papelbon has been looking looking more and more like his days as a dominant closer are in the past. The only silver lining in this FAILstorm is Dice-K finding his bearings and stringing together three solid (2 runs or less) starts in a row.
How much stock can be put in a team's Spring Training record? One can argue that how a team looks in the last week or so of Spring Training, when their starters are staying in games longer, both the pitchers and the position players, is an indicator of how they will look once the season starts. On the flip side, the major league bullpen candidates are still seeing mostly minor-league hitters and having minor-league defenders playing behind them. Case in point, Jenks being railroaded by his defense in tonight's 6-run 9th inning. It's awfully hard to pitch to contact when you can't trust the guys behind you to make the plays. Still, it would be nice to go into Friday afternoon without being on a 13-game losing streak, you know? Just like winning begets more winning, losing begets more losing. So, Red Sox, get off the schneid before opening day, okay?
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Daisuke Matsuzaka: The Dr. Jekyll Version
We'd seen far too much of the Mr. Hyde side of Dice-K this spring, so it was refreshing to see the good Dr. Jekyll on the mound today against the Tigers. He threw 5 scoreless frames, surrendering just 2 hits and a walk. Perhaps Curt Young is onto something with changing his routine so he doesn't throw long toss and bullpen sessions on the same day. Throwing that many pitches in one day has to have fatigued his arm to the point that it costs him velocity in games. If Dice continues to follow this new routine and puts together a string of solid starts in a row, that would go a long way toward making this rotation stronger. Consistency is the key for Matsuzaka. We know he's capable of being a very good pitcher. Now we'd just like to see that very good pitcher more often.
How about that slugger known as Jacoby? He yanked another one out of the park today and he, along with Mike Cameron, have dazzled this spring. For two outfielders who spent the bulk of the season on the DL, or in Cameron's case, playing through excruciating pain, it's very encouraging to see them have the kind of spring they're having. Speaking of Cameron, I really hope the Sox keep him around this season. Being a righty, he'll get plenty of playing time off the bench, especially against lefties. His clubhouse presence is another reason to hold onto him. He's a good-natured veteran and those kind of guys are nice to have around over the course of the long season.
Two more weeks left of Spring Training before the real deal gets underway on April 1. Opening Day is so close I can taste it!
How about that slugger known as Jacoby? He yanked another one out of the park today and he, along with Mike Cameron, have dazzled this spring. For two outfielders who spent the bulk of the season on the DL, or in Cameron's case, playing through excruciating pain, it's very encouraging to see them have the kind of spring they're having. Speaking of Cameron, I really hope the Sox keep him around this season. Being a righty, he'll get plenty of playing time off the bench, especially against lefties. His clubhouse presence is another reason to hold onto him. He's a good-natured veteran and those kind of guys are nice to have around over the course of the long season.
Two more weeks left of Spring Training before the real deal gets underway on April 1. Opening Day is so close I can taste it!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
One Day at a Time...
That is how Ryan Westmoreland is taking his recovery from brain surgery and his return to professional baseball. A few days shy of a year ago, Westmoreland had a very risky operation to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain, a congenital anomaly that became symptomatic only last spring, as he was getting ready to follow up on a promising 2009 season. During 2010 Spring Training, Westmoreland felt fatigue, numbness, and he eventually went blind and lost his hearing in one ear. An MRI showed the malformation, a clump of abnormal blood vessels that were bleeding into his brain and and needed to be removed. The surgery carried serious risks--the most ominous being dying on the operating table. Westmoreland survived the surgery and began the arduous road to recovery, having to relearn walking, speech, balance, and even how to tie his shoe.
A year later, he is taking live batting practice, even though one side of his body is not quite in sync with the other. He doesn't know yet how far he will be able to come back--at what level, if any, he will be able to play pro ball. That doesn't faze him, though; he knows how far he's come since waking up from surgery last March in Arizona. He knows that, although his progress has astounded his doctors, recovery is a slow process and there are no guarantees. At only 20 years of age, Ryan Westmoreland's health crisis brought him maturity beyond his years. His story is inspiring no matter which team you root for, but if you happen to be a Red Sox fan, it's all the more heartwarming. If the day comes that he makes his Fenway debut for the Red Sox, it will be one of the most amazing stories in sports history.
In other Sox news, Adrian Gonzalez made his spring debut yesterday with a single and a sac fly. He's scheduled to play tomorrow night against the Yankees. Clay Buchholz, who is next up in the rotation, will be held out of tomorrow night's game, probably to avoid the Yanks getting too much exposure to him before the season begins, and ex-Yankee Alfredo Aceves will start in his place.
A year later, he is taking live batting practice, even though one side of his body is not quite in sync with the other. He doesn't know yet how far he will be able to come back--at what level, if any, he will be able to play pro ball. That doesn't faze him, though; he knows how far he's come since waking up from surgery last March in Arizona. He knows that, although his progress has astounded his doctors, recovery is a slow process and there are no guarantees. At only 20 years of age, Ryan Westmoreland's health crisis brought him maturity beyond his years. His story is inspiring no matter which team you root for, but if you happen to be a Red Sox fan, it's all the more heartwarming. If the day comes that he makes his Fenway debut for the Red Sox, it will be one of the most amazing stories in sports history.
In other Sox news, Adrian Gonzalez made his spring debut yesterday with a single and a sac fly. He's scheduled to play tomorrow night against the Yankees. Clay Buchholz, who is next up in the rotation, will be held out of tomorrow night's game, probably to avoid the Yanks getting too much exposure to him before the season begins, and ex-Yankee Alfredo Aceves will start in his place.
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Kids are Alright
It was a case of "our B team beat your A team" tonight when the Red Sox took a squad laden with prospects and bench players to Tampa to face a nearly full-strength Yankees team and came away with a 5-3 victory. It wasn't the major leaguers (Lowrie, Tek, and D-Mac) who did the bulk of the damage, though Lowrie did provide a nice double and he scored in the form of pinch-runner Oscar Tejeda. PawSox-bound Nava singled that first run home. The rest of the runs came from the bats of guys like Juan Carlos Linares, and Tejeda. Jose Iglesias was a thrill to watch in the field and he didn't do so badly at the plate either, going 2 for 3 and scoring a run. His Cuban countryman Linares was 2 for 2, having replaced Ryan Kalish in center. Oscar Tejeda (NOT Tejada) tripled, singled, and knocked in 3 runs. Infielder Drew Sutton was 2 for 3. Yamaico Navarro was quiet at the plate, but his arm at third sure came in handy. Josh Reddick robbed Cano of an extra-base hit in the 2nd.
From the mound, Buchholz threw three scoreless innings. He showed signs of fatigue in the 3rd, walking 2, but he got out of a jam when Martin lined Buch's first offering to right. He was followed by Randy Williams, who also tossed a scoreless frame despite a leadoff double by A-Rod. Brandon Duckworth pitched the 5th and 6th, allowing what was at the time the tying run on a Cano double that drove in Teixeira, who doubled before him. Matt Albers kept the Yankees at bay for 2 innings while the Sox added 4 more runs. Tony Pena, Jr, whose dad is, ironically, the Yanks' bench coach, struggled and had to be pulled with two outs in the 9th. Eammon Portice replaced him and induced a Ramiro Pena groundout that was generously scored in the Sox' favor by 1B ump Marty Foster.
I have to give the Yankees some props (yes, you read that right) for what they did for Sox 1B coach Ron Johnson, whose daughter, Bridget, lost her leg in a horseback-riding accident last summer. Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long once played for Johnson as a minor-leaguer and took up a collection for Johnson and his family after the accident. Many Yankees, including Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada wrote generous checks to the Johnsons to help cover Bridget's medical expenses. The Sox and the Yankees may be fierce rivals on the field, but off the field, they are compassionate human beings, reaching out to a family who is going through a tremendous ordeal. On the Red Sox side, Kevin Youkilis bought Bridget, whose horse died in the accident, another horse, which she named Youkie. Stories like this transcend the sport and its rivalries and remind us of the compassion and generosity that bring people together.
From the mound, Buchholz threw three scoreless innings. He showed signs of fatigue in the 3rd, walking 2, but he got out of a jam when Martin lined Buch's first offering to right. He was followed by Randy Williams, who also tossed a scoreless frame despite a leadoff double by A-Rod. Brandon Duckworth pitched the 5th and 6th, allowing what was at the time the tying run on a Cano double that drove in Teixeira, who doubled before him. Matt Albers kept the Yankees at bay for 2 innings while the Sox added 4 more runs. Tony Pena, Jr, whose dad is, ironically, the Yanks' bench coach, struggled and had to be pulled with two outs in the 9th. Eammon Portice replaced him and induced a Ramiro Pena groundout that was generously scored in the Sox' favor by 1B ump Marty Foster.
I have to give the Yankees some props (yes, you read that right) for what they did for Sox 1B coach Ron Johnson, whose daughter, Bridget, lost her leg in a horseback-riding accident last summer. Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long once played for Johnson as a minor-leaguer and took up a collection for Johnson and his family after the accident. Many Yankees, including Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada wrote generous checks to the Johnsons to help cover Bridget's medical expenses. The Sox and the Yankees may be fierce rivals on the field, but off the field, they are compassionate human beings, reaching out to a family who is going through a tremendous ordeal. On the Red Sox side, Kevin Youkilis bought Bridget, whose horse died in the accident, another horse, which she named Youkie. Stories like this transcend the sport and its rivalries and remind us of the compassion and generosity that bring people together.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Play (Grapefruit League) Ball!
The 2011 Spring Training Grapefruit League is underway and the Sox have won more games than they've lost. That is, they've won 2 and lost 1, all against their Mayor's Cup rivals the Minnesota Twins. Today's 5-0 win featured strong performances from Lester, Papelbon and new acquisition Alfredo Aceves, as well as Mike Cameron (2 for 3) and Juan Carlos Linares (2 for 2, 1 RBI). The other 4 runs were driven in by Jed Lowrie, Josh Reddick (he of the .750 average in 3 games), Paul Hoover, and Nate Spears. Yesterday, the Sox trailed for most of the game and played some sloppy defense, but came back to win, thanks to Mr .750's game-winning dinger. Sunday night, things didn't go the Sox' way and they fell to the Twins 8-4.
Two players in particular have taken their lumps in the early days of Grapefruit League play: Josh Beckett and non-roster invitee Brent Dlugach. Beckett got beaned by batting practice instructor Ino Guererro while shagging balls hit off a fungo bat yesterday and suffered a mild concussion. Dlugach had a comically bad game yesterday, making 2 errors and grounding into 2 double plays and today, while redeeming himself with a diving catch, he dislocated his shoulder.
The prognosis for Beckett looks good. He's very lucky the injury wasn't more serious. I'm not sure yet how long Dlugach will be sidelined, but it's hard to make the team if you can't play.
Tomorrow, it's Lackey's turn to make his 2011 debut as the Sox play the Atlanta Braves at City of Palms Park.
Two players in particular have taken their lumps in the early days of Grapefruit League play: Josh Beckett and non-roster invitee Brent Dlugach. Beckett got beaned by batting practice instructor Ino Guererro while shagging balls hit off a fungo bat yesterday and suffered a mild concussion. Dlugach had a comically bad game yesterday, making 2 errors and grounding into 2 double plays and today, while redeeming himself with a diving catch, he dislocated his shoulder.
The prognosis for Beckett looks good. He's very lucky the injury wasn't more serious. I'm not sure yet how long Dlugach will be sidelined, but it's hard to make the team if you can't play.
Tomorrow, it's Lackey's turn to make his 2011 debut as the Sox play the Atlanta Braves at City of Palms Park.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Can You Feel The Energy?
There's a lot of good chi flowing out in Red Sox spring training camp in Fort Myers. Players are showing up healthy and in high spirits, ready to get this 2011 season underway. Adrian Gonzalez is starting to swing a bat well ahead of schedule. Youk's been swinging like the thumb injury that ended his season last August never happened. Pedey's foot's holding up just fine and his mouth hasn't skipped a beat. Tek and Salty are like peas and carrots. Carl Crawford is predicting 6-year-old D'Angelo "Little Papi" Ortiz's rise to YouTube stardom as the heir apparent to Batting Stance Guy. Oh, and Beckett's predicting triple-digit wins for the Sox this season. Optimism is high and the team is hungry to put the injurious 2010 season behind them.
So, can this team live up to all the expectations, both the fans' and their own? It certainly has the talent to be a scary-good team. The lineup, whose loss of V-Mart and Beltre were more than offset by the acquisition of Crawford and Gonzalez, is very deep, if lefty-heavy. The lefty load can be mitigated against left-handed pitching with righties Mike Cameron and Darnell McDonald in the outfield and switch-hitter (and lefty-killer) Jed Lowrie in the infield. Lowrie is ultra-versatile in the infield--he can play all four positions. Likewise, Cameron and McDonald can both play all three outfield positions.
Now, what about the pitching? The men on the mound were part of the problem last year, both in the back end of the rotation and in the bullpen. While the rotation is the same: Lester, Buchholz, Beckett, Lackey, Dice-K, the bullpen has been revamped, with Bobby Jenks changing his White Sox to red and Dan Wheeler joining his former Rays teammate Crawford in trading the dome for the Green Monster. Papelbon remains the closer, hoping to rebound from a shaky season where he blew 8 saves and Bard gets help from Jenks and possibly Wheeler as well in the setup role. Okajima and Rich Hill are among the lefties vying for a slot in the pen, with Wake, Aceves, and Doubront in the mix for long relief/spot starts. Curt Young brings a new perspective to the Sox staff, and, seeing how strong the Oakland staff was last year, that could be a very good thing.
There is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the 2011 Red Sox season. It looks to be an exciting one that could resemble 2007 a lot more than 2010. Baseball is unpredictable and we know too well what crazy things can go on over the course of the season, like laser shows off the foot, freak thumb injuries, charging third basemen, mono, AT&T Park, among other potential calamities. One thing the Red Sox can be sure about is that, as a team, they are heading in the right direction.
So, can this team live up to all the expectations, both the fans' and their own? It certainly has the talent to be a scary-good team. The lineup, whose loss of V-Mart and Beltre were more than offset by the acquisition of Crawford and Gonzalez, is very deep, if lefty-heavy. The lefty load can be mitigated against left-handed pitching with righties Mike Cameron and Darnell McDonald in the outfield and switch-hitter (and lefty-killer) Jed Lowrie in the infield. Lowrie is ultra-versatile in the infield--he can play all four positions. Likewise, Cameron and McDonald can both play all three outfield positions.
Now, what about the pitching? The men on the mound were part of the problem last year, both in the back end of the rotation and in the bullpen. While the rotation is the same: Lester, Buchholz, Beckett, Lackey, Dice-K, the bullpen has been revamped, with Bobby Jenks changing his White Sox to red and Dan Wheeler joining his former Rays teammate Crawford in trading the dome for the Green Monster. Papelbon remains the closer, hoping to rebound from a shaky season where he blew 8 saves and Bard gets help from Jenks and possibly Wheeler as well in the setup role. Okajima and Rich Hill are among the lefties vying for a slot in the pen, with Wake, Aceves, and Doubront in the mix for long relief/spot starts. Curt Young brings a new perspective to the Sox staff, and, seeing how strong the Oakland staff was last year, that could be a very good thing.
There is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the 2011 Red Sox season. It looks to be an exciting one that could resemble 2007 a lot more than 2010. Baseball is unpredictable and we know too well what crazy things can go on over the course of the season, like laser shows off the foot, freak thumb injuries, charging third basemen, mono, AT&T Park, among other potential calamities. One thing the Red Sox can be sure about is that, as a team, they are heading in the right direction.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
I'm Ready...
Truck Day is only 3 days away. Pitchers and catchers report for duty on Feb. 13, and the rest of the squad is due 4 days later. Workouts begin on the 15th for pitchers and catchers and on the 19th for the rest. The first game action happens on the 26th, with a split-squad doubleheader against Boston College and Northeastern and Grapefruit League play begins the next day.
Yes, my friends, Red Sox Spring Training 2011 is upon us and another year of Boston baseball is on the horizon. The offseason for the Sox was huge and the front office, of which I have been rather critical in this blog, really stepped up and made much-needed improvements to the team. They improved the offense and defense by bringing in the likes of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford and revamped the bullpen with Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler. There wasn't much they could do with the starting rotation, with five starters pretty much locked into their rotation spots.
On paper, the Red Sox look like the team to beat, at least in the American League. The Phillies, with their uber-rotation of Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Hamels could give them a run for their money as the overall best on-paper team. On paper doesn't always translate to on the field, however. Injuries, under-performance of key players, and various and sundry other factors come into play over the course of a 162-game season. Let's take a look at some of the potential strengths and weaknesses of the 2011 team:
Strengths: Provided everyone in the starting lineup stays healthy and performs to their ability, the Red Sox look to be a run-producing machine. They have speed in Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford, power in Papi, Youk, and Adrian Gonzalez, and tough outs in Youk, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Pedey, who each have the potential of hitting at least .300.
Defensively, with the addition they look solid in at least 3 infield positions. The outfield looks drastically improved with Carl Crawford in left, JD Drew in right, and a healthy (we hope!) Ellsbury in center.
Weaknesses: After Lester and Buchholz, there are a lot of questions in the rotation. Will Lackey bounce back from a disappointing 2010 where he had to adjust to playing in the AL Beast? Will Beckett ever return to dominance or did he jump the shark in his disastrous 2010 campaign? Dice-K isn't as much of a question mark as he is a continuing enigma. He is what he is and it's doubtful he will ever change his perplexing ways. Curt Young looks to be an excellent pitching coach (Oakland's problem certainly did not lie in its pitching), so there's hope he'll be able to at least straighten Beckett and Lackey out. If he can figure out Dice-K, he's a bona fide genius!
Another potential weakness of the 2011 team is the guy in the mask squatting behind the plate. V-Mart was an adventure defensively, but the idea of the unproven, oft-injured Salty as the starting catcher is about as scary as walking straight into a lion's den. It isn't the offense I'm worried about as much as the defense. Salty has a history of the throwing yips and that could make pitchers very nervous.
Could Go Either Way: The 2011 Red Sox bullpen going into Spring Training looks like this:
Closer: Jonathan Papelbon, who has a lot to prove since he's been on the decline of late
Setup: Daniel Bard and Bobby Jenks.
Middle Relief: Dan Wheeler
Long Relief/Spot Starter: Tim Wakefield
Lefty specialist: ????
Myriad lefties are competing for the lefty specialist role, including Hideki Okajima, Dennys Reyes, Felix Doubront, Andrew Miller, and Rich Hill. Oki is the only one with a major-league contract, but that doesn't necessarily make him the favorite. He, too, has to earn his way onto the team.
As is their nature, bullpens are hard to predict from year to year. The Sox made some good pickups in Jenks and Wheeler, but Pap has been struggling and the lefty role will come down to who does best in Spring Training.
All things considered, the Sox have fewer concerns than most teams going into the season. The Yankees have a questionable rotation after Sabathia. The Rays have lost many of their stars to free agency and have applied the Manny-Damon band-aid to their offense. The Angels flailed around during the off-season and missed out on many of their free-agent targets. The Rangers look pretty good, but they did lose Cliff Lee and they have to fill his rotation spot.
It looks to be an exciting season to be a Red Sox fan. Barring a bizarre rash of injuries ( a la 2010) the Sox should be contenders from game 1 through game 162.
Yes, my friends, Red Sox Spring Training 2011 is upon us and another year of Boston baseball is on the horizon. The offseason for the Sox was huge and the front office, of which I have been rather critical in this blog, really stepped up and made much-needed improvements to the team. They improved the offense and defense by bringing in the likes of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford and revamped the bullpen with Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler. There wasn't much they could do with the starting rotation, with five starters pretty much locked into their rotation spots.
On paper, the Red Sox look like the team to beat, at least in the American League. The Phillies, with their uber-rotation of Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Hamels could give them a run for their money as the overall best on-paper team. On paper doesn't always translate to on the field, however. Injuries, under-performance of key players, and various and sundry other factors come into play over the course of a 162-game season. Let's take a look at some of the potential strengths and weaknesses of the 2011 team:
Strengths: Provided everyone in the starting lineup stays healthy and performs to their ability, the Red Sox look to be a run-producing machine. They have speed in Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford, power in Papi, Youk, and Adrian Gonzalez, and tough outs in Youk, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Pedey, who each have the potential of hitting at least .300.
Defensively, with the addition they look solid in at least 3 infield positions. The outfield looks drastically improved with Carl Crawford in left, JD Drew in right, and a healthy (we hope!) Ellsbury in center.
Weaknesses: After Lester and Buchholz, there are a lot of questions in the rotation. Will Lackey bounce back from a disappointing 2010 where he had to adjust to playing in the AL Beast? Will Beckett ever return to dominance or did he jump the shark in his disastrous 2010 campaign? Dice-K isn't as much of a question mark as he is a continuing enigma. He is what he is and it's doubtful he will ever change his perplexing ways. Curt Young looks to be an excellent pitching coach (Oakland's problem certainly did not lie in its pitching), so there's hope he'll be able to at least straighten Beckett and Lackey out. If he can figure out Dice-K, he's a bona fide genius!
Another potential weakness of the 2011 team is the guy in the mask squatting behind the plate. V-Mart was an adventure defensively, but the idea of the unproven, oft-injured Salty as the starting catcher is about as scary as walking straight into a lion's den. It isn't the offense I'm worried about as much as the defense. Salty has a history of the throwing yips and that could make pitchers very nervous.
Could Go Either Way: The 2011 Red Sox bullpen going into Spring Training looks like this:
Closer: Jonathan Papelbon, who has a lot to prove since he's been on the decline of late
Setup: Daniel Bard and Bobby Jenks.
Middle Relief: Dan Wheeler
Long Relief/Spot Starter: Tim Wakefield
Lefty specialist: ????
Myriad lefties are competing for the lefty specialist role, including Hideki Okajima, Dennys Reyes, Felix Doubront, Andrew Miller, and Rich Hill. Oki is the only one with a major-league contract, but that doesn't necessarily make him the favorite. He, too, has to earn his way onto the team.
As is their nature, bullpens are hard to predict from year to year. The Sox made some good pickups in Jenks and Wheeler, but Pap has been struggling and the lefty role will come down to who does best in Spring Training.
All things considered, the Sox have fewer concerns than most teams going into the season. The Yankees have a questionable rotation after Sabathia. The Rays have lost many of their stars to free agency and have applied the Manny-Damon band-aid to their offense. The Angels flailed around during the off-season and missed out on many of their free-agent targets. The Rangers look pretty good, but they did lose Cliff Lee and they have to fill his rotation spot.
It looks to be an exciting season to be a Red Sox fan. Barring a bizarre rash of injuries ( a la 2010) the Sox should be contenders from game 1 through game 162.
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