Spring Officially Begins

Well, Spring Training at least. Hard to believe that pitchers and catchers reporting considering the fact that I just literally spent half an hour rocking my car back and forth to get it out of a parking space. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get your car to move just a few inches when it's on inch thick ice covered in a foot of melting snow. That was definitely the most time intensive alcohol run that I've ever gone on.

Moving on, so yeah, it was actually sunny today in a part of the country today! I can definitely understand why Papelbon's so happy. I haven't mentioned it yet, but he's by far my favorite Red Sox player. In 2005, Papelbon had his first call up and Johnny Damon left the team. So I took the number eight from Damon's jersey and the number five left over from an old Garciappara jersey and made a Papelbon jersey.

It was a little risky, given the fact that Papelbon only had 34 innings of major league experience, but he looked like a solid prospect to me. And two years later, I couldn't be happier with the choice. It hasn't just been Papelbon's performance which I've been pleased with. You can tell that he has fun. The guy's straight up crazy and doesn't give a shit what people think about it. That's my kind of guy.

Remember in little league when people used to say that the point of playing ball was to have fun? What ever happened to that?

Sox Stockpiling Arms For 162 Game War

Last year the Red Sox lead the American League in ERA, WHIP, BAA and Shut Outs. This year they'll be without their number three starter for at least the first half of the season, but that hasn't taken away from the excitement surrounding the team's pitching staff. Schilling's injury pales in comparison to the disappointments of last year's pitching staff.

Not only did Schilling miss a quarter of the season last year, but Matsuzaka had some rookie growing pains, Jon Lester missed most of the season because he was still weak from chemotherapy, and Tim Wakefield and Clay Buchholz had to be shut down at the end of the year. There was also Hideki Okajima's fatigue, having gone from pitching 54 innings in 2006, to pitching 69 innings last year.

But Hideki Okajima has an answer for his fatigue this year. Via Extra Bases comes the news that Okajima's going to tone down his off the field throwing. The rigorous throwing schedules of Japanese pitchers probably aren't very conducive to a lengthy major league season. Okajima's also been doing some "secret" tampering with his pitches to battle an familiarity hitters may begin to have with him.

Jon Lester is also in camp. As one of the first Red Sox players to arrive this year, he's got to be excited about finally being healthy again. Lester got off to a fast start to his major league career, going 5-0 with a 2.38 ERA over his first eight starts. But he would soon fatigue as symptoms of his cancer. And what was a bright, promising career had to be put on hold for a year. Lester's only 24 though, so he's got plenty of years left on his arm.

Josh Beckett, and Manny Delcarmen are also both in camp, coming off stellar years. Although he wasn't used in as many important spots, Delcarmen's success last year rivaled that of Okajima. His ERA+ was actually better than Okajima's. Delcarmen was good for 11 holds (3rd most on the team) and a save to go with his 1.02 WHIP.

And while Daisuke may have struggled at times last year, his season was overall very solid for a rookie. In fact, he was the first rookie pitcher to record 200 strikeouts since Kerry Wood in 1998. And that was in the National League. You'd have to go back to 1984 to find the last American League rookie who accomplished that feat.

If Matsuzaka replicated his 2007 season he'll be a solid number three starter in the American League East. But I think most are excited about the likelihood of bigger and better things from the Japanese wunderkind.

Countdown To Spring Training

Well, there are only three more days until Red Sox pitchers and catchers are due in camp. Major leaguers Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima have arrived. It won't be long now until pictures start pouring in.

As someone who goes to school in the North Country, I can't wait. The wind chill is at 7 degrees right now and it's sure to drop below zero once it gets dark out. Even without the excitement of a new season, Florida sounds real good about now.

Spring Training Update

Red Sox pitchers and catchers officially report to Spring Training on Valentine's Day in eight days. And Truck Day is this Saturday. As for Red Sox players, it's been reported that Jon Lester is already down in Ft. Meyers. Many other Red Sox players are soon to follow soon.

On February 16th, pitchers and catchers will have their first scheduled workout. February 20th is the officially reporting date for position players. February 22nd is the first team workout. And finally, on February 28th, the Red Sox will hold their first Spring Training game against Boston College.

Manny has recently said that he plans to show up to Spring Training on time this year! When's the last time he did that? It's a contract year, so I'm sure I'm not the only one sensing big things from the future Hall of Famer. I'd bet money on the fact that his numbers will put PECOTA to shame.