Spring has Sprung

After two weeks of practice work outs it's finally time for the Red Sox to actually play a game, well sorta. The Spring Training schedule begins tomorrow with a twin bill against two colleges from Boston. The Red Sox will play an early game against Northeastern University and a late match  up against Boston College. 

"That part is fun," said Dustin Pedroia. "You're building up to get ready for the season. It's been a while since we played games, and that's why you put in all the hard work, is to play well during the games. It's going to be fun."

There will be one surprise about tomorrows games and that is who will be playing first base against BC. David Ortiz will be playing first base in that game. Bobby Valentine must be trying to see what Oritz has left in the tank to play him against a college team at first. 

Lineups for 3/3/12

Northeastern at 2:35 p.m.

Iglesias SS

Ellsbury CF

Pedroia 2B

Gonzalez 1B

Saltalamacchia C

McDonald DH

Sweeney RF

Ross LF

Middlebrooks 3B

Pitchers

Lester

Germano

Bowden

Albers

Boston College at 7:05 p.m.

Aviles SS

Lin CF

Youkilis 3B

Ortiz 1B

Punto 2B

Lavarnway C

Kooeger RF

Hassan DH

Repko LF

Pitchers

Doubront

Tazawa

Mathis

Spoone

Interview with David Ortiz

Jessica Moran over at csnne.com had an amazing one-on-one interview with David Ortiz discussing every thing from the collapse of the 2011 season to his free agency. Ortiz also speaks on Tito leaving the club its a good watch so go take a look. 

Injury sends Youkilis to DL and Lavarnway get's his shot at the Bigs

Say it ain't so! It looks like injury bug has bit the Red Sox again. The Red Sox have placed Kevin Youkilis on the disabled list with a sore back that has been nagging him off and on for weeks. Also Red Sox DH David Ortiz has injury as well coming before the double header this past Tuesday with a bursitis on his right heel that has him sidelined for up to a week. So with the Sox down two bats in the line up they have went to their minor leagues and pulled up a slugger by the name of Ryan Lavarnway.

Many people had wondered what kind of shot Lavarnway would get being a catcher and with us being set at the position. But as Tito always says a position will open and the way he has been swinging the bat it has. Lavarnway has been called up to play the DH spot for the Sox

A little back story on Lavarnway he was the 2010 Offensive Co-Player of the Year and this season he has just went off. He started the season in double A Portland and was called up to Pawtucket in a hurry playing a combined 55 games for both clubs. During that time he hit .293 with 30 home runs and 85 RBI.

This is Lavarnway's big shot at the majors because if Ortiz injury continues he will be taking the bulk of the at bats for him until his return to the line up. This is also his audition for next year with both Ortiz and Jason Varitek becoming free agents at the end of the season. If something happens with one of these guys and the Sox can't sign them Lavarnway could be an option to feel their shoes.

This is first shot at the big leagues so lets give him a welcome and see how he fits with our program while the injury bug runs its course.

Big Papi becomes captain for Home Run Derby

When fans turn it to ESPN on July 11 to watch the Home Run Derby it will be a little differnt than years past. This year the format has changed a little and it will be an American League vs National League show off. In years past the fans have selected who they wanted to play in this event but that has even changed. I think for the better.

This years HR derby will be selected by a captain of each league similuar to the All-Star game in the NHL. The two captains for this event are the past two derby winners, David Ortiz and Prince Fielder. This will be the fifth apperance for Ortiz and the thrid for Fielder. Each captain will select three sluggers from the league they represent to participate. These players do not have to be All-Stars just have to hit bombs.

As always there will be the overall home run derby champion as an individual but there will also be a winning team. Each team captain will select a charity the winning team will recieve $150,000 while the losing team captain's charity will recieve $25,000. There will also be $100,00 donated to the Boys and Girls of America in the winning team's honor.

As in years past their will be gold balls that are worth $18,000 and 3,000 for every regular ball to be added to be donated to the Boys and Girls of America.

This is always a fun event and makes the All-Star weekend more enjoyable for everyone. I feel like this element of the event will bring more life to the event. I believe Big Papi and Prince Fielder are great choices to represent their leagues both have a lot of life to them.

"Lack" of Bats in Philly

After last nights shut out the Red Sox inserted David Ortiz into the line up and shifted Adrian Gonzalez to right field to produce some offence. Did it work? Well lets just put it this way the only RBI of the game came from the pitcher of the Red Sox John Lackey as the Red Sox fall 2-1 to the Phillies.

So John Lackey pitched a pretty good game holding the Phillies to two runs one of which was a home run to Raul Ibanez who was a double short of hitting the cycle. Lackey when 7.2 innings giving up eight hits and two earned runs like I mentioned. He did strike out five pitchers which is very unlike him and only walked one batter. Lackey now has a record of 5-7 with an ERA of 6.81. When ask about the homer to Ibanez Lackey said.

"He's seen me about 800 times in the AL West," Lackey said. "I don't have many tricks that he hasn't seen."

Though as good as good of a start they got out of Lackey the bats was not there as the Red Sox only run come off a RBI double from John Lackey to score Josh Reddick in the fifth inning. Ortiz who was inserted into the line up to give the Sox more offense went 0-4. The Red Sox left 12 men of base and they are back to playing like the team we saw in April. The Red Sox look as if they left their bats in Boston. This is what Ortiz had to say

"Sometimes we get caught on all those days off," Ortiz said. " For me personally, I don't like that many days off. When I'm swinging the bat good and I'm in a good rhythm, I want to continue playing. You get caught up in that. I'm not making that as an excuse, but it has something to do with it when you're swinging the bat good, and all of a sudden, you're not playing. I'm talking about in general, not just about myself. There were two days off in this road trip."

The Red Sox have lost in four of the five games on this nine game National League road trip. With these loses the Sox have fail 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.

A-Gon in the Outfield Papi at first

Boston fans have been discussing this topic of should Adrain Gonzalez play right field and David Ortiz play first? Well tonight we are going to find if this is best for the team. The line ups are in and both Gonzalez and Ortiz are in the line up. The reason for all this discussion is the long National League road trip that the Red Sox are on. Ortiz who has been smoking hot has only received one at bat each game for the last four games and the problem is the Sox have only won one of those four games. It is clear that the team bats are all needed in the lineup when the pitcher is batting.

So some may ask why Gonzalez in the outfield and has he ever done this before? The answer is yes, once. When he was a member of the Texas Rangers, when he was playing behind Mark Teixeira. He also knowing he would be playing behind Teixeira played in right field during his winter ball while with Texas to prepare him to get playing time. As we all know how that worked out he didn't have to do that and has been holding on to that skill for awhile. Gonzalez is also not the fastest guy in the major league I mean honestly Ortiz could probably beat him in a foot race but as long as he is just dealing with fly ball i believe he will be just fine. Gonzalez has been practicing the position and has even went to Tito to ask if he could play this position. He has shown to be a true team player and this will allow him to work toward his goal of playing in all 162 games this season.

As for Ortiz playing the field this was his primary position prior to becoming a DH he only does this during interleague play and the World Series. I just pray he isn't to rusty at playing the field. I'm not sure I would have put him into the line up tonight with John Lackey on the mound who is considered a ground ball hitter which means a lot of plays to firstbase. I would have probably done it last night while Beckett was getting shelled on the mound or tomorrow with Jon Lester on the mound which may still happen if today goes well.

The Lineups for tonights games are:

Red Sox

CF Ellsbury
2B Pedroia
RF Gonzalez
3B Youkilis
1B Ortiz
C Saltalaamacchia
LF Reddick
SS Scutaro
P Lackey

Phillies
SS Rollins
3B Polanco
2B Utley
1B Howard
CF Victorino
LF Brown
C Schneider
P Worley

Manny Being Manny For the Last Time: Manny Retires

Looks like its official Manny Ramirez has retired from the MLB. The news about this retirement comes in the middle of today’s Red Sox game via MLB Twitter page. Ramirez is set to retire after news come out that he failed a drug test during spring training this season.

"Rather than continue with the process under the program, Ramirez has informed MLB that he is retiring as an active player," a statement from MLB said. "If Ramirez seeks reinstatement in the future, the process under the Drug Program will be completed. MLB will not have any further comment on this matter."

Manny has put up great numbers especially has a member of the Red Sox that could put him in the Hall of Fame but that day will never come because this is his second failed PED test since the new drug policy has been put in place. Not only that Manny has been trouble in other places in the dugout, on the field you name it Manny has done it. To the point the phrase “Manny being Manny” was created.

While on the Red Sox David Ortiz was his closest teammate, this is what he had to say about Manny. "It's sad, man, to see a player with that much talent and with an unbelievable career get him out of the game," said David Ortiz . "He got his issues like a lot of people know, but, as a player, I think he did what he was supposed to."

This news comes as a surprise to his new team the Tampa Bay Rays as they have said that Manny has been a good teammate and not done anything out of the way.

"We are obviously surprised and disappointed by the news," in the statement put out by the Rays. "We will have no further comment on this matter, and our fans and organization will carry on."

This could be a good thing for the Rays is they will not have to pay the majority of the $2 million contract. It’s a sad day that the game will lose a play as good as Manny. I know that he did use but the ablity that he had he could have been a great player even without the PEDs.

Red Sox Line Up Against Indians 4/5/2011

With the Red Sox still looking for their first win of the season they will take on the Cleveland Indians tonight on the road. The Indians currently hold a 1-2 record. The Red Sox will put Josh Beckett on the mound for his first start of the season and he will go up against Josh Tomlin.

Lineups for todays game:

Red Sox Indians

CF Ellsbury CF Brantley

LF Crawford SS Cabrera,A

2B Pedroia RF Choo

1B Gonzalez C Santana

3B Youkilis DH Hafner

DH Oritz 2B Cabrera, O

RF Drew LF Kearns

C Saltalamacchia 1B LaPorta

SS Scutaro 3B Hannahan

April Woes Continue for Lester as Red Sox Fall to Rangers 9-5

Box Score

Well Opening day is over and the Red Sox fail short to the Texas Rangers 9-5. Everyone was so excited about today and Lester getting his first Opening Day start. But there is one thing Red Sox fans should know about Jon Lester and that is he is not an April pitcher. Every year since he has entered the big leagues April is his worst month of the season.

Today was no different as Lester went 5.1 innings and he gave up six hits and five runs while walking one. This was not the worst Lester gave up all five runs off of three home runs this is the first time in his career he has done that. He also didn’t issue a strike out throughout the game; the last time he went without issuing a strike out was in 2008 against Detroit. Lester’s career in April he holds a 3-6 record with a 4.96.

Another pitcher that is normally lights out but struggled in his 2011 debut is Daniel Bard. Bard came in the eighth inning with a 5-5 after David Ortiz had just knocked out a home run to tie it up. Normally Bard is a flame thrower that is consistent in getting three straight starts as some including myself believe he is the closer of the future. Today was different Bard did not make it through the eighth as he faced seven batters and gave up four runs and was only able to strike out one. It was a rough day for Bard and he was issued the loss.

But there were several good things that came out of this game. I’ll start with David Ortiz getting his first homerun of the season. Last season it took him late into May to get his first homer so this could be a sign of a good start for Papi. Jacoby Ellsbury surprised people who thought that his days at lead off was over as he went 4-for-2 with a walk and on base by error also scored two runs. The most impressive story of the day was the debut Adrian Gonzalez in a Red Sox uniform that went 4-for-2 with three RBI and a stolen base.

So as you see that there was several good things came out of today’s game against the Rangers and remember that it is only the first game of the season. Also a fun fact out there for all of you Red Sox fans, the Sox lost opening day in 2004 and 2007. We know what happened those years we won the World Series. 04+07=11?

Are You Ready Yet? The Red Sox Are All In

Red Sox fans are you excited for the season if not maybe this video from NESN will make you more ready! Just one more week until baseball begins.

Red Sox defeats Boston College in a one hitter

Today the Red Sox started spring training play. The Sox took on Boston College this morning and defeated them 6-0 in a one hit game. The only hit of the game come in the seventh inning by BC’s Jim Laufer.

The Red Sox carried a no hitter into the final inning using six different prospect players. Laufer’s hit came off of lefty Randy Williams, he hit a soft line drive hit and was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double.

If you are looking at the Red Sox line up you would think this was going to be a regular season game as you have four regular season starters in this game. Those guys include Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Marco Scutaro and David Ortiz. The reason for putting these guys in action against a college team is to give them some extra at bats as all of the guys except Ortiz are coming off an injury pelage season.

In Youkilis’ first game as the full time third baseman for the Sox he was controlled the first inning. Youkilis had to test his ability to play third as BU’s Garret Smith hit strong hit that had the potential to be an extra base hit but Youkilis made an amazing diving play to throw him out at first. Then later in the inning Youkilis knocked out a three run homer into right field.

The starters only played only played three innings and the game also brought several familiar faces in Darnell McDonald, Ryan Kalish, Lars Anderson, and Josh Reddick

The Red Sox and Boston College first started playing each other in 1916 and this was this is the 21^st meeting and the 19^th straight year playing between the Red Sox and BC and the start of play for the year for the Sox.

Defense and Pitching or Offense and Offense? We got it all

What are the 2010 Boston Red Sox team are they a team of defense and pitching or are they an offensive team? Well at the start of the season everyone including the General Manager Theo Epstein was preaching that this season would be all about defense and pitching and then you have your fans who still believe the sox can be an offensive team. Well the past two days the sox have shown both one night we have poor pitching on the mound but we are slugging like crazy and the next day our bats was asleep but they proved they can win with both.

On Monday night our “ace” Josh Beckett took the mound against the jays, who he has struggled against in the past and it would not be any different. Beckett gave up nine hits, and eight runs in three innings pitched. He was only one of seven pitchers that made and appearance in a game that the final score was 13-12 with a Red Sox victory. The Bats was alive as the Sox had five players have a three hit game the best of the season. The red sox was lead by their off the bench captain Jason Varitek as he went 3-5 with 4 RBI and scored two runs for the sox. This was also his first three hit game before now full time catcher Victor Martinez joined the team. The Sox defense was not the best in this game but it didn’t give up any errors so you can’t really complain there.

Now Tuesday night’s game was completely different as starting pitcher Clay Buchholtz showed up to play and did just what the skipper wanted him to do pitch. This was truly a game of pitching and defense from the lowest paid starter on the staff. As he pitched eight innings of great baseball to only give up one run even though he did give up seven hits the defense helped him out. Buchholtz gave up his one run to the leadoff hitter for the Jays in the first inning and he threw shut out baseball after that it looked like the true ace of the staff. As for offense in this game well there wasn’t much as there was only two runs that crossed home plate as one was David Ortiz who was batted in by Jeremy Hermida and a pinch hit walk by Mike Lowell for Ortiz in the top of the eighth with two outs to bring home Dustin Pedroia. The bats were not great but they weren’t awful as we had seven hits as a team but we left 16 men stranded on base. With our bullpen stressed to the max and no one to call on in the ninth inning the skip had to call Ramon Ramirez to the mound to finish the game, which before Tuesday only had one major league save in his career. Ramirez surprisingly came in and successfully received the save with the help of the defense.

So with all of this being said who are the Red Sox this season? I feel it is still too soon to put a title on them just yet because they have showed some nights they can have a slug fest and all the bats are in order, then some nights it will be a classic pitcher’s duel. One thing is for certain if the bats and the pitching show up on the same night I feel sorry for whomever they facing that night, because this Sox team has showed it can be great.