Sawx in Spring Update - random thoughts

With Opening Day for the Red Sox less than two weeks away, a quick check on the storylines from late February:

- The New Guys - Hard to read where the new Sawx (Smoltz, Penny, Baldelli, Ramirez, Saito, et al.) stand as spring training winds down. On the one hand, utlility candidate Nick Green has been a stud, thanks to extra ABs from Pedroia's WBC absence, batting .340, slugging .520 and making it easy to see him as the extra infielder to start the season. On the other hand, Brad Penny only just started throwing in games (3 IP, 3 Ks) and Smoltz has started bullpen sessions. Ramon Ramirez has been inconsistent (8 1/3 IP, 8 Ks, 9 hits, 3 HRs) while Saito has been solid (8 IP, 8 Ks). Baldelli's been up and down (.179 Avg., 7 Ks in 28 ABs) and Brad Wilkerson, expected to be a dark-horse fourth outfielder candidate, has been abysmal with 18 whiffs in 42 ABs. Stay tuned, I guess...

- The Kids - The big story of spring training has been the revelation that is Daniel Bard, who has been dominant, with 12 Ks in 9 1/3 IP and just 5 hits allowed. As important as Bard's development has been the stabilization of Clay Bucholz, who seems have regained the stuff - and swagger - he had in his brilliant '07 late-season tenure with the Sawx. Factor in Jon Lester's consistency and Justin Masterson's continued growth and maturation, and the Sawx have serious depth in the rotation and bullpen with both the big club and the PawSox.

- Big Papi, Lowell and Drew - Three acknowledged question marks that have, for the most part, not really been answered this spring. In limited ABs, Mike Lowell (.318, 3 HRs, 1.045 OPS) has looked like he is making his way back, while David Ortiz has been solid if unspectacular (.280, 2 HRs, .947 OPS) and J.D. Drew has been, well, J.D. Drew - he's left camp with a back issue and then missed some time with a hand problem (courtesy of a fastball off said hand last Friday) - and hasn't really lit it up in limited action (.174, 1 HR, .684 OPS). I guess, in large part, the jury is still out on this VIT - Very Important Triptych - for the Sawx. Stay tuned...

- Tickets Still Available?!?! - According to RedSox.com, there are still tickets available for almost every series in April (excluding the Yanks, of course), which is pretty much unheard of. This is a blog post on its own (foreshadowing? you betcha!), but it would certainly seem like the twin spectres of the economic repression (not quite a recession, not quite a depression, with a slice of cantaloupe at the end) and general fan ennui might be to blame. Too much success in the last 5 years after decades of futility seem to have spoiled Sawx fans. More to come later.

- No A-Rod? No Manny? No problem... oh wait - Yes, it's true: A-Rod is out until May with a hip problem (douche) and Manny is back in L.A., so it would seem like the Sawx have nothing to worry about from two of their more recent nemeses. Well, except that pesky little WBC, which almost torpedoed the Sawx season with injuries to Pedroia and Youkilis. Luckily, it seems like both Pedey and Youk are on the mend and will be fine by Opening Day... but it only throws into sharp relief the folly of holding the WBC in March when most of these guys have yet to take a swing in anger, let alone even see a live pitch. Well, at least Dice-K looked good.

Well, that's all for now. I for one am glad to see the mundane inanity of Spring Training drawing to close, because I'm done with the NCAA tournament (my bracket was toast after the first weekend) and ready for the Sawx to start the season.

Go Sawx!

Hope springs eternal... even though it's still winter

Hello and welcome back to the blog. It's been a while, I know... been a little distracted with what's happening in the economy and such. Apparently we - i.e., America - are having a little problem with loans and credit and such. Probably nothing to worry about, right?

But I digress...

Spring Training is here , and all Red Sox fans thoughts turn to... umm, how frickin' cold it is in Boston right now!

Seriously, though, the Sox are down in Fort Myers getting ready to kick off the 2009 campaign, and I couldn't be happier. Not because it means lots of stories about who will be the shortstop (Lugo... duh) and who will pick up the "Manny Slack" (it will be the Bay/Lowell/Drew combo), but because it means warmer weather is on the way and with it, the promise of another good season of Sox baseball.

Moreso than even the 2007 season - when the arrival of J.D. Drew & Dice-K and Jacoby Ellsbury's planned ascendance had Sox fans expecting big things - there is a quiet confidence oozing from the pores of everyone associated with the Sox that good things will come this season. The continued growth of the Sox young guns - Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon and (most of all) Jon Lester - and the expected "bounce-back" campaigns from Josh Beckett and Big Papi have everyone thinking this team will be dominant.

For me, though, the real excitement and reason(s) for great expectations lie with the new faces on the roster who will most assuredly be difference-makers down the stretch. Faces like:

- John Smoltz - personally, this was the "holy s**t" moment of the off-season for me. Smoltz's stats and awards are known, but it's the so-called intangibles that have me giddy. He is - arguably - one of the two most successful big-game pitcher of his era (the other being Curt "WEEI Speed Dialer" Schilling) and a bulldog competitor to boot. The fact that he signed with the Sox for short money and is expected to be at full-strength by May/June (just in time to start the "shut-it-down" process for the rotation) has me positively giddy. I can't wait to see him pitch at Fenway.

- Brad Penny - say what you want about his injury history, but remember two things: He is just two seasons removed from a dominant season, and he is now in a rotation with his old Marlins buddy Josh Beckett. Remember when the Marlins had a rotation of Beckett, Carl Pavano, Brad Penny and A.J. Burnett and won the 2003 World Series? Good to have 1/2 of that quartet with the Sox.

- Takashi Saito - if he stays healthy, this guy is an unbelievable reliever who has struck out 245 guys and walked just 52 (almost 5-1 ratio) in his 3-year major league career. He is yet another reason to LOVE the Sox bullpen.

- Rocco Baldelli - gotta love this story... superstar in the making loses 3-4 years in his prime to a debilitating illness and some freak injuries, keeps working and seeing the doctors, and now finds himself playing for his hometown team (he's a Rhode Island native) in a perfect role for him: 4th OF, part-time DH, and major force off the bench. Plus he's a great clubhouse guy, from all accounts.

- Ramon Ramirez - yet another shrewd pick-up for the bullpen. Power arm, doesn't allow homers (just 2 in 70+ innings in '08) and average 1 K per inning. He'll get plenty of chances to rack up K's as Pap's set-up guy.

Remember that this is a team that came within a game of the World Series last season despite being decimated by injuries. Considering the talent they have all over the diamond defensively and the depth of the pitching rotation and bullpen, it's hard not to like this team's chances at getting back to the playoffs and even the ALCS.

Go Sawx!