Westmoreland to face live pitching

[VA Sox Fan]

This makes me smile:

 

A step forward for Ryan Westmoreland

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff August 17, 2011 12:59 PM

 

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff

 

Ryan Westmoreland, the Red Sox prospect who underwent brain surgery in March 2010, will take a major step forward in his return to baseball today.

 

According to Sox officials, Westmoreland will step in the batters box in Fort Myers and face live pitching for the first time since his surgery. For now, he will only track those pitches and not swing at

them.

 

Until now, Westmoreland has been facing pitches from a machine.

 

"God doesn't deal cards to people who can't handle them. BIG day," Westmoreland wrote on Twitter earlier today.

 

For more on Ryan and his story, check out this story from Charlie Pierce from the Globe magazine

[example1]

Obviously we're all hoping for the best. I don't think that a700 and Jacko are being overly pessimistic, but there's really no need to state the obvious in this case. Anyone who knows about Westy's surgery knows it will be a miracle for him to every have a meaningful MLB career. That said, he's blessed with the body and congition of an elite athlete and I'm not going to write him off without knowing the whole story.

 

Honestly, would anyone have a problem with the Sox pushing him through the system to see if he can hit/run over the next 4-5 years? If he's able to go out there and show any ability at all I would be fine with him seeing an inning in the field or getting an AB in a meaningless game at the end of the season. If there's ever a player who deserved a single AB it was Westmoreland.