2013 Spring Training

[jung]

96-97???? Frankie maybe....he gets it up to 94.6 on average with his fastball. Felix gets to 93.5 and that is about it for him.

[BSN07]

It's good to see the pitching staff down there early. And from what I have seen it looks like everyone is in good shape. Doesn't mean they are all studs. But it's better then trying to figure out why someone looks as though they had been sitting at the buffet all off season(Schilling and Becket gut photos are jumping to mind from seasons past).

[Palodios]

96-97???? Frankie maybe....he gets it up to 94.6 on average with his fastball. Felix gets to 93.5 and that is about it for him.

 

I've read scouting reports that have their peaks are 95 mph for Doubront, and 97 for Morales.

 

Edit: I've also seen a report that said Morales can reach 99 mph at times, but I'm skeptical on that one.

[jung]

Was looking at Brooks from last year.....didn't look like either got there. Even though Felix does not have the velo that Frankie has I think Felix's velo is fine for the way he pitches. Frankie while already having more juice than Felix can probably really use just a bit more than what he has.

[VA Sox Fan]

It's good to see the pitching staff down there early. And from what I have seen it looks like everyone is in good shape. Doesn't mean they are all studs. But it's better then trying to figure out why someone looks as though they had been sitting at the buffet all off season(Schilling and Becket gut photos are jumping to mind from seasons past).

 

^ This. Thanks for the positive post!

[VA Sox Fan]

Red Sox invite 19 to spring training

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff February 9, 2013 09:33 AM

 

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox have invited 19 players to spring training. Here's the breakdown:

 

Pitchers: RHP Pedro Beato, RHP Chris Carpenter, RHP Anthony Carter, RHP Jose De La Torre, RHP Terry Doyle, LHP Chris Hernandez, LHP Oscar Villarreal.

 

Infielders: Xander Bogaerts, Jonathan Diaz, Mark Hamilton (also OF), Justin Henry, Deven Marrero, Lyle Overbay, Drew Sutton,

 

Outfielders: Jackie Bradley, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Juan Carlos Linares, Mitch Maier, Ryan Sweeney.

 

Of note: Bogaerts, Bradley, Bradley and Marrero are among the team's top 10 prospects. ... Beato, Carpenter and Sweeney were all with the Sox last season. ... Sutton was with the Sox in 2011. ... A bit of a surprise that OF Bryce Brentz wasn't invited to camp. ... De La Torre will play for Puerto Rico in the WBC. ... The Sox will have 59 players in camp including OF Ryan Kalish, who is recovering from shoulder surgery.

[BSN07]

Red Sox invite 19 to spring training

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff February 9, 2013 09:33 AM

 

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox have invited 19 players to spring training. Here's the breakdown:

 

Pitchers: RHP Pedro Beato, RHP Chris Carpenter, RHP Anthony Carter, RHP Jose De La Torre, RHP Terry Doyle, LHP Chris Hernandez, LHP Oscar Villarreal.

 

Infielders: Xander Bogaerts, Jonathan Diaz, Mark Hamilton (also OF), Justin Henry, Deven Marrero, Lyle Overbay, Drew Sutton,

 

Outfielders: Jackie Bradley, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Juan Carlos Linares, Mitch Maier, Ryan Sweeney.

 

Of note: Bogaerts, Bradley, Bradley and Marrero are among the team's top 10 prospects. ... Beato, Carpenter and Sweeney were all with the Sox last season. ... Sutton was with the Sox in 2011. ... A bit of a surprise that OF Bryce Brentz wasn't invited to camp. ... De La Torre will play for Puerto Rico in the WBC. ... The Sox will have 59 players in camp including OF Ryan Kalish, who is recovering from shoulder surgery.

 

Pal just posted a story about him. He accidentally shot himself in the offseason so that's why he is not in big league camp.

 

edit: Here's the story,

 

 

Red Sox prospect Bryce Brentz explained by phone that his absence from big league camp in spring training is due to an injury that he sustained due to an accidental discharge of a gun he was cleaning. The injury was sustained after he attended the organization’s Rookie Development Program in early January. While he would not disclose the specific injury, he said that the issue was “nothing serious.” Still, while he expects to be ready for the start of the season, the timing of the injury meant that he would not be able to participate in Red Sox big league camp.

[BSN07]

^ This. Thanks for the positive post!

 

Thanks But keep it on the DL, your gonna get me called an unimaginative ballwasher

[VA Sox Fan]

Pal just posted a story about him. He accidentally shot himself in the offseason so that's why he is not in big league camp.

 

edit: Here's the story,

 

I'm surprised Abraham didn't know about that.

[VA Sox Fan]

Thanks But keep it on the DL, your gonna get me called an unimaginative ballwasher

 

Or a dense asshat

[Palodios]

More news has come out. As I expected, this was not a small thing. He shot himself clean through his own leg.

 

 

Brentz was injured recently while cleaning his handgun, according to general manager Ben Cherington. The bullet entered Brentz' leg and went out the other side, Cherington said Saturday. Brentz is recovering in Fort Myers, but he won't be ready to participate when camp opens later this week. Cherington said it's possible the 24-year-old outfielder could be ready to play in games before spring training ends.

[a700hitter]

Lackey and Dempster are your token #3 type pitchers. ERAS in the 4.00s, with high strikeouts and high innings. If healthy and effective, they'll keep the Red Sox in games for the offense/bullpen to finish off. Ofcourse, that is a big if.

 

Doubront and Morales are lefties with 96-97 MPH fastballs-- Morales being a top 10 overall draft pick. They're both young pitchers who simply haven't gotten everything together for a good season yet, but the talent is definitely there.

 

There are a lot of IFS, and I'm aware of it. However, the way the team has started alleviates some of my concerns.

It is natural to start to get more optimistic as the season approaches. We want the season to be fun and interesting and we are starting to grasp the reality that this is all we have. Our staff is like the ugly girl in the bar at closing time. We never would have thought about leaving with her at the beginning of the night, but now she is our only choice so we embrace her.

 

At some point we will wake up and want to hurl, and our friends (I.e., Yankee fans) will point out that we were desperate fools. If you don't believe me, read the posts on here about Dempster and Lackey in the early part of the off season. Now, we are counting on these clowns.

[iortiz]

It is natural to start to get more optimistic as the season approaches. We want the season to be fun and interesting and we are starting to grasp the reality that this is all we have. Our staff is like the ugly girl in the bar at closing time. We never would have thought about leaving with her at the beginning of the night, but now she is our only choice so we embrace her.

At some point we will wake up and want to hurl, and our friends (I.e., Yankee fans) will point out that we were desperate fools. If you don't believe me, read the posts on here about and Lackey in the early part of the off season. Now, we are counting on these clowns.

:lol:...

 

Goes to FB right away! :thumbsup:

[a700hitter]

:lol:...

 

Goes to FB right away! :thumbsup:

I forgot to mention Dempster so I edited my post.

[jung]

Shot through the leg cleaning his gun!! Sounds like there was one in the chamber he did not know about. Not the first time a gun owner has made that mistake though. Usually he finds out because we all will rack the slide pretty regularly just to check thinking we may just have forgotten and out pops the round. Guess he didn't.

[VA Sox Fan]

Salty and Ross set to do the catching

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff February 9, 2013 12:10 PM

 

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox catching competition may be over already.

 

General manager Ben Cherington made it clear this morning that Jarrod Saltalamacchia and David Ross will be the catchers and that Ryan Lavarnway has to wait his turn.

 

"For right now I think our expectations [are] Salty and Ross, they're the two proven guys. We signed Ross and a reason and Salty has continued to build on each year and added some things and gotten better. He's a power threat [and] capable of being one of the best catchers in the league. We've seen that. We've seen other parts of seasons when he's struggled.

 

"He's still a young guy. We expect him to continue to develop and be even better this year than he was last year. We think Salty and Ross complement each other well offensively.

"We feel pretty good about where we are catching wise."

 

So where does that leave Lavarnway?

 

"Lavarnway has come a long way. We think he's going to be a really good player for us. Sometimes the clock doesn't start exactly when the player wants to. But he's proven at the Triple-A level that he's capable of helping a major league team. That's going to happen, we just don't know exactly when."

 

Lavarnway, 25, has played 144 games in Triple-A over the last two seasons, hitting .295/.382/.511 with 26 home runs and 98 RBIs. He has hit .172 /.230/.286 in 209 major league plate appearances from 2011-12.

 

Cherington did not speculate on the possibility of a trade.

 

"I'm not sure about the odds. We'll see," he said. "We've talked to teams all winter. We kind of know where other teams are and some teams have done most of what they need to do and some teams are still working on things and may have some questions this spring training. We'll continue the conversations and see if anything comes to us that makes sense. But we're not motivated to make a deal. We don't need to make a deal. We'll see if one comes to us that makes sense."

[jung]

Leave it to the Sox to hang with the guy that is known to suck (Salty) and leave the guy that could be better even this year to wallow around in the minors (Lavs). This is so like the Red Sox and so predictable it hurts.

[mvp 78]

Oh noes... A guy who can't hit .200 in MLB will be in AAA to start the season!

 

They should still trade Salty though. I'd rather Ross be the catcher getting the most reps.

[a700hitter]

By age 30, most catcher's legs are starting to wear out. I guess Lavarnway will finally get his shot about the time his legs will start to wear out. What's the point of going with Salty and Ross on a last place team? I think they should see what the kid has. At 25' ou should have had enough seasoning.

[Palodios]

Salty is capable of being one of the best catchers in the league.

 

I have officially lost faith in Cherries.

[a700hitter]

I have officially lost faith in Cherries.

I hope Salty plays frisbee with SFF. It is our only chance to improve the pitching and get Lavarnway his shot. Please SFF, you are our chance.

 

Seriously, if Cherries thinks that Salty can be one of the best catchers in the league, he is an idiot who can't be trusted to judge talent. I am thoroughly convinced that he knows zero about pitching talent.

[BSN07]

Ok playing devils advocate here. But should he have said "Salty is a s***** Catcher and we are going to dump him to make room for Lavs"?

 

It's probably more likely they will look to trade him this spring or at some point this season and it wouldn't help his already low value by saying before ST even starts he has no spot on the team.

[Spitball]

With Saltalamacchia is still on the team, the Sox have no other choice than to send Lavarnway to Pawtucket. It would be totally foolish to carry three catchers, especially with Napoli on the team.

 

Teams generally carry a major league ready catcher on the triple A team in case an injury occurs to one of the major league catchers.

[Palodios]

Ok playing devils advocate here. But should he have said "Salty is a s***** Catcher and we are going to dump him to make room for Lavs"?

 

It's probably more likely they will look to trade him this spring or at some point this season and it wouldn't help his already low value by saying before ST even starts he has no spot on the team.

 

I'm just miffed by his evaluation of his skillset. I'd have no problem with one of these:

 

"He's our catcher. We'll stand by him this season, and see what happens as he reaches free agency. He's definitely an important part of this team, and can be a solid catcher within our organization."

[Spitball]

I'm just miffed by his evaluation of his skillset. I'd have no problem with one of these:

 

"He's our catcher. We'll stand by him this season, and see what happens as he reaches free agency. He's definitely an important part of this team, and can be a solid catcher within our organization."

 

Uh, what do you want him to say?

"Unfortunately, he's our catcher. We are stuck with him this season, but hopefully he leaves through free agency. He's definitely not an important part of this team, and will never be a solid catcher within our organization."

 

Have you never played poker? That would totally diminish his trade value.

[Palodios]

Uh, what do you want him to say?

"Unfortunately, he's our catcher. We are stuck with him this season, but hopefully he leaves through free agency. He's definitely not an important part of this team, and will never be a solid catcher within our organization."

 

Have you never played poker? That would totally diminish his trade value.

 

Errr, just to be clear, the quote from above is what I want him to say.

[a700hitter]

Uh, what do you want him to say?

"Unfortunately, he's our catcher. We are stuck with him this season, but hopefully he leaves through free agency. He's definitely not an important part of this team, and will never be a solid catcher within our organization."

 

Have you never played poker? That would totally diminish his trade value.

 

One thing that Cherries has not been in his tenure is misleading. He pretty much stays true to what he says. If he said that about Salty, I am concerned that he means it and he will be with us for all of 2013.

[mvp 78]

I think it says more about their lack of confidence in Lavs than how much they value Salty. If Lavs hit at the end of last season, Salty would be gone.

[SoxSport]

I just wrote a post about Salty somewhere here. MLB rumors is reporting an interview today with Cherington which implies Salty and Ross will stick, and Lav will go to Pawtucket. Already the media is overinterpreting--saying Lav is trade bait.

 

Considering Ben's track record--or lack thereof--in player evaluation, I think that sounds a bit hasty.

Granted Lav should start the season in AAA, but he probably has more upside than Salty, and he shouldn't be traded.

 

I expect Salty to improve this year, especially defensively, because the kid is a hard worker. He has to get his glove target off the middle of the plate and onto the corners. Caught him at that watching him last year. And he needs to get his OBP up. Lav has to get his stroke back in Pawtucket--or in ST.

 

Salty and Lav are two big guys who can be very good catchers. They should hold onto both. Ross is strictly backup material long term.

[Bellhorn04]

It's shaping up as a year of observation and assessment.

 

-Is our starting rotation as brutal as many think it is?

-Is Salty as brutal a catcher as many think he is?

-How good are our prospects and how close to helping us?

-Is Benny a smart guy or a boob?