2013 Spring Training

[rjortiz]

Nope. It's going to be Steven Wright!

 

@Knucklepuck23: First day of spring in the books and I really enjoy the guys there fun to be around!!!!

 

Great. Our savior is a f***ing idiot.

[mvp 78]

Great. Our savior is a f***ing idiot.

 

It pained me to copy/paste that.

[Spitball]

"...there fun to be around!!!!" Good grief. Maybe it is just twitter spelling.

[jung]

Hey, we aren't asking them to perform brain sugary.:D

[rjortiz]

Hey, we aren't asking them to perform brain sugary.:D

 

He's probably a better brain surgeon, than a pitcher.

[VA Sox Fan]

^ polyanna

 

:lol:

[a700hitter]

Does anyone, with the possible exception of his mother, care about what Steven Wright thinks?

[SoxFanForsyth]

http://images.scribblelive.com/2013/2/13/18993c31-ba59-4ec6-a448-cf4a37a367e5_400.jpg

 

Perfect photo to show what Lester was doing wrong last year and looks to have corrected this year.

 

Last year, his front knee was pointed toward the catcher at this point in his delivery. Now, it's pointed toward the 1B dugout. That's a significant change.

[BSN07]

http://images.scribblelive.com/2013/2/13/18993c31-ba59-4ec6-a448-cf4a37a367e5_400.jpg

 

Perfect photo to show what Lester was doing wrong last year and looks to have corrected this year.

 

Last year, his front knee was pointed toward the catcher at this point in his delivery. Now, it's pointed toward the 1B dugout. That's a significant change.

 

How dare you think Lester will rebound. It's common knowledge he's been declining for most of his career and at this point he's about as worthless as tits on a bull. Pfff the nerve of some people.

[mvp 78]

I just don't want to hear "he's unlucky" if he has a 4.5 ERA in July...

[seabeachfred]

How dare you think Lester will rebound. It's common knowledge he's been declining for most of his career and at this point he's about as worthless as tits on a bull. Pfff the nerve of some people.

 

This is where there might be some room for optimism for us Red Sox fans. John Farrell knows the pitchers, especially Lester and Buchholz, both of whom experienced some real success under his tutilege. Pitchers get in slumps just as hitters do, as you well know being a coach, and proper mechanics can mean the difference between success and failure. Of course that precludes the fact that you have to have the talent in the first place, but when you get to the Majors it is accepted that you have that talent. Since we'll take that as a given perhaps Jon last season had his mechanics and well as his head all screwed up. We know his head was off what with his constant bitching and complaining to umpires. We'll see if his mechanics were off as well. We might see it as soon as Opening Day since it is my belief he will be opposing CC Sabathia that afternoon at Yankee Stadium. What a victory by him that day might do for his confidence and that of the team.

[BSN07]

This is where there might be some room for optimism for us Red Sox fans. John Farrell knows the pitchers, especially Lester and Buchholz, both of whom experienced some real success under his tutilege. Pitchers get in slumps just as hitters do, as you well know being a coach, and proper mechanics can mean the difference between success and failure. Of course that precludes the fact that you have to have the talent in the first place, but when you get to the Majors it is accepted that you have that talent. Since we'll take that as a given perhaps Jon last season had his mechanics and well as his head all screwed up. We know his head was off what with his constant bitching and complaining to umpires. We'll see if his mechanics were off as well. We might see it as soon as Opening Day since it is my belief he will be opposing CC Sabathia that afternoon at Yankee Stadium. What a victory by him that day might do for his confidence and that of the team.

 

Probably the most eye to eye we have ever been on any given issue. But some around here would have you believe he will never find home plate again even with a tom tom strapped to his ass.

[jung]

I wish Jon just had one single pitch that was giving him trouble instead of multiple pitches. Maybe it will all resolve itself in exactly the same solution. It is probably at least a little different in each case.

[BSN07]

I wish Jon just had one single pitch that was giving him trouble instead of multiple pitches. Maybe it will all resolve itself in exactly the same solution. It is probably at least a little different in each case.

 

Because it's more then one pitch it usually means it's mechanical. Fixing the mechanical flaws improves your motion to the plate, velocity/power behind the pitch and the plane in which it travels on.

 

We got to work with some slow motion cameras and motion sensors as part of a training clinic we had this off season. Our best young pitcher strapped everything on and it was extremely cool and provided us with tons of good data. One of the things that stood out to me was with just a 2" difference in elbow height caused a significant difference in the plain the ball traveled on.

 

It just goes to show you that a pitcher being able to repeat his motion over and over again throughout the course of a season is not only very important, but extremely difficult.

[VA Sox Fan]

Jon Lester hits the right tone

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff February 13, 2013 01:40 PM

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Jon Lester further bruised his reputation last week with some petulant comments to WEEI.com. For skeptical fans, it was not what they wanted to hear.

 

But when he met with the media Wednesday, Lester did more than damage control. He showed himself as somebody who really does recognize what has gone wrong since the final month of the 2011 season.

 

In response to a question from the Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, Lester said he does love baseball and loves playing in Boston, even in the bad times.

 

"Sometimes I kind of want to strangle myself," Lester said. "It can be intimidating, especially when you have seasons like last year. It's tough. You know you suck and your teammates are trying to pick you up and everybody else knows you suck. You're just trying to kind of break even on the whole deal. It's tough. But at the same time, it's the greatest place to play."

 

Lester also acknowledged that he needs to be more of a leader with the departure of Josh Beckett. Part of that, he said, is improving his body language on the mound and not complaining to umpires.

 

Manager John Farrell has spoken to Lester about those subjects.

 

"You want to express some things, you want to give some honest feedback. This is something that in the time here prior, it was a topic of conversation at times when it needed to be," Farrell said. "You don't want to take a person's personality completely away from him. But at the same time, I think there are limits to not showing composure or not being composed. When that kind of is exceeded, we all need to be pulled back every now and then.

 

"I think listening to Jon and what he had to say, he spoke very candidly about that. I think he's in the right place and thinking about it the right way right now."

[jung]

Actually two inches in arm angle is quite a bit.

 

Anyway I realize Jon's issues are mechanical. That was pretty well documented last year. A pitcher does try to disguise his pitches and use the same motion as much as possible. That is certainly true of the FB and the Straight Change and the Cut Fastball.

 

I don't expect Lester to lose it the way he did last year. By the same token I don't expect him to have a super great season either. I think it will depend on what happens with his FB. 1.5 mph is a lotta' velo and i would be surprised if he gains all of that back even if the mechanical fixes bring back some of it. If he has to make the kinds of changes that starting pitchers tend to have to make if they lose velo off their FB, then I think it will be very difficult for Jon to have a great year. He will be dealing with making changes on multiple levels if he has to compensate for the velo on his FB becoming a moving target. Beckett has certainly not handled that particular aspect of his pitching with much success so far.

 

If that does happen to Jon this year then I think the upper end of the spectrum of possible outcomes for Jon's season takes a hit and the best I would hope for would be a good solid performance but not something like a duplicate of the best Jon is capable of giving us.

[jung]

What has almost become a Boston institution has seen its last day today. Glen Ordway is often credited for developing much of the model for contemporary sports talk radio formats with his WEEI Big Show. Ordway hosted his last WEEI show today. Maybe there is just not enough interest in Sports Talk Radio for the various competitors. While the Big Show won the ratings battle last spring it is losing that same battle this year to the competing Felger and Maz show. Felger and are two guys that got their start in Sports Talk Radio on the Big Show...as most Boston Sports Radio personalities have.

 

The interesting link to the Red Sox is that WEEI has always been a Red Sox first station. There were a few industry comments today that the Sox are simply not generating the kind of fan interest they once did with WEEI taking a hit as well.

 

Ordway's departure leaves Michael Holly, brought in two years ago to "young up" the show as the lone host. Many of the show's staples are exiting with Ordway.

 

LL has been saying that the sellout streak is going to die this year...likely in April but has been downplaying the significance of the streak.

[mvp 78]

What does the Big O being fired have to do with Spring Training?

[jung]

What does the Big O being fired have to do with Spring Training?

 

The comments about the level of interest in the Sox here in Boston as baseball just gets ramped up again and its impact on the station and its most visible personality.

 

Some of the forum members mentioned having an easier time getting ST tickets earlier this month. Wonder how ticket sales are going generally. Haven't seen anything one way or the other with the exception of LL's comment about the sellout streak.

[Spitball]

Glen Ordway is often credited for developing much of the model for contemporary sports talk radio formats with his WEEI Big Show.

 

Why would he be credited with this when guys like Guy Manella, Cliff Keane, Larry Claflin, and Eddie Andelman were around doing the talk show format before he was?

[jung]

WEEI's original sports talk format really did not have any elements that distinguished it from any other sports talk stations or formats.

 

Ordway developed things that ultimately resulted in various WEEI shows occupying the top spots "nationally" for sports talk radio programing, going on to occupy the top spots in some cases for talk radio "all formats". Ordway was the Program Director for the station as well as being the host of the afternoon drive time show.

 

Much of what is taken for granted as a mainstay of sports talk radio and talk radio generally was actually developed in the early days of Ordway's stewardship as Program Director for that station and WEEI literally came out of the woodwork to occupy top rating spots nationally..a total shock to the industry.

 

That takes nothing away from the various early hosts as personalities. The old "A" was legendary. Ordway simply had a knack for understanding what would play within the sports radio talk show format and developed programing content based on his understanding. Some of the stuff developed at the EEI of that era was considered absolute suicide at the time but eventually launched the station to those top spots.

[Bellhorn04]

Encouraging results for Napoli

February, 16, 2013

10:05 AM ET

By Joe McDonald | ESPNBoston.com

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli got positive results from Thursday’s hip MRI and now he’s able to slowly begin baseball activities.

 

Prior to the Red Sox officially signing Napoli during the offseason, it was discovered during a physical that he had avascular necrosis, which is a serious hip condition. He arrived at camp earlier this week and had another MRI taken on Thursday to make sure his hip did not get worse.

 

“Nothing got worse, it stayed the same. It’s what we wanted,” Napoli said Saturday morning.

 

Before this condition was discovered, Napoli was originally slated to sign with the Red Sox for three years and $39 million. He ultimately settled for an incentive-laden, one-year deal worth $5 million.

 

On Saturday, he said he’s not nervous about his situation.

 

“Not really,” he said. “The doctor showed me that this medicine is going to work and I felt good about it and it did everything we thought it would.”

 

Even though he’s been cleared to play, he’s not going to rush back.

 

“I’m not gonna just get out there and have a full go,” he explained. “I’ll progress into things. I’ll increase my treadmill work, start taking ground balls and go from there.”

 

Napoli added he’s relieved the condition did not worsen and he’s looking forward to playing with the Red Sox.

 

“It’s exciting,” he said. “I want to get out there and do what everyone else is doing out there. I still have a long way to go. I’m going to take my time and get ready.”

[Bellhorn04]

TwitterPete Abraham @PeteAbe

If there is a baseball god, Jose Iglesias will hit. He's putting on a show in the infield this morning.

[a700hitter]

Encouraging results for Napoli

February, 16, 2013

10:05 AM ET

By Joe McDonald | ESPNBoston.com

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli got positive results from Thursday’s hip MRI and now he’s able to slowly begin baseball activities.

 

Prior to the Red Sox officially signing Napoli during the offseason, it was discovered during a physical that he had avascular necrosis, which is a serious hip condition. He arrived at camp earlier this week and had another MRI taken on Thursday to make sure his hip did not get worse.

 

“Nothing got worse, it stayed the same. It’s what we wanted,” Napoli said Saturday morning.

 

Before this condition was discovered, Napoli was originally slated to sign with the Red Sox for three years and $39 million. He ultimately settled for an incentive-laden, one-year deal worth $5 million.

 

On Saturday, he said he’s not nervous about his situation.

 

“Not really,” he said. “The doctor showed me that this medicine is going to work and I felt good about it and it did everything we thought it would.”

 

Even though he’s been cleared to play, he’s not going to rush back.

 

“I’m not gonna just get out there and have a full go,” he explained. “I’ll progress into things. I’ll increase my treadmill work, start taking ground balls and go from there.”

 

Napoli added he’s relieved the condition did not worsen and he’s looking forward to playing with the Red Sox.

 

“It’s exciting,” he said. “I want to get out there and do what everyone else is doing out there. I still have a long way to go. I’m going to take my time and get ready.”

This is good news. There's no need for him to go behind the plate with all the catchers that we have, so that should help. We need 25 bombs from him this year.

[a700hitter]

AROUND THE BASES: How precise is the schedule? The bullpen sessions were set for 10:02 a.m., 10:14 a.m. and 10:26 a.m. … Jon Lester said that he believes in leadership by example. He is showing in his actions hustling from station to station and going full speed though the drills. … Felix Doubront reported in poor shape and the staff isn’t happy about it. He had conditioning problems in 2011, too.

the fact that this keeps making the Spring Training report makes me believe that the staff is pretty ticked about this.

[Klare]

What a guy that cat. Or is it a Yankee fan in October 2013?

[dupree]

the fact that this keeps making the Spring Training report makes me believe that the staff is pretty ticked about this.

 

I keep reading reports and it seems like Doubrant's weight is mentioned in all of them. I know some guys have a few extra pounds to shed but it seems like he has blown up like Bartolo Colon or something, i havent seen any video or pictures of him so i dont know.

 

How far is the team below the current luxury tax? Is an outside the organization still a possibility an option or no? Via sign or trade?

[redsoxfan3]

I keep reading reports and it seems like Doubrant's weight is mentioned in all of them. I know some guys have a few extra pounds to shed but it seems like he has blown up like Bartolo Colon or something, i havent seen any video or pictures of him so i dont know.

 

How far is the team below the current luxury tax? Is an outside the organization still a possibility an option or no? Via sign or trade?

 

He isn't as fat as Colon. He isn't in that great of shape either. During warmups, he looks kind of out of shape. I would not say he is extremely overweight, but he could lose a few pounds. He is not in better shape like Lackey.

 

Don't forget we are stetching out Aceves and Morales as well. We realistically have seven options. If Doubront shows any signs of fatigue early on, my guess is Aceves or Morales would fill-in. We still are about 9 million under if you count all of Napoli's 13 million. It is possible we can sign or trade for someone, but probably not likely. Lohse is likely out of the equation.

[dupree]

I dont think Lohse is an option either, they have went this long without giving up their draft pick i dont see them blowing it on Lohse who i still believe will go back to the Cardinals. With Carpenter going down i think Boras is just holding out for more money for Lohse.

 

Plus i dont believe he will sign for 9 million, then the draft pick money goes on top of that so that would put us over the cap. So it a no for me on Lohse. We r not one pitcher away from contending, we are in the business of hoping we stay healthy and everyone else in the AL east goes down with injury that seems to be our only logical hope.

[jung]

Hugely disappointed in Felix. Now I think the concerns about his commitment to baseball expressed the last time he did this are justified. Felix has not proved anything to anybody other than that he can show up out of shape wasting a bunch of time before he can actually advance himself from where he left off last season.

 

I would also suggest that it says two things about Felix that are somewhat disconcerting. Why would you show up out of shape when you consider how much money MLB is throwing at pitchers these days?

 

unless....

 

You, yourself did not think you really had it...whatever it is and are just bumping along in professional baseball until somebody finds you out and forces you to get a real job.

 

So he either does not have it and knows it or he is dumb and unmotivated as a 2 x 4.