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I gotta say that I like how JD Drew approaches his at-bats... (I'm writing before I see what he does)... EDIT: nice pitch for the K

Manny is amazing. He gets to more deep counts without swinging a bat than anyone I've ever seen. He looks like a guy who is hacking away but who doesn't actually take the bat off his shoulders. Such an intimidating presence.

It does. And the 4 headed pitching monster. Nice Remy: "I can't help but think, when I look at Manny, that the Board of Health called..." referring to Manny in a hair-net.

Any chance Ortiz will re-learn how to hit to RF anytime soon? That shift kills his AVG, although his OBP is still pretty solid year after year.

who is going to provide a spark for this team this season? I mean, I am having no problem watching this game, even if they're losing 0-3 against the Yankees. But in general, who--if anyone--do people imagine will be the sparkplug on this team and provide some sense of urgency? I guess that's why I wouldn't be against a mid-season call-up of Ellsbury if necessary. Of course, given that they've already sent him down to minor league camp for this spring training, its probably not going to happen as I would wish.

3 run 1st for Yanks. No hard hit balls, 3 runs... typical Wakefield inning. He tends to have one or two of those a game.

No, no. With Hughes it is a sign that he's never going to be an adequate MLB pitcher. With Matsuzaka its just that he didn't sleep well last night. You should just give up on Hughes right now jacksonian.

Agreed. I have no concerns that, if this were a regular season game, he would come out and start putting Zeros up on the board for a few more innings. It is inevitable that a pitcher will give up runs in MLB baseball. Inevitable. I"m glad he is being faced with some adversity in 'practice' games.

Ya know, although I have been against it to this point, I have to think that if the sox don't figure out someone who can consistently close the door I would be in favor of trading one of the younger pitching 'specs. With Lester, matsuzaka, Papelbon and Beckett we're looking at the rotation for possibly 5 years. With Bowden, Buchholz and Bard coming up there is a logjam--which isn't an issue but it is possible that a shut down reliever would put this team over the top for that same 5 year period (or a few years at least). I largely agree with ORS and others here who say the 'pen is full of adequate relievers who can get outs. What they lack is ANYONE who is noticably hard to hit. Which of these guys can have even a low 1.2ish WHIP? 1.3? A pitcher who is career-average Timlin would do this pen a lot of good. A Foulke/Wettland/Papelbon type could start a dynasty.

Get it while it's hot! Highlights from yesterday's Matsuzaka start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAORzw8Ksk Find parts 2, 3, etc., on youtube. EDIT: when was the last time you saw Varitek flash "2" and get a 4 seamer? This guy has a lot of pitches!

Very well put ORS. Both of those things have been reasons why he seems to get hit hard. He throws hard and he tends to throw strikes. Walks don't seem to be a big problem but he rarely seems to get ahead and his balls appear to be asking permission to enter the strike zone. Permission is denied with regularity. The weak contact likely has to do with his inability to change speeds effectively.

I didn't see one thread dedicated to Matsuzaka's overall performance. So here it is. He deserves it. He had his first official spring training start today, facing the Marlins (3 IP, 2 H, 3 K, 1 BB ). So far he seems as expected. Pretty much in control the whole time. Gives up hits every now and then because MLB hitters are good, but he has better control than I thought he did and an amazing array of pitches. There really is a mania around this guy. All of the celebrity in Japan aside, from a purely baseball point of view this guy is fascinating. Not only is he one of the most accomplished pitchers on the planet with his MVP of the WBC and Japanese professional experience, but he is an enigma of a pitcher. Nobody is absolutely certain about the number of pitches he has, and nobody is certain about whether he throws a particular pitch. Even after all the arguments and all the discussion, there are still so many misconceptions about him. Just listening to the Marlins radio broadcast they are wondering if the gyroball is like a screwball, or whether it is a slow slider. They say "people study these things, although I don't know how they could since there is no video of this guy", despite all the video that has been cited and linked, endlessly it seemed at the time. To the casual viewer this guy will be years of entertainment through his celebrity and relative uniqueness. To the hardcore baseball fan he can be years of entertainment through pitching excellence and the definition of hard work and dedication to a craft. In other words, I'm just about ready to proclaim him a phenomenon and I'm very happy the Red Sox have him for his prime years.

I've been a huge Ellsbury guy since before they drafted him (I liked him a lot when he played for Oregon State... though I never got to see him play, other than on TV). He is such an amazing athelete I have no doubt he could make it in MLB. He makes good solid line-drive contact, runs his balls off, is comfortable (thrives) leading off, plays a skill position and is young. It just comes down to a cost-benefit thing for the sox with Crisp. I am not convinced that Ellsbury can have a better MLB season than Crisp in his prime, but I sure as hell would call him up if there were an injury, in CF particularly. That said, has anyone else been impressed with Murphy so far this year? He's hitting like a legitimate #6 or #7 hitter and I imagine his stock has risen pretty well lately. I just don't see a spot for him any time soon. Even if he could hit 30 HR the Sox won't give him the chance with Manny/Crisp/Drew/WMP/Ellsbury ahead of him. ============= Indication that Ellsbury is faster than Crisp: Best 'speed' Season: Coco: 2001, Age 21, A+, 139 Gm: 39 SBs Jacoby: 2006, Age 22, A+, AA, 111 Gm: 41 SBs In 2005 he had 23 SB in 35 games in Lowell. SBs aren't the only indicator. I think triples are a good one too. I'm not saying he's the fastest guy on Earth, simply that he's DAMN fast. Even if his success rate dropped a bit from in the minors, he could steal 50 bases in a season.

Any discussions involving MDC or Hansen should continue. My take is that the bullpen is largely in trouble for this season, with or without Hansen. They can address the pen again next offseason or with guy slike Cox and Edgar Martinez continuing to develop. YOu can find MLB average relief pretty easily. Adding a guy like Helton could be the last significant move that this team needs to make for the next couple of years in my opinion. Adding Helton (even at 80% of his traditional self) to a lineup that has already secured Manny, Ortiz, drew, Lugo, Varitek, Crisp, WMP, etc., for the next few years adds a tremendous amount of defense and OBP skills in a lineup with tremendous power already. If they don't need to make significant moves for pitching or hitting the next few years, and they can get this deal done with Lowell, Tavarez and MDC or CH then that means that Ellsbury, Bard, Bowden, Buchholz, Masterson and Cox are all safe. In other words, the Sox would give up two overpriced veterans and one of the picks they got for letting go of Derek Lowe (!). Most teams are aware that the sox have had a winfall of draft picks recently by taking advantage of the system, so I imagine they're getting pressed for more than one of those picks with a lot of these discussions.

Given how much MLB action these guys have, the Sox know how these guys tend to handle pressure already. Otherwise, what they need to see is whether or not they can pitch innings without getting into trouble and giving up runs. There will undoubtedly be times where Farrell or Francona say "Pitch like its the ninth"--to clarify that "this isn't a time to work on your cutter." If everyone totally sucks then I really envision Papelbon being the closer with Lester moving to the rotation if he's still healthy. My personal preference would be to try some of the younger guys or at least a stop-gap like Edgar Martinez. I don't have any problem with a closer by committee if your team is good through and through. This bullpen doesn't have that one or two arms that are essentially shut down in late innings. I think leverege situations exist and that your best reliever should be in in the highest leverege situations. I vote for Papelbon if it is absolutely necessary, and after Hansen, Martinez, and Cox have been thought about VERY seriously.

I think Ellsbury will continue getting stronger and will eventually put up 15 HR in a season. I think Damon comparisons are good... one of the easiest comparisons available between ANY minor leaguer and major leaguer in my opinion. Ellsbury is such an amazing athelete that I think he will have a career path very much like that of Damon. He has the ability to make contact already, and he clearly has some very good pop on his bat too.

I see... I shut it off when the Phils went up by 3 and my computer froze. I'm watching again now.

For NCAA Football I was able to buy a memory card with entirely updated rosters. Any chance such a thing exists for MLB games? I had the same problem last year, because if you make your MiLB guys worth anything they are so much better than everyone they play that games become meaningless.

I think you can tell he doesn't have a chance of being the next Joe Nathan on stuff alone. Hence the excitement about a guy like Craig Hansen, who DOES have the stuff but hasn't put it together yet.

You had faith in Piniero?