jacksonianmarch

The chart has nothing to do with this one. This is medical my friend, something I am more than qualified to speak on

Chamberlain had a knee and triceps issue coming out of college. Neither have given him trouble as a big leaguer. Chamberlain got yanked into and out of the rotation and led to shoulder and then elbow trouble. And yes it is the spring. I am unsure you can take solace in today's performance. V has to make a choice soon

The stuff was there then as well. The guy couldnt locate. They shortened his arsenal, dropping his windup and voila, he could locate. Now, they are trying to stretch him out and boom, he's walked 13 batters in 18 innings and only struck out 11. I know it is the spring, but do you find it weird that a guy who walked 1 batter every 3 innings last season out of the pen has walked over 2 batters every 3 innings in the spring? I know it is the spring, but Bard is a guy trying to win a spot. He isnt Lester or Beckett, who I could really care less about in terms of numbers. You know they can produce in the season. Bard is an unknown, and thus far, he's been awful. Learn the lesson of Joba. f*** with a good thing and you could get someone stuck in the middle.

SFF, you are on high alert these days. They said he could be back on a mound by July, that doesnt mean his arm will be anywhere near ready. In all likelihood, he is out for the season. He has an outside chance of being completely ready by September, but I doubt it. The injury looks a whole lot worse than it actually is to a prime athlete who has access to medical care and rehab care that you and I don't have. I said before that if everything goes well, an ankle dislocation (open or not) is a 12-16 week rehab. 12 weeks puts us in late June, early July. Obviously, everything needs to go well. Then, he can return to his rehab from his TJS. Like I said before, he is likely out for the yr. The reason why Joba (prior to injury) could have come back sooner was his role. DiceK is going to come back as a starter. It takes longer for starters to come back from TJS due to the stamina required to start and the depth of the arsenal needed. If Joba hadnt broken/dislocated his ankle, he'd have been able to contribute by June, even though he had his TJS later than DiceK. I do think DiceK is back, throwing for the Red Sox by June or July, I dont think you will see what he can really do until the end of the season.

Painful. Warm soaks are your friend

My guess is that the next girl Varitek bangs will be the next Heidi Watney. He seems to be pretty on top of that, even in retirement

Bard as a reliever sits 97+. Bard as a starter is likely going to sit 94ish. That makes his secondary pitches and location much more important. He's not ready, his location is still off (3 more walks today in 6 innings), and he's getting hit pretty hard. There is a point where a guy learns on the job and a point where he is hurting your team. The AL is absolutely stacked this yr and if starting Bard for 2 months puts you behind the 8 ball, then the idea needs to be scrapped.

They got Shoppach because they have seen what happens to a pitching staff when your catcher is useless. Varitek was an awesome defensive catcher, but he was useless from 09 on and last yr Salty wasnt much better. Shoppach is a plus defender behind the dish and can actually act as a binky for some salty pitchers (read Beckett). If they want Lavarnway to develop anything defensively, he must go to AAA.

Sitting 93-94 by the end of his outing today. He's a lock

Doctors are pretty optimistic apparently about his recovery. They told Joba that he could theoretically be back on the mound in July if his recovery goes well. They are still waiting on the results from an MRI post stabilization to see how bad his ligaments are

BTW, the Angels are said to be the front-runner for Oswalt. That rotation would be deadly

Cover him in pig blood then throw him in. Then, take his bitten ass into a pool of lemon juice and salt.

Melancon has always been a flyball pitcher. That was the biggest knock on him through the minors was the fact that he relied a lot on his heater up in the zone and would get a lot of flyballs. They were concerned that those FBs in Yankee Stadium would end up in the seats

He's 6'5"

Exactly station. It is fine for your #5 starter to be an experiment. He can be skipped if struggling due to the off days and can be moved up the pantheon if lighting it up. Leaving 2 spots to the wind is a great way to tank a season. It forced your top 3 to be on point all season long, and with a guy like Buch in the 3 hole coming off a spinal fracture, you arent sure what you're gonna get.

From the sounds of it, they are definitely giving Doubront a slot in the rotation and letting him sink or swim. I think Aceves actually slots into that 4 spot for now and eventually ends up back in the pen with Bard. That pen would be pretty solid, though, with Aceves, Bard and Bailey locking it down. If Melancon could do anything in 2012, then it'd be a plus

How can anyone be so sure Bard wasnt a part of the clubhouse spiral? We werent there. What you can definitely say, is he was a major part of the standings spiral in September. He lost 4 games in September and blew 3 saves. For a guy who only appeared in 11 games, he was the guy who gave up the lead in 4 of them for good. That's horrific

That is more than an open dislocation there. There are also damaged toes and loss of vascularity. Not sure if that is his picture, but if it is, then he's done for a long, long time

Looks like it was nastier than I thought. Sounds like he's out for the yr

Figured I'd start this one off. Rafael DePaula got his visa and will be cleared by the MLB. He should be reporting soon to the Yankee minor league complex. Pretty excited to see what he can do. In other news, Slade Heathcott's recovery from shoulder surgery will likely take up until June, so he won't be going north with any team until then. Even when he recovers, he will likely end up in Tampa

I dont think they can void the contract, but they might just decide to release him

5 criminal charges against him. He's already on the 60 day DL. Not sure if this will lead to a release

Not questioning that