redsoxfan3

I really think Morales, Bowden, and Albers all deserve a shot in the later innings. Right now I would only trust Melancon in a game where we are either getting destroyed or doing the destroying. I am a firm believer in trying to get Melancon out there to try to pitch in the later innings again. If he is successful that could be a huge confidence booster and could essentially make him more reliable. I, of course, do not trust him in any situation, but I still think at some point we need to let him have an opportunity in a set-up role again. Aceves has also pitched like s***, but I am still confident that he will get back on track. It is so early on in the season to really make any impulse decisions. I think Melancon and Aceves will be fine. I think Bowden, Morales, and Albers could all be the big surprises this year in the pen. We did face one of the best offenses in baseball our opening series. I think we will be fine. Padilla is looking good. Hill comes back in June. The options to make a trade is there. Our offense is obviously really good. Our starting pitchers will improve. The team is two close games away from being 2-1 and we would not be discussing this at all. It is a lesson learned. Let's forget the past and focus on getting our first W. After all, didn't we start out 2-10 last year? We bounced back just fine (not including September). We will win a lot of ball games this year.

Today is our day. I think Doubront will impress a lot of people today and give us a solid outing. If he can pitch 6 or 7 and only give up 4 runs or less, then I like our chance in this game. The key to this game is getting a lead early in the game. I think our offense will stay hot. My prediction of the day is that Pedroia gets his first homer. We need to come out ready to swing the bat. I am greatly concerned if this game is close going into the later innings. Why not try Albers and Morales in the 8th and 9th today? They at least deserve a shot. Aceves and Melancon have been pitching poorly.

It is official. I am not posting on this site again until the Red Sox win their first game. I just cannot believe that we played so poorly today. I am glad I couldn't watch this game today, but I will get to watch the start of the game tomorrow. I hope we come out with a win. The positive is the Yanks might also start 0-2.

This blows. Nothing to really say other than we need to win tomorrow.

Fellow Red Sox fans, we are finally done with this thread. Just a little over 29 hours until the first pitch is thrown for the Red Sox this season. I am excited and I made sure I asked off for tomorrow so I can watch the first game.

Well, reports are good for Beckett and not so good for Bailey. The positive is that we have Melancon, like you said. Melancon, Padilla, and Morales all have experience closing. It is not a lot of experience, but the positive is that they still have the experience. Aceves is obviously a great reliever, so with these four guys we should be fine.

The San Antonio doctor told him the only way to cure his thumb injury is to eat fried chicken and drink beer. That was a problem because of the reports from last season regarding fried chicken and beer, so the team wanted to send him to Cleveland to get another opinion to see if there is another cure. On a serious note, things are looking okay for Beckett, not so much for Bailey. Let's just hope Melancon is ready to close this year.

Damn, well hopefully things work out for the best for him. These injuries are frustrating. Hopefully it turns out to be better than expected.

That is Bobby V's call. I would approve of another pitcher, it sure as hell wouldn't hurt. I understand your points, but I am dismissing his past. He could be a viable backup option. If we only bring 12 pitchers north, then why not give him a chance? He would only be there until Crawford returns and if he actually proves that he is a solid bat off of the bench, then maybe we could try to trade Punto for some help in the pen! Those are big ifs though. I am just stating that he has done everything possible to earn a chance on the 25 man roster.

Everything I am reading is saying that he may miss opening day. The thumb injury is might not be that serious and like UN said, they are being cautious with him. This is injury prone Bailey's second injury this Spring. They want to make sure he can fully recover so they avoid any reoccurences. Hopefully this is the last injury we have to discuss in regard to Bailey.

It is hard to tell if Paps even wanted to return to Boston to pitch. We all knew that Paps wanted an astronomical contract. The FO decided to pretty much let Paps walk. It was out of our control as fans and I think we just have to deal with him moving on. Yes, it looks like we are going to be weak in the pen, especially if Bailey is hurt for a while. But what good is it going to do by us just sitting here and complaining about the decision Paps and the FO made? It might be hard to stay optimistic about this right now, but we do have Melancon that has experience closing and we do have Aceves who is very effective in the pen. I know some of you will say that Melancon hasn't looked good this spring or that Aceves hasn't closed before. I don't expect Bailey to be out all that long. Also, didn't Padilla close for the Dodgers some last year? I know our pen looks weak, but we do have options that have the ability to get the job done. I am comfortable with Aceves closing and Melancon setting him up for the time it takes Bailey to return. The first game of the season hasn't even started yet, so there is no reason to start freaking out yet. Also, there is no official report as to how long Bailey will be out. I was big on us signing Madson this offseason and I am glad that we didn't because of his season ending injury. We all knew Bailey has some history of injuries. I trust Bobby V with making good decisions for our bullpen. I think we will be fine when it is all said and done and this gives the opportunity for us to give some other guys the chance to succeed in the pen. We might be surprised with the results. I guess the point of my whole rant is just be patient, something will work out.

Damn, Ciriaco has done everything he possibly could to make this team. Youk is hitting only .194. I know it is only Spring Training, but i hope this guy makes the team with the last roster spot. He has certainly eatned it.

Yeah, he can be. He more than likely will be assigned to Pawtucket. His contract is a minor league one. He can also opt out of his conract by May 1st if he is not on the big league roster. He adds insurance to our rotation at this point. At least Cook can become a decent depth option for us. I am not sure about Miller. I am just glad that we have Cook that has been pitching decent and then Dice-K may be back as early as June.

Bobby V knows the starting 5 and it will be announced tomorrow. I think it is safe to assume that Bard and Doubront will round out the rotation. I am also not counting out Cook at this point.

I am kind of glad I am not watching the game today. Mostly just AAA guys. I did not expect us to win this one after seeing the lineups and we are down 5-1. Bobby V said that the final roster spot is up for grabs, does anyone have any idea who the favorite to make it is?

Ohlendorf gets the start tomorrow. It wiil be interesting to see how he does.

Oswalt would have been a risky move, but in the offseason no one knew that Doubront would do this good. I know there was a lot of hope for Doubront to emerge as a starter, but he is definitely the surprise of Spring Training and I am glad things are finally starting to work out for him. I can't say if he would be a better option than Oswalt, but I do know that he has earned his chance to start for this team. Let's just hope that if Bard is the 5th starter that he can do decent. If he performs better than a lot of us think, we could have a really good rotation one through five. The potential is there, now we just have to wait and see.

Like you said, the Spring stats are deceiving. Pitchers try to work on different pitches and mix up their arsenal in Spring Training so that batters do not see everything they have. The thing I look for most in Spring Training is progress. Take Bard for example, he has not pitched well as a starter this Spring, but this is his first time pitching several innings like this in a few years. He is starting to get comfortable pitching as a starter againg and will progressively get better. As a 5th starter, if he has a 4.00 ERA and keeps his WHIP down, then I will be extremely happy.