Papelbon Pitches Scoreless Inning

Video Removed

Video from redsox.mlb.com

During his second outing in Spring Training, Papelbon pitched to his expectation. He pitched a scoreless frame which you can watch in the video above. This is Papelbon's make or break year. If he pitches like he did in 2007 and 2008 he might get resigned by the Red Sox or by another team for 14+ million per season. If he pitches like last year or worse he will probably not resign with the Sox next off season. This past off season, the Red Sox offered Mariano Rivera a pretty good contract to take Papelbon's job and trade him elsewhere. They also thought they might be able to sign Rafael Soriano and trade him away but didn't due to the low interest in him. There is not so much interest in Papelbon because he has not pitched well recently and his is salary is too high for many teams to afford. Although they did sign Bobby Jenks (closer of the White Sox) for two years who can replace Papelbon if he moves after the season and the Red Sox also think they have closer stuff in Daniel Bard who is a talented young flame thrower. This means whether or not Papelbon moves during or after the season, or if he starts to slip, the Red Sox have good solutions for the closing role.

Beckett Shows Good Signs after Mild Concussion

After sustaining a mild concussion a few days ago Beckett showed signs of recovery Friday. This happened when he got hit with a hard line drive in the temple. He had trouble walking off the field, but slowly got better. He missed his start on Thursday vs the Phillies. But instead, pitched a three inning simulated game on Friday. During this simulated game, he pitched 40 good pitches and showed no signs of injury. When asked about how he fells, he said,"I'm actually good," said Beckett. "I'm really sore on the left side of my head, my jaw, and stuff like that. I think I'm pretty much back to normal." That is a very reassuring sign for all of New England.

Starting Jobs

With Spring Training under way, the Red Sox have great starters at all positions after a great off-season where they acquired Adrian Gonzalez and sign Carl Crawford along with other moves. The only two uncertain positions  for the Red Sox are shortstop and catcher. At shortstop they will most likely have Marco Scutaro starting. He came to Boston last off season on a two year deal. In his first year of the deal, he hit decently with reasonable average and good defense. Another option at short is Jed Lowrie. He has had a lot of injuries over the last couple of seasons preventing him from getting a starting job but at the end of last season, he showed great power, and good average. If he does well enough this Spring, he might win the starting job. Catching, the Red Sox have Jarrod Saltalamachia as well as long time veteran, Jason Varitek. The Red Sox acquired Jarrod in a mid-season trade. He has always had great offense, but his defense and injury history has kept him in the minors. He will most likely start the season as the catcher with Varitek as the backup. So what do you think?

Spring Training is About to Begin

Spring Training for the Boston Red Sox is about to begin. They will first play a few split squad matches against nearby college teams on Saturday. Then on Sunday, the Grapefruit league begins and so do the games for the mayoral cup. The mayoral cup is a few games against the Twin, who they share their spring training town with. After all the Red Sox vs. Twins games, the mayor awards the winning team. On Sunday against the Twins, Josh Beckett will be starting for a few innings. On Monday vs the Twins again, Daisuke Matsuzaka ( Dice-K) will be pitching for the Red Sox. Don't expect to see too many innings from them and don't expect to see all of the position players as they will take it easy to start Spring Training.

Big Expectations for Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford

With spring training drills underway, many people have big expectations for the highly regarded  Red Sox newcomers. Adrian Gonzalez came to the Red Sox in a deal for prospects Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo, Reymond Fuentes, and a player to be named lated. The Red Sox have tried to acquire Adrian Gonzalez since the 2008 season trade deadline due to the fact that he is a great all around player. He has power, average, defense and the Red Sox have the ability to put him at first base, due to the versatility of Kevin Youkilis. Last year, Adrian Gonzalez had 31 homers and 101 RBIS and hit a good average of .298. This was all  while he was in need of shoulder surgery. Also that was with half of his games played at spacious Petco Park. Now with a repaired shoulder and being in Fenway Park, Adrian Gonzalez could hit many more homers thanks to his opposite field stroke which is perfect for the Green Monster in Fenway. Carl Crawford was acquired very swiftly and suddenly by the Red Sox. He was expected to go to the Angels but instead came to Boston with a large contract for 7 yrs/$142M. He is very important to the Red Sox due to his speed, athleticism, contact, and defense. Not many balls will hit the ground in left center with speedy Ellsbury and Carl Crawford taking center and left field. Also, he along with Ellsbury will drive pitchers crazy as they have both stolen more than 50 bases in one season. Think about this, if either he or Ellsbury gets a hit and steals second on the next pitch, then all they need is a hit and they will score. With these two additions to an already good team, the Red Sox have high expectations for this upcoming season.

Projected 2011 Season Batting Lineup and Pitching Rotation

Batting Lineup

1. Jacoby Ellsbury CF 6

2. Dustin Pedroia 2B 15

3. Carl Crawford LF 13

4 Adrian Gonzalez 1B 28

5. Kevin Youkilis 3B 20

6.David Ortiz DH 34

7. J.D. Drew RF 7

8. Jarrod Saltalamachia C 39

9. Marco Scutaro SS 16

Pitching Rotation

1. Jon Lester L

2. Clay Buchholz R

3.Josh Beckett R

4. John Lackey R

5. Daisuke Matsuzaka R

Game 13/162, Red Sox Win Third Game of Season and Hope to Get Something Started

Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 1

Red Sox   - 220 000 00x - 4 9 1

Blue Jays - 010 000 000 - 1 4 0 

The Red Sox played very well Saturday after barely losing on Friday. They definitely needed this win and got it. At the beginning of the game, Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI single with Youkilis later having an RBI single. Then with Ellsbury on, driving the Blue Jays crazy with his speed, Jed Lowrie hit a homer over the Monster after the pitcher was paying too much attention to Ellsbury on first. Lowrie is now hitting .500 after a good game today going 3 for 5. Lowrie is now on a roll and it is a day before his 27th birthday. Beckett pitched extremely well today, as he has pitched in his last two starts. Over his last two starts, he has given up 1 run in 15 innings with 19 K's. Overall, the Red Sox were happy to get the win and are hoping that they can make this into the turning point of the season and start playing to their capability. But it was very cold during the game as even Hall of Famer Jim Rice was wearing a Red Sox Snuggy during the cold and windy game in Boston.

This is what Beckett said about today's start:

          "I felt good today," said Beckett. "I definitely felt better today and I think I preformed a good notch better than what I did last year."

Notable Players:

Jed Lowrie, 3 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs

Josh Beckett, 7 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 ER, 9 Ks

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This is my new Red Sox blog called Red Sox 360.  If you are interested in either helping write for this blog or helping share it to your friend using social networking please email me at redsox360blog.gmail.com or leave a comment with your email. I will be paying 10% of the ad revenue (not a lot until we get more viewers) to the first writer. The second and third writers will each get 5% of the ad revenue. I will also be writing. Also feel free to share with your friends using social networking without my permission. This blog is for information and fun between users. We will be having a chat everyday for our users in the comments box of our latest article. Feel free to invite your friends to join the chat. We will also add a glossary. Fell free to comment on any post as long as it follows our code of conduct. And last of all have fun and enjoy!