Red Sox Pitching Takes Form

After having a rough spring training with an ERA above 8 Tim Wakefield settled down and pitched 5 2/3 good innings last night against the Yankees and their projected opening day lineup. Wake pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing one run on 4 hits.

Catching Wakefield was George Kottaras who received great praise from his pitcher and manager Terry Francona. “He showed a little more assertiveness, calling some slow ones and mixing in different speeds on his call, not mine,” Wakefield said. “He just did a fabulous job.”

It puts my mind at ease to hear that Kottaras can handle Wake's knuckle ball; zero passed balls last night. After Kevin Cash left for the Bronx and Josh Bard was brought back many were having flashbacks to the 2007 season when Bard had an incredibly difficult time catching the knuckle ball.

Francona was happy with Wake and Kottaras' performances last night saying that he could see that, "They're starting to build a relationship which is good, because that’s not going to happen overnight.”

Coupled with Penny's start yesterday the Sox look to have all 5 of their projected starting pitchers on track for the start of the regular season. The beginning of the season is littered with days off so the Sox have the option to skip Penny in the rotation the first time through, or plug in someone like Masterson in for a spot start.

Dice K arrived in Fort Myers fresh of the WBC Championship and his 2nd WBC MVP. The plan is to have Matsuzaka throw one inning tomorrow and make a start against the Braves on Monday. There is a little apprehension surround Dick K after he throw 98 pitches against team USA on Sunday in only 4 2/3 innings.

Watching a Matsuzaka start tests the truest and most passionate of Red Sox fans, 100 pitches in 5 innings is enough to make anyone change the channel to Law and Order. The hope from the Red Sox was that Dice K would return more to the form everyone saw in the 2006 WBC, challenging hitters more with his fastball. We'll have to see what changes the Sox attempt to make with Dice K to get him pitching deeper into games. Last year the Dice man averaged 5 1/3 innings/start.

John Smoltz, who is on track to make his debut June 1st, is pitching off the mound for the first time this spring. Francona said Smoltz would throw 30 pitches, although Smoltz would probably want to throw 100. I can't wait for Smoltz to make his debut with the Sox, the guy is a warrior.

Baring any health problems the Sox starting rotation projects out as: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, and Brad Penny.

Japan Eliminates USA

Japan defeated the USA 9-4 in last night's WBC semifinal matchup. The championship will be played tonight between Japan and Korea. (Interestingly enough, one man who seemed to have this final matchup pegged all along: Fidel Castro. See his baseball columns in Cuban Escambray.)

The Japanese capitalized on a big fourth inning, in which they knocked starter Roy Oswalt out of the game in the process of scording five. Although only 1 for 5, Ichiro seems to have found his groove and energized the Japanese lineup. Young stud third baseman Kawasaki held up the other end of the lineup and made sure the American pitchers never got a breather. On the American side, only 2006 WBC snub Jimmy Rollins (4 for 4) seemed really to have much life at the plate.

Starting for Japan was our man Daisuke, who was, for better and worse, our man Daisuke. He pitched 4 and 2/3, where he reached his 100 pitch limit on a frustrating mixture of brilliance and tentative nibbling. As usual, he got himself in and out of jams and kept the American side to a modest 2 runs (including, again true to form, a first inning home run to Brian Roberts). All his pitches seem to be clicking (this early in the season, a very good sign). Unfortunately, what the Sox brass were quietly hoping would come to pass did not: Daisuke did not find his old WBC groove. The sbuttlebut in the Sox clubhouse was that being back in the patriotic garb might bring out the old aggressive Daisuke of the 2006 WBC---where he absolutely attacked each hitter and was a beast with two strikes---and send that version back to the Sox for 2009. Unfortunately, there was no such transformation, and we'll just have to be happy, it seems, with the man who went 18-3 and didn't pitch 170 innings over the season.

So the US heads home, again lamenting a disappointing performance. Though I won't be one to agree with them that it was necessarily a 'disappointment' in the sense of failing to live up to correct expectations. Fidel's on to something. It might not be good for the psyche of the national pasttime, but it speaks of some exciting possibilities for the future: Asia is playing some damn good baseball. Not to mention the Latin teams who populate the higher rungs of our own league. And the Dutch! So tonight's championship is highly recommended viewing. The Koreans and the Japanese already have their national animosity, and the most rabid fan bases at the WBC. It should be a doozy. And I hope that MLB is watching closely and thinking about the future of the game, not just its own little domestic antitrust violation.

Dusty Continuing to be Dusty

Dustin Pedroia....please don't let the great quotes ever end. You sir, are great for the blogging community......

Dusty will be playing for the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, but he is still pissed that he won't be able to man second base for Team USA in a semifinal match against teammate Daisuke Matsuzaka and Japan......"I wish I was there and could be a part of it with those guys," Pedroia said. "It was an unbelievable experience getting a chance to play with all those guys. I'll definitely be rooting hard for them. I'll shoot them a text message, a little motivational speech for 'em. I'll get 'em going." Initial ITM expectations of what that text message would say includes far too many four letter words for us to share publicly....but we're sure it'll be classic.

When asked if he offered his Team USA friends any advice for how to hit against Matsuzaka, he quickly responded...."Daisuke is lucky I'm not there, I'd hit a line drive right off his back, and you guys can put that in your paper. I would hit him right in his back. He better hope the Red Sox don't trade him." An instant classic Dusty, good work.

More important than his funny quotes however, is Pedroia's health. Since returning from the WBC early with a pulled abdominal, Pedey has taken a few days off but made it back into the lineup this weekend without issue. For all intents and purposes we can consider him completely ready to go for the season.

Also, be sure to watch the US take on a very good Japanese team tomorrow (Sunday) evening at 6pm est....should be a great game despite injuries on both sides...

....which gets me thinking, where have the "USA chants" gone? Did that die with Hulkamania back in 1989'? We should bring that back.

Injuries and the World Baseball Classic

As of right now we have no need to worry too much about the right side of our infield. Dustin Pedoria took batting practice today and a few ground balls at second base without any problems.

If you'll recall Pedroia felt a small pain in his oblique muscle during soft toss while at the World Baseball Classic. After that Pedroia was shutdown and sent back to Fort Myers to the Sox.

"I haven't felt it one time since I got back," he said. "I think the two days that I had off, actually three days that I had off, kind of calmed everything down. Every thing's been fine."

Kevin Youkilis came out today and said that the WBC was not to blame for his injured ankle and that he had been feeling sore for a few weeks. Not the greatest news if it is in fact true, part of me thinks Youk is covering for the WBC and Team America.

Red Sox, and boy wonder (when will he become a man wonder?) GM Theo Epstein said, "It was the right thing to do to shut him down for a few days, but it's nothing serious, nothing we're overly concerned with at all."

Youk added that if he had to play right now he could, the Sox are just being cautious, and why not? The season starts in a little more then 2 weeks, no need to push these guys. It's a long season and you don't win anything in April.

On the topic of the WBC and guys getting hurt, I'm not playing that card. They had a choice to play, ideally everyone returns healthy but I think we all knew there were going to be some casualties, unfortunately from the Sox this time around.

There doesn't seem to be a good time to play the WBC given the length of the regular season and a full month for the post season. I think they should shorten the season by 12 games and do the WBC in the middle of the season if they want to make it work, kind of like a prolonged all star break . Play it in two weeks when guys are in mid season shape, and you can still have pitch counts for the pitchers.

Of course someone is probably still going to get hurt and my plan is by no means perfect, but I thin it makes more sense then asking these guy to go from 0-100 mph in March. This is the 2nd year of the WBC and it certainly has its problems, like being televised on a station I have, but overall I like the upside of it.

And Then There Were Two

Kevin Youkilis was knocked out of the WBC yesterday, which leaves Dice-K and Venezuela pitcher Enrique Gonzalez as the last two Sox standing in the WBC. Who will go down next?

Youk reported to Fort Meyers yesterday, where team doctors diagnosed a mild ankle sprain and mild Achilles' tendinitis. MRIs were negative, but "to limit movement and allow his ankle to heal," a Sox press release announced, "Youkilis will wear a walking boot for the next several days but is not expected to miss significant time.

For the time being, then, it doesn't sound too serious. More of an 'oh God, if they touch a single hair on his body we're pulling him out of the WBC' move. A common play this year, and understandable, if not entirely desirable.

Certainly there is cause for concern, though. As things stand, three of the four projected starting infielders for the Sox are injured. Which means Mike Lowell is the healthiest member of the crew. So, I repeat, there is some cause for concern. Let's hope that the right side, at least, bounces back from what seem to be minor conditions, and prove to be as reliable as they were last year. For the left side, I know you can do it, Mike. I believe in you.

I Love the WBC--a rant

This is a debate we haven't really engaged in here yet. Possibly it's because we're first and foremost a Sox blog, though possibly everyone has just been avoiding the subject because they know how I feel and don't want to hurt my feelings. So I'm just going to put it out there. I love the WBC. And I hope DP and Braun and Lindstraum's injuries turn out to be very minor, but frankly, absent some Ecuador-Columbia friendly scenario where a soccer game erupts into cross-border disturbance, nothing's going to make me stop loving it.

And I find it hard to believe that anyone who watched Venezuela-Puerto Rico last night and paused for a moment to think, 'holy crap, it's only March,' doesn't agree. That place was pulsating. Salsa playing over the PA systems, beautiful women draped in flags, a level of sustained screaming usually associated with municipal disasters and the Jonas Brothers.

And from the game itself, what more could you have asked? Every inning someone was threatening, someone was in scoring position. Five times, five times I counted a pitcher leaping into the air and giving a fist pump that started down at his knees. And even when K-Rod did it after getting the third out in the 8th, I wasn't offended. Because there's something about this tournament. It's like the playoffs. When a guy pumps his fist, it doesn't feel like he's trying to show anyone up or create a signature gesture to cash in on with the sponsors (see K-Rod). It feels like he's actually expressing some sort of national pride. And this is in March.

I also find it hard to believe you weren't rooting just a little bit for the Dutch, who play small ball not by regal mandate of Mike Sciosca but because that's the only option available to them. Then just when you're thinking how cute and scrappy they are, they parade out some guy in the fifth inning doldrums who's throwing 95 with movement. 95 with movement from a Hollander!

So you start thinking, where the hell do these guys come from? And you get the pleasant sensation that baseball the world over is a sport of rugged individualists--a guy throwing 95 into a dyke, Aussies hurling rocks at outback crocs, and barefoot Syd Finch throwing 128 in Alaska. Yes, it's all a myth, but baseball, despite the 'roids and the inflated contracts and the 'dipsh#ts being dipsh#ts' has still got romance in spades. There's just something about midsummer nights.

And there's something about the ides of March nights right now, too. I love the WBC.

Pedroia: "Derek Jeter can't do push ups"

The most covered story of the day is Pap throwing Manny under the bus....but to be honest, i'm sick of talking about that guy from Washington Heights......and i'm also a little tired of Pap running his mouth lately.

....A topic of conversation ITM had while down in Ft Myers was what Dusty would be like in the WBC clubhouse. Would he be more subdued and take it all in? Or use it as a chance to absolutely rag on a new set of players? Seems like we have our answer. With a locker right next to Derek Jeter, it didn't take Pedey long to get the jokes going. He is blogging about his WBC experience on WEEI.com, here is an excerpt from today:

"So this is how the game went during Monday’s workout: Each of us taking batting practice can’t hit a ball foul or it will cost five push-ups. Then if we hit a ball we think is going out you have to call it, but if it doesn’t go out then that will cost you five push-ups."
"I end up hitting a couple of line-drives that hit the top of the fence that I thought were gone. So I did my push-ups … real push-ups. Derek Jeter? Well, he didn’t really go down all the way. I’m not a trainer or anything, but those weren’t push-ups."

He went on to say he respects the hell out of Jeter, but can't help but zing him at every chance he can. Pedey also mentioned David Wright has been the target of many of his jokes as well "because it's just too easy". Way to be Pedey, give those New Yorkers hell.....

....and is there anything better than Pedey's newest MLB Live Commercial??...guy is hilarious...

O Canada

The US's opening match in the WBC against Team Canada turned out to be a thriller. USA squeaked it out 6-5, but boy did the Canucks fight them good. The atmosphere was downright electric.

It came down to the 9th, when Joey Votto doubled off of J.J. Putz to drive in Russell Martin and make it 6-5. Morneau hit a hard ground ball, but couldn't get it by Jimmy Rollins (who made a strong, strong throw to get the first batter of the inning, Adam Stern, on a bang-bang play that likely saved the game). It came down, then, to Jason Bay, who went down 0-2, fought the count full, but ultimately came up short with a pop up to left.

Stars of the game: Adam Dunn, who homered to center in the 6th to drive in Youk and put Team USA ahead for the win; and Joey Votto, who went 4 for 5, and Martin, 2 for 3 with 3 runs; and finally, Chris Leroux, a single A prospect with the Marlins who pitched out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the 7th.

Random notes:

---Adam Dunn's enthusiasm at the WBC is really infectious. He kept taking his pulse in the dugout and whooping out of nowhere.

---Quote of the night, naturally, goes to Adam Dunn in the postgame interview: "This was playoff atmosphere...Well I've never been in the playoffs, but boy, if it's like this, I can't wait."

---According to Rick Sutcliffe, managers and players all say that the difference, and the big advantage, for this year's Team USA is none other than Dustin Pedroia. Apparently he's really buoyed the clubhouse and they all say he's given them the swagger they need to have in a tourney like this. That's our boy.

---Watching Team Canada is a great time if for no other reason than every couple of innings you go, "What? He's Canadian?" I mean, Joey Votto. Really? Et tu, Michael Teahan? They're a fun team to watch.

Wide World of Baseball

In a warm-up game of some interest to Sox fans, Team USA got ready for the WBC with a game against the Yankees. That means Youk and Pedroia were in action (made a couple of nifty plays together) and helped Team USA to a 6-5 victory.

Just as notable, though, were a couple of continuing story lines from the Sox rivals. Warning---if want to believe the hype about the Yankees' weak offensive projections going into the season, don't read any further.

First, and this is shaping up as one of the biggest stories of the spring, Jorge Posada continues to stroke the ball like it's 2007. If that's a harbinger, it could be real trouble for the AL East. Other factors will play in of course---can Posada still catch, and how will that strain affect his hitting? (Posada is now at DH with our old friend Kevin Cash doing most of the catching.) But there's no denying Posada's numbers. Posada went 2 for 3 in the game and looked like he owned American stud Roy Oswalt. That brings Posada to 5 for 8 for the spring, with a home run and 3 rbis, all that on top of the daily gift he's been giving fans and teammates at BP. Stick a hot-hitting Posada into the middle-end of the Yankees lineup, and all of a sudden run production isn't looking like much of a concern.

Derek Jeter was the star of the game, going 2 for 4 and driving in 2. He's had a nice spring, though the numbers might be a little misrepresentative---he's getting on base, but the contact hasn't been too solid.

Another point of interest---the Yanks are officially in the middle of an all-out battle for the center-field position between Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner. Gardner continues on a tear, going 5 for 10 this spring, with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, and a lot of speed on the basepaths. Melky's been decent, but not spectacular. If the competition ended today, you'd see Gardner patrolling the new centerfield at Yankee Stadium III.

And finally, I'd also add that Robinson Cano looks great this spring, but I just can't stomach the idea of Posada and Cano both having bounce-back seasons, so I'm just gonna assume without any real basis that his numbers (you can see for yourself) mean nothing. And I'll try to pretend that every time I flip by YES he isn't cranking the ball.

So, there you have it. A small sample, yes, but troubling nonetheless. But, on the bright side, it could just be a spring mirage, and all you Bostoners who have sources of tv baseball besides the pinstripes can just pretend it's not happening. I'll try to do the same.


---Side note. Before the game, Kevin Cash passed Dustin Pedroia and announced for everyone to hear that he thought it was really great that Team USA was bring its own ball boys along for the WBC.