Welcome to Sports of Boston’s Spring Training Wrap-Up! Every week, we’ll recap all the week’s Red Sox spring training games. We’ll mention who looks good, who looks bad, and which minor leaguers just might be making an appearance at Fenway this season.

Let’s get things started with Boston’s opening weekend, in which they played split-squad against Boston College and Northeastern University on Saturday, then began defending the Mayor’s Cup against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Red Sox 6, Eagles 0

Although Red Sox pitching, led by Single-A Salem’s Stolmy Pimentel (2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, W), held the Eagles to just one hit and one walk in seven innings, the big story of the game was Kevin Youkilis, who hit a three-run home run off Boston College starting right-hander Geoff Oxley in the first inning. Youkilis also made a diving stop in the first inning at third base. Great to see him healthy, great to see him hitting, great to see him having success at third base.

Also playing in Saturday’s afternoon game was Dustin Pedroia, who went 0-1 with a walk and a run scored. Pedroia appeared to have no trouble running out a grounder in the second inning after having a pin inserted in his left foot last season. A healthy Youkilis and Pedroia means the Red Sox will have five or six legitimate power threats in the middle of their lineup.

Ryan Kalish had a strong day, going 1-2 with an RBI and a stolen base, as did non-roster invitee Brent Dlugach, who went 2-2 with a run while playing shortstop. On the mound, non-roster invitee Clevelan Santeliz struck out the side in the fifth.

Red Sox 13, Huskies 2

The Red Sox welcomed back more injured stars with Saturday’s nightcap against Northeastern University. Jacoby Ellsbury led off in center field and Mike Cameron played DH, the two combing to go 0-3 with a walk.

The biggest star of the game was shortstop prospect Jose Iglesias, who went 2-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Center fielder Che-Hsuan Lin scored two runs and knocked in two more despite going 0-2, while left fielder Peter Hissey went 1-2 with two RBIs.

On the mound, starter Kyle Weiland gave up a first-pitch home run to Huskies lead-off hitter Ryan Maguire. In two innings of work he allowed two hits, an earned run and a walk while striking out two. He did not factor in the decision, as the Red Sox were held scoreless until the fourth inning, when they scored five runs. They scored two more in the fifth, then six in the sixth.

The win went to Rich Hill, who pitched one inning of one-hit, one-run and one-strikeout baseball. Hill has a shot at making the major-league roster. Matt Albers looked impressive doing mop-up duty in the seventh, not allowing a base-runner while striking out two.

Twins 8, Red Sox 4

Carl Pavano out-dueled Josh Beckett in Boston’s first Grapefruit League game on Sunday. Pavano pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out two. Beckett also pitched two innings, allowing two hits and an earned run. Beckett did not record a strikeout and took the loss.

Clay Buchholz fared far better than Beckett, pitching two perfect innings while striking out one. Beckett will have to do better if he wants to supplant Buchholz as the number two starter in the rotation, let alone reclaim his title as staff ace.

But the worst pitching performance goes to Hideki Okajima, who turned a one-run deficit after four innings into a five-run deficit after five. Okajima gave three consecutive singles, and then a triple to center fielder Joe Benson. Okajima gave up another RBI single before finishing the inning. He gave up five hits and struck out two. Okajima has seemed to deteriorate a little bit more every season, and a rough start to the 2011 pre-season does not bode well. Then again, it’s just one inning.

At the plate, the Red Sox didn’t start scoring until the eighth inning, when they were already down 6-0. Lars Anderson, potential reserve first baseman, led off with a solo home run, and Josh Reddick kicked in a pinch-hit RBI single to cap off a three-run inning. In the ninth, after the Twins tacked on two more runs to make it 8-3, catcher Mark Wagner hit another solo home run, but the Red Sox could not come back any further.

Final Thoughts

We shouldn’t be overly concerned with anything the Red Sox did in their first few spring training games. The pre-season exists to help players gradually prepare for the regular season. Pitchers tend to take longer to get in shape than hitters, so seeing Beckett and even Okajima struggle is not cause for panic quite yet. But on the flip side, it’s great to see players like Youkilis, Ellsbury and Pedroia out there and moving normally. Injuries derailed a promising team last season, and Red Sox fans can look at these initial games as signs that their beloved players are now injury-free.

And that’s worth far more than any Mayor’s Cup.

© Matt Goisman for Sports of Boston, 2011. | Permalink | One comment
Filed under: Featured, Red Sox, Top Story.

No one can really predict the weather, but for the Minnesota Twins it couldn’t have been any sunnier Monday afternoon. It was their first home game in their new ballpark, Target Field, and the Red Sox were the unlucky ones to stop by to see the unveiling. The Sox just couldn’t get things going and ended up with the 5-2 loss.

With the weather cooperating in Minnesota, something that doesn’t occur often, former Yankee-bust Carl Pavano showed that he can still pitch. He won the first game for the Twins in their new ballpark, also improving his record to 2-0 to start off the season. Pavano went 6.0 innings, allowing one run off four hits while striking out four and walking one.

On the other hand, Jon Lester struggled to remain consistent as he only went 5.0 innings while giving up four runs off nine hits. Lester had troubles throwing over the plate as he threw only 59-of-107 pitches for strikes. He walked three batters and struck out five on his way to his first loss of the season.   

“I just stunk,” Lester said. “Didn’t make pitches, and I really don’t know what else to say.”

The loss brought the Sox to 3-4 on the year while the Twins continue to impress and are 6-2, with five of those wins already on the road.

The Twins got off to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Michael Cuddyer singled to left to drive in Denard Span. Jason Kubel then reached base on an infield single that brought in Orlando Hudson to score the second run of the inning.

Minnesota added another run in the second when reigning MVP Joe Mauer hit a double to left that drove in Nick Punto.

The Red Sox finally got on the board in the fourth when David Ortiz hit a double to left (that could’ve been caught) that drove in Kevin Youkilis. It was only Ortiz’s third hit of the year, but was his second double and second RBI.

After the Sox finally scored, Mauer came up to the plate again and drove in another run off an infield single to give the Twins a 4-1 lead. The Sox can never get a break, especially when it comes to facing Mauer.

A couple innings later the first home run was hit in Target Field and it was not by a Boston player. It was hit by Kubel , a single shot to the right to bring the score to 5-1. Dustin Pedroia would drive in Jeremy Hermida in the eighth, but that wasn’t enough for the mighty Twins.

The Sox really struggled to get things going and that was one of the biggest fears coming into the season. There is no real ‘power’ threat in the lineup, especially with Big Papi hitting .208 and Victor Martinez hitting .250 thus far. The pitching hasn’t been there either as both Lester and Josh Beckett have been very inconsistent in their outings so far. If the Red Sox really want to win some games they need to stick to the type of team they have and play strong defense and pitch well. It also doesn’t help when the bullpen keeps blowing games.

The two teams have Tuesday off and on Wednesday John Lackey will face off against Kevin Slowey. Both pitchers are coming off impressive starts, but Slowey got the win in his decision while Lackey’s performance kept him winless for the year.

Game Notes

• The Red Sox left four runners on base while the Twins left 11. Boston went 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position while Minnesota went 4-for-16.
• Span had two stolen bases and Punto had one for the Twins. Marco Scutaro was picked off at second base for the Sox.
• Jacoby Ellsbury sat out with sore ribs after colliding with Adrian Beltre over the weekend. Scutaro led off in his place and Hermida took his place in left field.   
• MLB commissioner Bud Selig was in attendance for the home opener and said that the park will most likely be a future all-star game site as soon as 2014.

© Greg for Sports of Boston, 2010. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Featured, Red Sox, Top Story.

Former Red Sox farmhand Carl Pavano was acquired by the Twins for a player to be named later to help shore up their starting rotation. Pavano, and Tony Armas, Jr., were the two players the Red Sox sent to Montreal in 1997. Though he never pitched a game for the Red Sox, he was hyped in the minors as an up-and-coming anchor for the rotation.

He had one above .500 season for the Expos and was traded to the Marlins in 2002, where he found his form. He won the World Series in 2003 with the Marlins, a rotation featuring Josh Beckett. In that playoff run, he was 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 playoff innings, mostly in relief. He finished sixth in the National League Cy Young Award voting after posting an 18-8 record, two shutouts, and a 3.00 ERA.

He then became New York’s biggest laughingstock signing, making 26 starts and winning just nine games over four years with the Yankees. He did not pitch in 2006 at all. Injuries were the biggest cause, but he was rerided for work ethic as well.

The Indians signed him this offseason and he has gone 9-8 with a 5.37 ERA. For his career, he is 75-74 with a 4.43 ERA. This is a curious acquisition to me, though I doubt it will cost the Twins much more than a low level prospect. Pavano, aside from the 2004 season, has not come close to his potential and he just seems due for an injury. However, the Twins have not gotten anything out of Francisco Liriano and this would allow them to take him out of the rotation.

© Mike for Sports of Boston, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: News, Red Sox.

Now back to the field, where news wasn’t very good either. Former Red Sox prospect and Yankees disaster Carl Pavano has ressurrected himself a bit with the Indians. After a horrible first start (1 IP, 9 ER) in 2009, Pavano has “settled down” a bit, and was impressive against the Sox Wednesday night, tossing six innings and allowing only two runs on six hits and three walks in a 9-2 Indians win.

Victor Martinez led the assault on Red Sox pitching, going 3-5 with a double, HR, three runs, and four RBI’s to improve his season average to .398.

Sox Stud of the Game

Jonathan Van Every, CF: Van Every was one of only two Sox hitters with two hits (Jason Varitek was the other), in going 2-3 with an RBI. Everyman was playing for the injured Jacoby Ellsbury.

Sox Dud of the Game

Justin Masterson, SP: Masterson was bad for the second straight start, giving up six runs on eight hits and three walks in his 6 1/3 innings. The poor start raised his season ERA to 5.28.

Game Notes

W: Carl Pavano (2-3)
L: Justin Masterson (2-2)
S: Aaron Laffey (1)

• Jason Varitek finished 2-3 and also had a walk.
• Jeff Bailey grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs in the second. The play scored the a run, but Bailey was not credited with an RBI because he created two outs in the process.
• The 2-3-4-5 hitters for the Indians (Asdrubal Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Shin Soo Choo, Mark DeRosa) all finished with three hits each.

© KC Downey for Sports of Boston, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Featured, Red Sox.

What Joe Torre decided to do with the book is to air out all of the laundry from his time as Yankees manager. However, what Joe has done is prove that he is no less petty than any other player in baseball, that he is not the classy leader we thought he was, and that as his time with the Yankees went on, he clearly wasn’t able to adjust with the times for managing the game.

The first example of this is seen in Jack Curry’s overview of the book, where Torre clearly had no idea of what the Yankees got in Randy Johnson. Joe was surprised by how easily rattled Randy was? He clearly didn’t see Randy shove the camera guy before his first press conference with the team. And Torre seems to think that Randy would’ve been easy to rattle in 2001, when Johnson was still physically pitching at the top of his game. Part of what made Randy easy to rattle when he was with the Yankees was his physical limitations that developed from age and his back and knee.

Another example of Joe Torre not being that classy leader figure is demonstrated in the Carl Pavano saga. Now, Pavano did miss an extraordinary amount of time from injuries and even as a fan I was frustrated by it. But the correct reaction is not to try and have his teammates harass him.

We also see Torre as sometimes contradicting himself, where in one of the excerpts the press has talked about, he was unhappy with the Yankees for bringing in Jason Giambi, since Giambi did not play good first base defense. Yet, later, when the Yankees tried to take care of it by shifting Giambi to DH in 2007, Torre got upset for a variety of reasons. The first of these was that this meant Bernie Williams, a favorite of his, would not have a guaranteed roster spot. The other was that the Yankees were taking a chance on a platoon combo of Josh Phelps and Doug Mientkiewicz to produce reasonable output. Now, Phelps failed, but didn’t Mientkiewicz provide the defense Torre found to be sorely missing from Giambi’s game? Torre sure played him as if he did. And here, Torre is unable to acknowledge that in prior years he had shown signs of favoritism to “proven veterans” even when it was time to move on. That is why Cashman felt the need to only offer Bernie an invitation to spring training and a minor league contract.

It is also what we have heard about Torre’s interactions with Cashman that have revealed Torre’s inability to admit to his own faults. Torre was unhappy about Cashman wanting to keep track of Ron Guidry’s progress as pitching coach and Cashman’s further reliance on statistics. Now, Guidry had never coached at all and I think Cashman was correct to keep an eye and make sure that the pitching coach, a pretty important position to hold, was doing his job effectively. Maybe Cashman took it to too intense of a level, but we cannot verify that without having been with the team for the 2007 season.

As for Cashman’s increasing reliance on statistics, while we don’t know whether the suggested lineups were provided often, or just for lefty/righty platoon advantages, we do know that the game has had an increasingly statistical reliance since Joe Torre’s first year managing the Yankees, in 1995. Torre refused to want to evolve his managerial style despite the game having evolved around him. We know this to be true as well from his bullpen management.

After Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton departed/stopped being effective, Torre was always searching for guys to put in the hard cast role of set up guy, lefty specialist and other roles. This led to the tiring of arms such as Steve Karsay, Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon, Scott Proctor and Luis Vizcaino amongst others.

When rookies came up for the bullpen Torre lost confidence in them (unlike with veterans) after their first bad appearance even if they had minor league success. This was evidenced by Edwar Ramirez’s season where he had a great debut in July, then gave up a run in his next appearance. Joe Torre then waited FOURTEEN DAYS to next bring him in to a game, which was setting a short reliever up for failure. Sure enough, Edwar gave up three earned runs and allowed a runner he inherited to score. It’s not as if there were not games decided by more than three runs in this period. There were three chances, a 12-0 game, a 7-3 game and a 6-1 game, all of which would have been good opportunities to give Ramirez a confidence booster. For those doubting my story, check out the July 6th to July 20th stretch of the Yankees schedule of 2007.

Finally, the excerpt about the contract negotiations that was leaked to the press proves Torre’s greed and desire to control his public image. Joe refused to take a one-year contract, he knew that would give the Yankees incentive to fire him when he showed he was the same old manager and a bullpen arm injury could be pinned on him again, or a young player not playing enough could be pinned on him. So, Torre wanted to be able to either go out in the offseason, where it would put the Yankees under more scrutiny for firing him, or if he went out during the regular season, to at least get more money out of it. Of course for the Yankees, this made no sense. In writing this book, Torre once again showed a desire to profit off of the Yankees by airing everyone else’s faults, but not his own.

Joe Torre managed to find a good way to have the public opinion of him in his old town turned around. He managed to show that he is just as egotistical and greedy as the players he had to handle. It’s quite ironic to read the following excerpt about Alex Rodriguez:

Torre added that he could relate to Rodriguez because, like Rodriguez, he was the type of player who tied his self-esteem to what he did on the field.

“It feels like that’s what’s going on with him,” Torre said. “He could never walk away from this game and, all of a sudden, have people talk about somebody else.”

Torre, in releasing this book, had to make sure that people were still talking about him. He’s just hoping that having Tom Verducci’s name on the cover and the supposed third person story-telling will deflect the blame.

© Adam for Sports of Boston, 2009. | Permalink | One comment
Filed under: Featured, Opinion, Red Sox.

Rangers’ OF Nelson Cruz was called up to the majors and will play almost everyday for the rest of the season. In Triple-A, he was absolutely destroying everything he saw with a .342 avg, 37 HR, and 99 RBI. In 96 games last year he hit very differently with a .235 avg, 9 HR, and 34 RBI.

Yankees SP Pavano Wins First Start Since April 2007

Carl Pavano finally returned after rehab from Tommy John Surgery over a year ago and picked up the win in a 5-3 Yankees victory. Pavano gave up three earned in five innings and struck out 5 batters on 91 pitches.

Eddie Guardado Traded, Heads Back to Minnesota

After finding little success in Texas, relief pitcher Eddie Guardado is back to the team where he started his career in 1993. In his last appearance, Guardado couldn’t close out the game and he took the loss for Texas. Frank Francisco has been named the new closer for the Rangers and now Guaradado is nothing more than a middle reliever.

Now for the stars of week 21.

OFFENSE

Nick Swisher (1B,LF,CF,RF), Chicago White Sox: Swisher’s season has been seen as a dissapointment but last week he has tried to right his wrongs by hitting a home run in four consecutive games to bring his total to 21 for the year. Swisher also drove in eight runs as part of his great week.

Mark Teixeira (1B), L.A. Angels: Tex Mex raised his average to .302 with a 9-23 (.391) week which included three home runs and five RBI. Tex is hitting .386 since joining the Angels.

Brian Roberts (2B), Baltimore Orioles: Roberts didn’t impress anybody last week with his power (1 HR), but he did manage to slap 11 hits, drive in 5, and swipe 3 bases. Roberts is 7-7 in SB attempts in August.

Mark DeRosa (1B,2B,3B,LF,RF), Chicago Cubs: DeRosa’s bat woke up last week with 10 hits including four for home runs. He drove in runs in five straight games (6 RBI total) and now has 77 RBI on the season.

Vernon Wells (CF), Toronto Blue Jays: Wells’ week was pretty much dead before Toronto faced the Red Sox. In that series alone he was 6-11 with three home runs and six RBI.

PITCHING

Rich Harden (SP), Chicago Cubs: There is no better pitcher in baseball right now than Rich Harden and yes, I am including CC Sabathia. Harden just added to his ridiculous stats last week by striking out 21 batters in 14 innings to pick up two more wins. Out of his eight starts with the Cubs, five of those games saw Harden strike out 10+ batters.

Ricky Nolasco (SP), Florida Marlins: Nolasco won both of his starts to bring his record to 13-7. His wins included his first complete game of the season and 21 K’s while surrendering just two runs.

Brian Wilson (RP), San Francisco Giants: Even though Wilson blew a save last week, he still picked up two wins and two saves. Even with the blown save, Wilson has a 2.93 ERA and 10 saves post break.

Barry Zito (SP), San Francisco Giants: Yes you read that correctly, I did type Barry Zito’s name. Zito put together a great week with two wins while working 15 innings. OK, so he only struck out eight batters but come on, give the man the little credit he gets.

Mariano Rivera (RP), New York Yankees: The best closer of our generation did what he does best. Rivera picked up three more saves and gave up zero runs in 3.2 innings while fanning three batters.

Why Should I Give A Crap About These Guys?

Jensen Lewis (RP), Cleveland Indians: Hey, it’s an Indians’ closer with an ERA under 4.00. Lewis has gotten comfortable as the 9th inning man in Cleveland and has converted five straight save opportunities and now has six total in August.

Rocco Baldelli (CF), Tampa Bay Rays: Hey, remember him? In eight games since his return from the DL, Baldelli is hitting .308 with 2 HR, and 4 RBI.

Ryan Church (LF,CF,RF), New York Mets: Church has battled issues with multiple concussions all year and has finally returned to the everyday lineup. In the 60 games he has played, Church is hitting .310 with 10 HR, and 37 RBI.

Sports of Boston Friends and Family League

• Well crap, I am back in 7th place after a 12-11-1 victory. My star of the week was Ian Stewart who hit .480 with a home run, seven RBI, and four doubles.
• My special thanks this week goes out to Shaun Marcum who blew up against the Res Sox for 5 ER in 3.2 innings of work. After that start, he was sent down to the minors.
• This week is the final week of the fantasy regular season so I have to finish in the top 6 to advance to the playoffs. One problem, in order to make it, I have to go through the best team in the league. Crap!
• The rest of the SoB crew: Dev (3rd), KC (4th), Dan (5th), Jeff (9th), Chris (10th), Geoff (11th).
• Recent pickups include: Todd Wellemeyer, Chris Perez, Omar Infante, Mike Jacobs, Chris Volstad, and Chris Dickerson.

© Pete Rampino for Sports of Boston, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments
Filed under: Fantasy, Featured.