Sox Rising, Yankees Slipping

Doesn't everything look a little brighter today? The Sox held a terrific Opening Day, exorcising one last demon - bringing out Bill Buckner to throw out the first pitch to the ever-loved Dwight Evans (Deeewwwyy). After all the pomp and circumstance, they got down to an excellent ball game.

Dice-K Matsuzaka was masterful. His command was perfect, and he kept Detroit batters off balance all day. Dice-K has now pitched in 3 straight opening day games. That's got to be a record. The Sox have won all three of those games. We all hoped that Dice-K's second season with the Sox would work out a lot like Josh Beckett's second season with them. So far so good. Could we have two Cy Young candidates in the rotation this year? The bullpen did just as well with Manny Delcarmen shaking off the memory of the grand slam he gave up to Frank Thomas and pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings to hand it over to Hideki Okajima who wrapped up the win for his fellow countryman. Okajima seems to be picking up where he left off last year, and promises to be an anchor in the bullpen for the Sox.

The offense looked better, with JD Drew staying hot, while Youlikis, Varitek, Pedroia, and (yes) Julio Lugo all had multi-hit games. Manny attracted the most attention with his (ill-advised) decision to stretch a double into a triple. It worked out fine, but let's hope he doesn't try that too often. It was a 1-0 game at the time and he was leading off. The throw actually beat him to third base, but luckily it was off-line and sailed past the third baseman. Glad to see Manny Ramirez being aggressive, but the smarter move would have been to hold up and have a runner at 2nd base with no outs and your 5, 6, and 7 batters coming up.

Big Papi is still struggling a bit, but did come close to launching a grand slam. Hopefully he gets into a groove soon. Word is his knee is still bothering him after off-season surgery. Having him out of the lineup drastically changes things for the offense, so let's hope the knee holds up.

Good news in Pawtucket. We have been less than pleased with the Sox middle relief so far this season. On Monday, Mike Timlin threw 18 pitches in an inning of relief for the PawSox and felt great topping out at 93 mph. He is expected to join the Sox on Friday when the Yankees come to town.

Speaking of the Yankees, things are not looking to upbeat for them right now. The season is still young, so no reason for New Yorkers to start crying into their pinstriped handkerchiefs just yet. But, while the Sox were taming the Tigers at Fenway yesterday, the Yankees were getting schooled in Kansas City. The mighty A-Rod struck out four times in the game! Meanwhile, Derek Jeter will miss a few games with a groin injury and Jorge Posada is on the verge of a possible DL stint for a "dead arm". Meanwhile, rookie sensation Phil Hughes did not fare so well lasting only 3 innings in the game.



So, what does all that mean? Everything is rosy in Red Sox Nation today.

Tonight the Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman will make his first ever start in Fenway Park, matching up against Jon Lester. Lester was brilliant in his last start, and should get an emotional boost from the home crowd. Bonderman is a good pitcher, but the Sox should fare well against him. The only thing I worry about is that the Tiger is due to wake up soon. This team is predicted by many to be the best team in the AL this year. Right now they are winless at 0-7. Can Lester hold them back for one more game? Can Big Papi break out for the home town crowd? Will JD Drew stay hot and carry the team through April? Will Julio Lugo begin a march to challenge Youkilis' error-free streak? He's already one game into it.

Red Sox Pitching Progress

You've heard it a million times now - pitching wins championships. The point being that solid pitching is the foundation a team needs to start from. So, how does the pitching situation look for the Red Sox so far? Very promising!

Bad news - Schilling is out for a significant period of time. A healthy Schilling eats up innings, provides a solid veteran presence, can handle pressure, and is a proven post-season star. He will be missed, but that is nearly all the bad news!

Positives:

It was very confusing last year why Dice-K looked so good earlier in games, and earlier in the season. For a while, hitters were incredibly off balance, than later they were not. Well, according to pitching coach John Farrell, they discovered Dice-K was tipping his change-up. Not a good thing. The change-up is a fairly easy pitch to hit - IF you know it is coming. The change-up is a stealth pitch. To the batter, the pitcher looks like he is throwing a fast ball. However, due to a different way of gripping the ball, the pitch comes in roughly 10 miles per hour slower. It will either confuse the batter long enough to force him to take the pitch, or get him swinging too early. Anyway (you know all that already), if the batter knows it is coming, watch out! So, they've worked with Dice-K on perfecting the change-up and early indications are that the adjustments are working! This can make a huge difference!

Bartolo Colon looks like a steal so far. Throwing very well, mechanics are solid, and arm strength is great! If he keeps this up, don't be surprised he works his way into the #3 spot in the rotation! But, coming off of injuries the past two years, my concern is whether the elbow will last an entire season, or get sore again?

Tim Wakefield seems to be over his back issues and throwing well. Beckett is in better shape than last year and looks poised to dominate again! John Lester looked good in his last outing, and got some important post season experience last year.

As of today, my starting 5 for the Sox:
1) Josh Beckett (obviously)
2) Daisuke Matsuzaka (look for at least as good of a year as last year)
3) Bartolo Colon (presuming the elbow stays strong - may start in AAA for the first game or two)
4) Tim Wakefield (an effective knuckler keeps batters uncomfortable)
5) John Lester (nice to have a left starter)

Bullpen:
Julian Tavarez - long relief - spot starter
Karl Snyder - long relief - spot starter
Mike Timlin - middle relief - occasional setup man - spot closer
Manny Delcarmen - middle relief
Javier Lopez - need a lefty in the 'pen
Hideki Okajima - setup man - occasional closer
Jonathan Papelbon - Closer

Buchholz or Hansack may start the season with Boston if Colon is not ready. They'll probably spend most of their time in Pawtucket, and get called up as needed. If there is a significant injury, or they simply shine, they may stick longer. Gronkiewicz, Corey, Tejera and Masterson are all potential call ups as needed, but expect them to play mostly in the minors. They would be available to replace Tavarez, Snyder or Lopez if they aren't getting the job done.

That leaves Craig Hansen. So far, he still looks disappointing. He hit the Sox with such promise, but has shown very little since then. He throw very well, has a strong arm, but just can't get guys out. Not sure if it is mental, or perhaps predictability. Hopefully he can turn it around this year and start moving up!

Where are the young pitchers?

It is VERY early still, and spring training is going very smoothly for the Red Sox. Everyone is healthy, progressing well, and getting the work in.

But, have you noticed how the veteran pitchers are outshining the youngsters so far? The Red Sox have terrific depth in their young pitchers, and with the success we saw from guys like Lester and Buchholz last fall, I think we all are looking for the young guys to make a big splash this year. Alternatively, I usually see the veteran pitchers easing through spring training, not looking so good early on, but trying to peak for opening day.

Well, so far that has been backward in Fort Myers. The youth are starting the slowest (Lester 36.0 ERA, Hansen 18.0 ERA, Buchholz 18.0 ERA, Jackson 27.0 ERA, Gronkiewicz 10.12 ERA). These stats are based on no more than 2.2 innings of work, but it is interesting seeing the young guys starting out so slow.

The "veterans" (some of whom are pretty young too) are looking pretty strong out of the gates. Dice-K 1.80 ERA, Snyder 0.00 ERA, Wakefield 0.00 ERA, Timlin 0.00 ERA, Papelbon 0.00 ERA, and Okajima 0.00 ERA. Beckett has not pitched in an "official" game yet (pitching once to Boston College and once in a 'B' game) but he also has a 0.00 ERA and his only complaint is that he's too strong (overthrowing the fastball and getting too much elevation on it early in the game).

So, the older guys look good - Sox fans need to be happy about that. The young guys? Well, give them more work - plenty of time left.