All, or most, of the final pieces are in place. The Super Bowl is over. The days are getting longer. It's time for Spring Training to start.
With the return of Varitek the Sox can utilize their current catching staff or still make a trade for a younger catcher. The pitching staff is loaded with starters & relievers, both on the roster & in the farm system. Position & back-up players are set with many familiar faces.
Only 10 days until pitchers & catchers report to Fort Myers. I've had the pleasure of being in Fort Myers for Spring Training & it's a great atmosphere. Players & fans get to interact in a smaller setting before the start of the season.
Take out your DVD's from 2004 & 2007. Start your own Spring Training preparation for the 2009 season. It should be a great race again.
1 comment:
As the saying goes "defense wins championships" and therefore "pitching wins World Series". Last year the Red Sox' greatest strenght on the field and in the line up to me was their depth. When one player went out someone else picked up the slack like Drew and Youk.
Therefore this year I think the same can be said of our pitching staff. Barring a Brady like injury to Beckett I think we have real depth in all our pitching roles and furthermore stack up nicely with the over paid Yankees. Just looking at how things stand now here are the match ups:
Starters-
1)Beckett vs. Sabathia
2)Lester vs. Burnett
3)Matsuzaka vs. Wang
4)Wakefield vs. Pettite
5)Penny/Smoltz vs.Chamberlain/Hughs
Closers-
Papelbon vs. Rivera
Set-up-
Masterson vs. Marte
That is still going to leave us with Bucholz, Delcarmen and Ramirez as relief and fill in guys. For the first time in recent memory I feel very confident about our staff INCLUDING the bull pen. With any luck the worst part about this staff will be trying to get them all innings.
Post a Comment