Submitted by TotalAccess on Sun, 03/29/2009 - 12:50
OK, I watched my first full five innings of a Red Sox Spring Training game yesterday—Ho Hum.
Brad Penny got off to a rusty start, gave up a few runs in the first and then pitched three more scoreless innings. Not bad for a guy who is vying for the No 5. starter's roll.
On the other side of the field, we had surgically repaired superstar Fracisco Liriano for the Twins, who looked un-hittable, until he wasn't, and then he looked like, well, a normal guy getting killed by the Red Sox batters.
Does it matter?
Well, yes and no.
At this point, we do not have any key injuries or holes, so that does matter in the sense that we have no "built" in negatives going into the season. I still want to see how The Big Sashimi (Dice K) bounces back from his WBC work.
I am not sure if Lowell is going to be his same old—er young—self at third base after his offseason surgery. He did, however, make a play at third yesterday that erased any doubt about his fielding prowess. He just needs to get the hitting back.
The "If Come bet" we placed on Smoltz is looking very good, so good that we can take him back very very slow.
Man, can you imagine a healthy and firing-on-all-cylinders John Smoltz to pull out of the bag in June or July? I can see it now:
One of our starters needs a little rest, I guess we'll just have to make due with this guy. I wonder how the rest of the AL East will feel about that.
Papi looks good, but with a bit less pop; however, I do think his best attribute thus far, his clutch hitting, is still there.
OK, I am looking at the Sox and they look really, really, really Good. In fact, they look great, but they don't look like a lock, which to tell the truth, is a good thing.
Last year's lock was the Detroit Tigers—and we all saw how that worked out.
It is a long season, so lets take a look at it again come the All Star Break. But with that said, you have to say with the way things look now, there is a fairly large gape between the top three teams in this division—Sox, Rays, Spankees—and the rest of the AL.
The pressure, you have to think, is on the Spankees; they spent so much money—a considerable amount with Clients of the Great Satan Uber Agent Scott Borass—that you can't help but think they have extreme expectations to live up to. CC usually chokes in the postseason, so if the Spanks do make it to the postseason, we have that to look forward to.
Anyway,it is just too early to tell, but one this is for sure: it is going to be great to watch the race. Now if I could only find a good chair...
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