Boston Red Sox: Spring Training Information

By: Ian
Location: City of Palms Park, Ft. Myers, FL
Pitchers and Catchers Report: February 12th
First game: Feb 25th (exhibition), Feb 25th (Twins)
Schedule

Projected Opening Day Lineup

1. Jacoby Ellsbury (CF)
2. Dustin Pedroia (2B)
3. David Ortiz (DH)
4. Kevin Youkilis (1B)
5. J.D. Drew (RF)
6. Mike Lowell (3B)
7. Jason Bay (LF)
8. Jason Varitek (C)
9. Jed Lowrie/Julio Lugo (SS)

note: lineup is interchangeable from 5-7

Projected Rotation

1. Josh Beckett (RHP)
2. Jon Lester (LHP)
3. Daisuke Matsuzaka (RHP)
4. Brad Penny (RHP)
5. Tim Wakefield (RHP)/John Smoltz (RHP)/Clay Buchholz (RHP)

Projected Bullpen Long Man: Wes Littleton (RHP)/Tim Wakefield (RHP)
Situational: Javier Lopez (LHP), Manny Delcarmen (RHP), Justin Masterson (RHP), Takashi Saito (RHP)
7th Inning: Hideki Okajima (LHP)
8th Inning: Ramon Ramirez (RHP)
Closer: Jonathan Papelbon (RHP)
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Key battles: Realistically during spring training, the only battle the Red Sox will really have is the one between Julio Lugo and Jed Lowrie at shortstop. The Red Sox do plan to give George Kottaras (out of options) and Dusty Brown to compete with Josh Bard for the right to be Tim Wakefield's personal catcher and Jason Varitek's backup.

Once the season starts, there will be a battle in the bullpen when John Smoltz returns from his injury. I really don't see the Red Sox putting Smoltz in the bullpen when he returns so most likely Wakefield could head to the 'pen and the odd man out could be the one struggling.

The battle between Lugo and Lowrie proves to be an intriguing one in similar fashion to the battle between Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury last season. Lugo was the incumbent and went down with a quad injury. Lowrie had already filled in admirably for Mike Lowell and played stellar defense (2 errors at third base) and hit the ball well. Lugo has been a liability defensively for the Red Sox in his 2 years committing 35 errors and has been bailed out numerous times by Gold Glover Kevin Youkilis.

Lowrie hit .258 with 2 home runs and 46 RBIs with a .339 OBP. On the other hand, Lugo hit .268 with 1 home run, 22 RBIs and 12 stolen bases with a .355 OBP. Lowrie did go through a rough patch as the teams made adjustments to him but overall he's the far better player. The problem for the Red Sox is Lugo would too hard to move because of the $18 million over 2 years owed to him. The loser of this battle will be the middle infield backup so a spot on the 25-man roster is all but guaranteed. It's a matter of whether or not they will be penciled in the lineup by Terry Francona on a daily basis.

If Lugo loses, how will he handle the backup role? The Red Sox appear to drama free this year with Manny Ramirez and Curt Schilling gone and all of us up here know that Lugo can be a head case.

What to expect: With all of the low cost, high-risk players Theo Epstein signed in the offseason (Penny, Smoltz, Saito, Rocco Baldelli), it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. If all of them can perform to their pre-injury levels plus if Beckett regains his form and Lester continues his rise as one of the best left-handers in the game, it could be another banner year for the Red Sox. And that's not mentioning Mr. Houdini himself, Daisuke Matsuzaka. If he can harness his control, I can see the Red Sox version of the Big 3 winning 50-60 games between. Throw Penny and Smoltz on top of that and the Red Sox are looking pretty. Of course, if those guys don't pan out, you've got Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden waiting in the wings to come up and prove their worth to the big club. Remember one thing, this is Boston where anything can happen on any given day. You know what, we wouldn't have it any other way.

Ian covers the Red Sox, UConn Huskies and Patriots on his blog Sox and Dawgs.