Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia made his first appearance in Fort Myers today, and was up to his typical self, chiding Hanley Ramirez for not getting low to the ground during infield practice.

He lost weight this off season, in hopes of stealing more bags, and to bring back the laser show.

Day one of spring training and Jackie Bradley is starting in centerfield for the Red Sox. That sound you hear is my Boner

They should do whatever they have to do to dump Panda. Have to believe they are trying to do that.

Elias or Wright for Red Sox 5th starter spot
March 21, 2016, 3:00 pm

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Red Sox have yet to make a decision on who their fifth starter will be to start the season.

But Johh Farrell strongly hinted today that the battle is down to lefty Roenis Elias and knuckleballer Steven Wright, with Henry Owens all but eliminated from the competition.

The spot has been made available by a right knee injury to Eduardo Rodriguez, who will not be ready to open the season.

"To date, I like the way that Wright and Elias have thrown the ball,'' said Farrell. "Henry's a quality pitcher and yet we need to see the consistent command, as we've talked about. And he's not the only one, but we need to see improved command more regularly.''

Owens has walked nine in 10 1/3 innings of Grapefruit League play this spring.

Wright is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Miami Marlins, with Owens set to follow him to the mound. Elias's next outing will come either Thursday or Friday.

Owens might have been considered the favorite to win the spot a few weeks ago, but his poor command has significantly hurt his chances.

Wright is out of options and is virtually guaranteed to make the staff, either as the long man in the bullpen or the starter. Elias, too, has experience both starting and relieving and could give the Sox another lefty in the bullpen -- or a second lefty in the starting rotation to go along with ace David Price.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez has a 30-pitch bullpen Monday morning in Fort Myers, with another bullpen session set for Wednesday.

That could be enough to clear Rodriguez to throw live batting practice later in the week.

"Today was another step forward for Eddie,'' said Farrell. 'I wish I could tell you when that first game will be but we're working off him, to see how he responds to each outing.

www.csnne.com/boston-red-sox/roenis-elias-or-steven-wright-for-red-sox-5th-starter-spot

sucks about E-Rod. Cant believe he's been out all this time, didnt seem all that serious

Shaw gets three more hits in battle for job
March 21, 2016, 2:30 pm

JUPITER, Fla. -- At first glance, the Red Sox lineup for Monday raised some eyebrows.

It had Travis Shaw playing third, with Pablo Sandoval as the DH.

But with the Red Sox shuffling players in and out of the lineup on their three-day trip to Florida's East Coast, manager John Farrell noted that Tuesday, when the Sox play the Miami Marlins in the same ballpark, the two would flip-flop, with Shaw as the DH and Sandoval at third.

However, Farrell later acknowledged that one of the reasons that Shaw has not been tried in left field -- something the Sox said they wanted to look at -- was so they could get as many looks as possible of him at third base.

"It is,'' confirmed Farrell. "To be as candid with you as possible, yes.''

Both players enjoyed strong games Monday in the Red Sox' 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Shaw was 3-for-4 with two doubles, upping his average to .474 for the spring. Sandoval, meanwhile, was 2-for-3 with two RBI, lifting his Grapefruit League average to .290.

"My swing feels really good right now, both sides of the field,'' said Shaw. "I'm just trying to stay in this groove the last couple of weeks of camp. Really, the only other [streak] I can compare this to is when I came up last August, but that was more power-wise than it was hit-wise. This is pretty good. I feel like I'm in a good spot right now.

"I'm confident in what I can do at the plate. I don't think this is a fluke. I think I can continue to carry this over.''

Farrell hinted Saturday that there's an active competition for the starting third-base job, but Shaw isn't trying to analyze things too much.

"It's hard for me to say,'' said Shaw. "I would like to think that I am (in competition for a starting spot). But I'm just trying to let my at-bats do the talking, and hopefully they'll speak for themselves. But I don't really know. I've never really been in this situation. We'll see how it plays out.''

Farrell also conceded that it's difficult to evaluate the two this spring because they're such different hitters. While Shaw is a patient, steady, line drive hitter, Sandoval is far more aggressive and unconventional hitter, prone to streakiness.

"I think that's where you have to look at the broader scope,'' said Farrell, "and not base things solely on spring training, even though that's going to give you the most recent information. You have to look at a bigger period of time and factor in last year as part of that.

"That's probably the best answer I can give you. If we were evaluating the position solely on offense (that would make it harder). But that's not the case. That's where you look at the broader scope and a longer period of time.''

Shaw entered Monday with glowing offensive numbers, but his defense has also impressed.

"He's shown good range, particularly to his glove side,'' said Farrell. "I think there's an internal clock there, like most infielders, where there's an understanding (of how much time he has to make plays), with the exception of one play. Might have been home against Marlins, where a well above-average runner (beat out) a base hit. But the internal clock and the range has been good.''

Why does the "Pablo Sandoval Situation" need a solution? I thought it was a great signing?

As he should.  Hanley can be a lazy piece of shit

Injuries throw Red Sox pitching staff a curve
March 23, 2016, 12:45 pm
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- When the Red Sox reported to spring training, more than five weeks ago, their pitching staff look settled with perhaps a single spot in the bullpen up for grabs.

Now, the bane of teams' spring existence -- injuries -- has changed that considerably.

First came the knee injury to starter Eduardo Rodriguez. On Tuesday came word that reliever Carson Smith, too, would start the season on the disabled list. Neither injury is calamitious - Rodriguez is expected back by the end of April and Smith won't be far behind, if at all.

But the setbacks have thrown the composition of the staff into disarray. Suddenly, the Red Sox have a rotation spot vacant, and partly as a result, perhaps two job openings in the bullpen.

A look at where the competition stands:

ROTATION: David Price, Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello and Joe Kelly are in place.

Steven Wright had a strong showing against the Marlins Tuesday. He has a 3.07 ERA for the spring, and at this point, must be considered the front-runner.

Wright is out of options, meaning the Red Sox can't attempt to send him to the minor leagues without first exposing him to waivers and risk losing him to another team.

That alone made Wright a likely fit on the staff somewhere. And given that pitched reasonably well last summer before a concussion took him off the mound for the final six weeks, it seems likely that Wright will be the choice for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Roenis Elias is Wright's chief competition. Elias has extensive experience as a big league starter, with 49 starts for Seattle in the previous two years. Elias has thrown the ball well in camp, but given the minor toe injury that Brian Johnson sustained last week, putting him behind others in camp, the Sox might prefer to have Elias continue to get stretched out in Pawtucket, offering some internal starting depth.

Henry Owens might have been considered the favorite when Rodriguez first was sidelined, but he's had trouble with his command and has effectively pitched his way out of the competition. He, too, will likely begin in the Pawsox rotation, where he can work on more consistent strike- throwing.

BULLPEN: If Wright is indeed the choice, that creates one opening among the relief corps. Smith's injury represents the second.

Closer Craig Kimbrel, Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, Robbie Ross Jr. and Tommy Layne are thought to be set.

For a time, it appeared as though Matt Barnes would be the likely fill-in for Wright, since the Red Sox were stretching Barnes out to fill the knuckleballer's long relief role, able to pitch multiple innings.

But Smith's injury could change that. Barnes has been highly effective this spring, with a tighter breaking ball and better fastball location and he could conceivably serve as the seventh inning right-hander role that had been ticketed for Smith.

Under that scenario, Barnes would slot in between Tazawa and Uehara, with the ability to get swings-and-misses.

But if Smith handles the seventh, there are fewer obvious candidates for the long role. Elias has some major league bullpen experience, but again, his presence as a reliever would further deplete the starting depth at Pawtucket.

Or, the Sox could stay with the plan in place before Smith's setback - with Barnes effectively replacing Wright at the multi-inning arm, with another reliever targeted for later innings.

The pickings in that group, however, are slim. Heath Hembree has some big league experience, but hasn't thrown particularly well.

Some other options are no more inspiring, including Noe Ramirez and Anthony Varvaro, the latter of whom made the team last spring.

A more intriguing option might be veteran Carlos Marmol, who was signed to a minor league deal with a major league invite just as camp was getting underway.

The Sox have made a project out of getting Marmol to return to him original arm slot, and have done so with some success. Marmol has experience as a major league closer, having saved 107 games for the Cubs between 2009 and 2012.

He won't be scared of high-leverage situations and has the ability to get strikeouts, with a mid-90s fastball. The tradeoff, of course, is that command is always an issue with Marmol, who has averaged 6.2 walks per nine innings over his career.

If the Sox can pick their spots with him, they could perhaps live with that wildness for a short period. After all, it's not as if they're brimming with other experienced late-inning options.
Injuries throw Red Sox pitching staff a curve

Christian Vazquez, Eduardo Rodriguez Starting Season On Disabled List
March 28, 2016 10:39 AM

BOSTON (CBS) — Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez will begin the season on the disabled list, the team announced on Monday.

Vazquez is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent last April prior to the 2015 season. The move comes as a bit of a surprise, as Vazquez hasn’t suffered any major setbacks in his recovery and it was believed that he would start the season in Triple-A with Blake Swihart and Ryan Hanigan on the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster.

But given the potential lingering effects of the surgery, and Boston’s depth behind the plate to start the season, there’s no need for the team to rush a return from the 25-year-old backstop.

Vazquez turned some heads as a defensive wizard in his 55 games behind the plate in 2014, throwing out 15 of the 29 runners who attempted to swipe a bag against him. Prior to joining the Red Sox that season, Vazquez threw out 19 of 29 runners for Pawtucket. He turned in a .987 fielding percentage during his stint in the Majors, with a .990 fielding percentage throughout his minor league career.

The Red Sox also announced that right-handed pitchers Carson Smith and Brandon Workman and left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez will also begin the season on the disabled list. Rodriguez, who figures to be a key part of the starting rotation this season, suffered a knee injury back on February 28.

The Red Sox also announced the following roster moves on Monday:

Infielder Deven Marrero was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Infielder Josh Rutledge, first baseman/outfielder Allen Craig, outfielder Brennan Boesch, catchers Dan Butler and Sandy Leon, and right-handed pitcher Anthony Varvaro were reassigned to minor league camp.
Right-hander Carlos Marmol was released.
With Monday’s roster moves, the Red Sox now have 27 players in big league camp, including 26 players from the 40-man roster and one non-roster invitee.
boston.cbslocal.com/2016/03/28/red-sox-vazquez-rodriguez-disabled-list/?cid=facebook_98.5_The_Sports_Hub

Fat + overpaid + already won some championships = no motivation. This is known in math circles as the Panda equation.

Sox v. Orioles

Unknown guy v. Buchholz.


Prediction 7-4 Orioles win. Clay last 4+ innings.

Clay doing pretty good. Cheap wind aided HR only damage

and the wind probably robs Mookie of a HR

lol yeah you were pretty close