2007 Closer

Jonathan Papelbon will resume the role as Sox closer for this season. Although I'd like to see him start and see how dominant he can be, there really is no sense fixing what isn't broken. I'd like to see Craig Hansen become the closer, but apparently he isn't ready yet. Papelbon turned out to be one of the most dominant closers in the game, and our rotation with the addition of Dice-K shouldn't be a problem. Julian Tavarez will take Papelbon's spot in the rotation.

Mike Timlin

Unfortunately, Mike Timlin will miss opening day in Kansas City this year. He strained his oblique and will start off on the disabled list, but will hopefully be ready for action around the time the Sox open in Boston, which is April 10th against the Mariners. Timlin is a solid pitcher who is very reliable out of the bullpen and I think he'd make a decent closer for us this year.

Through March 13th

So the Red Sox are an even 7-7 this spring after beating the Yankees in their only spring training match up this year in last night's game and losing to the Blue Jays this afternoon. 7-7 isn't as good as anyone was hoping for, but then again it is only spring training and a .500 record isn't likely to plague the Sox this season.

Daisuke pitched against the Orioles on Sunday and looked phenomenal. All his pitches are dominating and each one compliments the next. In the first inning he had back to back strikeouts against Melvin Mora and Jay Gibbons respectively to retire the side. In the process he mixed in his changeup very nicely, kept each hitter off-balance, and basically made them look silly.

Game 1

The first game of the spring training season ended in a 4-4 tie in 10 innings with the Minnesota Twins last night in Fort Myers, Florida. Curt Schilling started for the Sox and lasted 2 innings. He pitched well, his location was very consistent and for the most part he kept hitters off-balance. Schilling gave up 2 hits and no runs in his debut outing.

Julio Lugo made a throwing error in the field, but made up for it the very next inning with a single to score Dustin Pedroia. Previously that same inning, David Ortiz had an RBI single. Jacoby Ellsbury, the highly tooted Red Sox prospect who played his college ball at Oregon State 2 years ago, had a good showing as well with a two-run single and a stolen base.

Josh Beckett makes his spring debut today at 1:05 in a split-squad meeting where his squad takes on Northeastern University. The other squad also plays at 1:05, against the Toronto Blue Jays where Kason Gabbard will get his first start.