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Sox reaction to Colon's work

The first impressions Bartolo Colon made on his pitching coach and his catcher were positive last night. Here is what John Farrell, the Red Sox pitching coach, and catcher Jason Varitek had to say about Colon’s effort in the 6-3 Red Sox win.

Farrell:
``We came in tonight thinking he was going to go about 75 pitches. It was apparent that in the fifth inning it looked like he was starting to tire a little bit.’’ Colon threw 74 pitches, 46 for strikes.

``What was most impressive is that we used his fastball very well tonight. The two-seamer got a lot of ground balls with some early contact. I think it was a very good step in the right direction for Bartolo. We’re looking at him for 85 or 90 pitches the next time out.’’

Of the 74 pitches, only about 10 were off-speed, Farrell said.

``When you can throw the two and four-seam on both sides of the plate to some effect it gives you four different pitches. Tonight his approach was very similar to what he’s been accustomed to his entire career. He’s going to mix in some change-ups and sliders on occasion but he’s primarily a fastball pitcher.’’

``One thing he’s never had an issue with is throwing strikes. You look at his entire career path and it’s been one that he’s commanded the strike zone Even when he came into spring training he showed right away that his delivery was repeatable. When you look at a compact body like that there are not body parts that are going to get out of whack too often. Because of that regardless of the amount of time off he’s going to be pretty efficient with his strike throwing ability.’’

Even with Boston’s pitching riches, Farrell made it clear he expects Colon to be part of the rotation.

``He’s a very accomplished pitcher. We’re fortunate to have him in the rotation,’’ Farrell said.

Varitek:

``He did good. He did really good,’’ Varitek said.

``We saw some 94s (on the radar gun) up there. You’ve got to remember it’s his first outing. We’re still building strength. We can make this a good starting point for building strength. . . He’s going to help us.’’

Varitek felt Colon’s numbers could have been even better.

``They had a soft liner for the first run hit in the right place for the first run and he broke a bat on the other one.’’

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 11:15 PM to Projo Sox Crawl | Permalink

Boston sending help to Pawtucket

The fight for jobs with the Boston Red Sox is about to become a major benefit for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

When Terry Francona held his usual pre-game meeting with the media this afternoon, three of the players he talked about are not on his team right now. Brandon Moss, Justin Masterson and Julian Tavarez all are expected to be with the PawSox when red-hot Pawtucket (winners of 10 of its last 13) opens an eight-game homestand tomorrow night against Rochester.

Here’s what is up with them:

BRANDON MOSS

The rookie outfielder/first baseman is in Fenway today. Some 18 days after undergoing an emergency appendectomy, he is on the field as the Sox take batting practice. He will receive one final check from doctors tonight before heading to Pawtucket.

``He’s made some kind of recovery,’’ Francona said. ``It’s pretty cool. He’s all jumping around.’’

``I feel great,’’ Moss said before heading out.

Moss had 15 at-bats over the weekend in Florida and played two games at first base and one in the outfield.

On May 2, Moss hit a home run and threw a runner out at the plate as the Sox beat Tampa Bay. The next night he was undergoing surgery.

``At first I didn’t think (the recovery) was going to be as quick as it was, because it was really sore the first two or three days,’’ he recalled. ``Then, they told me the more I did, with moderation, the better it would get and the quicker it would get better.

``I started doing things. Even though it hurt, I kept doing it and it got better a lot faster. The progression was really good.’’

With Boston healthier than it has been in some time, Moss is not even sure what will happen after his rehab in Pawtucket.

``I don’t know what they’re going to do,’’ he said. ``I might stay there. I don’t even know. Whatever happens happens. I’m just glad to be able to play again.’’

JUSTIN MASTERSON

Francona spoke about the possibility of the young righthander pitching in relief in Boston later this season. For now, though, it appears all but certain Masterson will be in Pawtucket’s starting rotation for the time being.

``Yeah, he could probably help us in the pen,’’ Francona responded to a question about using Masterson in relief. ``I think the starters’ innings are really, really beneficial (right now). Where that takes him the rest of the year, I don’t know.’’

Masterson pitched the Sox to victory over Kansas City Tuesday night, then was told that rather than going back to Portland, he was being assigned to Pawtucket. It is expected he will start for the PawSox Sunday or Monday.

JULIAN TAVAREZ

The veteran reliever cleared waivers and has accepted assignment to Pawtucket. It is not sure how long that will last or even what role he will fill for the PawSox.

When Francona was asked about the situation, he said he was not aware of what would be done, that it would be an organizational decision.

``If I said something I’d be making it up. I’d rather not do that,’’ he said. But he did make a prediction when asked if he was surprised Tavarez had cleared waivers.

``You know what, I never try to manage another team, let alone be a general manager,’’ Francona said. ``I think I feel better saying he is going to pitch in the big leagues. He’ll be in the big leagues (before the season is over).’’

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 5:19 PM to Projo Sox Crawl | Permalink

Red Sox pregame notes: Colon makes debut

**Bartolo Colon will finally make his Red Sox debut tonight. Ever since the club signed the veteran right-hander at the start of spring training, GM Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona have been looking forward to this.

"He's done everything we have asked," said Francona. "His arm looks terrific. He's logged a lot of innings. He's pitching his first game on May 21 and sometimes you need to catch a break, and maybe this will be our break. Everybody is looking for something and pitching is hard to find. This guys seems excited to be here and we're excited to have him here."

**Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew is out of the starting lineup tonight. He smoked a foul ball off his knee during Tuesday's game against the Royals, but manager Terry Francona said this afternoon Drew still could have played tonight. Due to Thursday's matinee game, the manager thought it best to give Drew a rest tonight.

Plus, Francona said he's really happy with the way the outfielder rotation of Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Manny Ramirez and Coco Crisp has worked this season.

**Speaking of Manny, he's stuck on home run No. 498, but Francona doesn't feel like the slugger is pressing. The manager joked that he would rather have Manny at 498 instead of 14 (Francona hit 16 career homers during his playing days).
"He's not pressing, but his timing has been off a bit," said the manager. "On some of his swings you can tell he doesn't have all of his balance or leveragem, but that will change."

**Red Sox third-base coach DeMarlo Hale could rejoin the club in Oakland this weekend. He is back in Orlando, Fla. to attend to his wife, who is undergoing undisclosed medical exams. Francona said Hale has the club's blessing to take as long as he needs. In the meantime, bench coach Brad Mills has been filling in at third.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 4:49 PM | Permalink

Tonight's lineups

KANSAS CITY

DeJesus, rf
Grudzielanek, 2b
Gordon, 3b
Guillen, lf
Teahen, 1b
Butler, DH
Buck, c
Pena, ss
Gathright, cf
Tomko, sp

BOSTON

Ellsbury, rf
Pedroia, 2b
Ortiz, dh
Ramirez, lf
Lowell, 3b
Youkilis, 1b
Varitek, c
Crisp, cf
Lugo, ss
Colon, sp

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 4:41 PM | Permalink

Sox Streakers for May 21

Streaks on the line tonight

-The Red Sox have won eight straight at home and five straight overall. The team's longest winning streak this season is six.

-Kansas City's Mark Grudzielanek, Jose Guillen and Billy Butler are 0 for 19 in this series.

-Kevin Youkilis has played a major-league record 226 consecutive games at first base without committing an error.

-Youkilis has a team-high six-game hitting streak, during which he is 10 for 24 (.417).

-David Aardsma has worked 8.1 consecutive scoreless innings.

-Kansas City's Joakim Soria is a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities, tying Al Hrabosky (in 1978) for the club record.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 3:54 PM to Projo Sox Streakers | Permalink

Manny stuck on 498?

Manny Ramirez has now gone 29 at-bats since his last home run, and he has just two home runs in the last month of baseball. Since April 22, he's seen his batting average fall 50 points, from .342 to .292, and he's struck out 24 times in 25 games. All this has some folks wondering: Is the pressure getting to Manny? (Click the link here to vote.)

Steve Krasner explored the subject today in his Inside the Game column.

"He doesn't look the least bit settled in the batter's box," Krasner writes. "He's jumping at pitches and when he hits them, he isn't consistently driving them. He's even uncharacteristically chasing pitches out of the strike zone."

No question Ramirez was doing that last night against Kansas City, when he was a strikout victim three times.

Here's what Sean McAdam had to say on today's edition of Projo SoxTalk: "He had made a big deal about wanting to get there [500 home runs] before the end of April, which seems a long time ago now, and seemed to be cognizant about that and wanting to get this done and get this taken care of. How many times do you see Manny Ramirez strike out three times in four at-bats in one night and not look very good doing it either? So, it could be that he's pressing. He's been stuck in the high 490s for quite some time now, and I'm sure he looks out there and sees that number 498 hanging above the Green Monster; he certainly knows that the milestone is within reach, and it does seem like of late that he's been trying a little too hard to get there."

Interesting, the same was said last year of Alex Rodriguez as he neared number 500.

Perhaps Manny won't get number 500 at Fenway, but instead that he'll do it when the Red Sox head out for the West Coast later that week. I can't find the Lynn Item column that Nick Cafardo mentions today in the Globe's Extra Bases blog, so I'll link to Cafardo himself. Ramirez told the Item's Maureen Mullen over the weekend, according to Cafardo, that he in fact is not excited about reaching 500, that 600 is really his goal, and he predicts that number 500 will come out West.

Ron Chimelis, writing in the Springfield Republican, said Monday that the extended wait gives us a chance to reflect on the fact that Manny seems "destined to wind up, not just with great numbers, but on the good side of public opinion. This is both because fans like him, and because his name has not been tarnished by baseball's steroid problem.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 3:16 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Another young star shines

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. The topics: Justin Masterson -- his performance last night and his possible future in the bullpen -- what to look for from Bartolo Colon tonight, and whether Manny Ramirez is letting his stalled pursuit of 500 home runs get under his skin.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:20 AM to Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Wednesday, May 21

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach

WEALTH OF RICHES: Justin Masterson (above) knew the pressure was on when, in the aftermath of Jon Lester's no-hitter Monday night, a TV announcer remarked, "Justin, have fun following this one up." But the emergency starter -- while not exactly matching Lester's performance of the night before -- pitched just as well as he had in his first one-and-done appearance last month (ProJo Sox Blog) . . . and this time he was rewarded for it, as the Red Sox defeated the Royals, 2-1, for their fifth straight win. Joe McDonald has the details of the victory, which Jonathan Papelbon nailed down by striking out three of the four batters he faced; the biggest one, of course, was the fanning of Billy Butler with the bases loaded and two out in the eighth as he cleaned up yet another mess created by Hideki Okajima. Terry Francona insisted Okajima (double and two walks in two-thirds of an inning) "did OK" (Boston Herald) and the Sox are willing to blame rustiness -- he hadn't pitched in almost a week because of a sore wrist -- for his troubles. Maybe so, but the Sox are still worried about their less-than-airtight relief corps, which last night included an inherited runner allowed to score by the similarly wobbly Manny Delcarmen. So worried, in fact, that Sean McAdam reports the Sox may turn Masterson into a reliever later this year in the hopes he can fortify the bullpen in the same way Papelbon did in 2005.

THE MORNING AFTER: But the buzz at the ballpark still centered around Lester, who, as McDonald, McAdam and Steven Krasner report in their notebook, was just beginning to come back down to Earth yesterday. The Seattle Times' Larry Stone has a touching piece on how Lester's father John, back home in Puyallup, Wash., kept track of his son's no-hitter despite his superstition of not following the games when he's not at the stadium. (Hint: It revolved around listening for his wife's screams of delight.) Outside our little world, Rhode Island's Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer gets reaction from another cancer survivor, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, on Lester's feat. (Hint: He's thrilled.) Not surprisingly, Curt Schilling weighed in on Lester's no-hitter on 38pitches.com and had plenty of nice things to say. He also once again rues the decision he made to shake off Jason Varitek with two outs in the ninth inning last June 7 in Oakland. If he hadn't, Varitek might have caught five no-hitters in his career.

NOT-SO-EVIL EMPIRE: Among the people praising Lester yesterday was none other than Hank Steinbrenner. (Boston Globe)

PREMONITION: Joe Posnanski said he had the sense right from the first pitch that something unforgettable was going to happen at Fenway Monday night . . . and was he right. And, as you'll discover if you click the link, did he appreciate it. (joeposnanski.com)

THE REAL SURVIVORS: The Red Sox have four current and former players -- Jon Lester, Mike Lowell, Mark Loretta and Derek Lowe -- on Yahoo! Sports' All-Cancer Survivor Team.

SHORT-TERM FIX? Tonight, Bartolo Colon makes his Sox debut as Masterson heads back out (though this time to Pawtucket and not Portland). In his weekly ESPN radio broadcast, transcribed by Joe Haggerty on his Hacks With Haggs blog, Peter Gammons says the Sox may only get five or six good starts out of Colon before he begins to break down but that may be all they're looking for.

SURPRISE! In their notebook, McDonald, McAdam and Krasner also note the decision of Julian Tavarez to reject free agency and accept an assignment to Pawtucket. The state of pitching being what it is around baseball, it was thought Tavarez could have snapped up a job in an instant on the open market; instead, he decided to stay put. The Rockies were thought to be a potential landing spot for Tavarez, but the Denver Post reports that -- while they still might have taken a chance if he'd reached free agency -- their interest cooled when they signed Glendon Rusch.

STALLED: In his Inside The Game feature, Krasner wonders if the pressure of being two home runs shy of 500 is affecting Manny Ramirez at the plate.

NOTHING'S CHANGED: Coco Crisp sill wants to play every day and is waiting for the Sox to make good on their promise to trade him. (Boston Herald)

GETTING BETTER: Journal food critic Gail Ciampa says this year's batch of Red Sox wines -- Captain’s Cabernet (named for Jason Varitek), Vintage Papi (who do you think?), and Sauvignyoouuk Blanc (Kevin Youkilis) -- are "an improvement over last year’s inaugural selections."

LEADING THE WAY: In the latest installment of Ask 14, Jim Rice talks about clubhouse leadership in general and clubhouse leadership on the 1970s Red Sox in particular.

ROCK BOTTOM: That's where Joe Girardi hopes the Yankees are -- with nowhere to go but up -- after last night's 12-2 pounding by the Orioles, a loss that rendered even Hank Steinbrenner speechless. (New York Daily News) The game marked the return of Alex Rodriguez but, as the Daily News' Filip Bondy points out, "there are only so many leaks that Rodriguez can repair." The New York Post's Larry Brooks concurs, pointing to problems such as a Johnny Damon blunder in left field and Robinson Cano's lackadaisical play at second base (which led directly to the Derek Jeter throwing error that opened the door for the Orioles' first-inning explosion), and concludes: "Rodriguez would have to be a miracle worker in order to turn around this structurally flawed team."

STARTING WITH . . . Perhaps the biggest leak is on that big bump in the middle of the diamond, especially with the first guys the Yankees put out there every night. Last night the first guy was Mike Mussina, but he didn't get out of the first inning, departing after getting only two outs and putting the Yanks in a 7-0 hole. (New York Daily News)

'AT LEAST THE YANKEES LEAD THE LEAGUE IN SOMETHING': That something, points out Peter Abraham on the LoHud Yankees Blog, is suspensions, especially since another one may be in the offing after LaTroy Hawkins threw twice at the Orioles' Luke Scott -- the last time at his head -- in apparent retaliation for Derek Jeter being hit on the wrist a few innings earlier by Daniel Cabrera. (Both stories New York Post) The Orioles had no use for Hawkins throwing high at Scott (Baltimore Sun), especially since, as Abraham points out, Jeter a) dives over the plate on every pitch, b) has been hit 132 times in his career and c) if "the Yankees retaliate every time Jeter gets hit, they’re going to run out of pitchers." Hawkins will soon join Melky Cabrera, Shelley Duncan and Kyle Farnsworth as Yankee players who have been suspended this season . . . and Farnsworth also was nailed for throwing at an opposing batter's head.

What's that you were saying there, Goose Gossage, about Yankee class and dignity?

SPIRITUAL HEALING: Scott, who can regularly be seen reading the Bible in the Orioles clubhouse, said of Hawkins: "The Lord says to forgive those who wrong you. And I forgive him." (Washington Post)

THOSE WHO FORGET THE PAST ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT: With a ton of money coming off the books at the end of the year -- among the bloated contracts that expire are Mussina's, Jason Giambi's and Bobby Abreau's -- the Yankees are expected to make a big splash in the free-agent market this winter as they prepare to head into the new Yankee Stadium. But the blog River Ave. Blues points out that handing, say, Mark Teixeira the seven-year (or longer) contract he'll undoubtedly be seeking means you'll soon be facing the same problem with him that you have with the Giambis now; to wit, paying a ton of money for a player whose skills are deteriorating.

DEAD OR ALIVE? The Yankees are one of five struggling teams examined by ESPN.com's Rob Neyer and Jonah Keri in an attempt to determine if their seasons are beyond salvage.

PILING ON: Now it's SNY.tv's Michael Salfino making a Rays-Yankees comparison that, ah, doesn't favor New York.

TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK . . . Bob Klapisch says that while all the attention in New York is focused on Willie Randolph, the clock is also ticking on Girardi. (northjersey.com)

THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT: Randolph hinted there are racial overtones in the criticism he's receiving from Mets fans when he talked to the Bergen Record's Ian O'Connor. But yesterday, as controversy over the remarks began to rise, he backtracked from the race angle. (New York Times)

KEEP ON COMING: Of course, the criticism won't get any softer in light of the Mets' losing a doubleheader to the Braves. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH: That's what Mindy McCready says she told about her relationship with Roger Clemens in an upcoming documentary. (New York Daily News)

OKAY, OKAY, I GET THE HINT: Mike Piazza, who spent seven months on the free-agent market without a nibble, announced his retirement yesterday. (mlb.com) Baseball Musings' David Pinto has a nice retrospective of Piazza's career, which should land him in Cooperstown in 2013.

THEY SAY THE BEST MOVES . . . are sometimes the ones you don't make. The blog SportsHubLA thinks the Angels' non-trade for Miguel Cabrera fits into that category.

COMING OUT SWINGING: Jim Leyland told Bob Nightengale of USA Today this has been the most exasperating of his 17 seasons as a big-league manager, and that exasperation apparently grew when ex-Tiger Jason Grilli said some of the team's offseason moves -- such as the jettisoning of Sean Casey -- "broke up our team chemistry". Leyland fired back at Grilli's seemingly innocuous remarks, basically telling him to mind his own business and worry about himself. (Detroit Free Press) "You’ve got to be (kidding) me," said Leyland. "We lost Sean Casey. I mean, please. Come on . . . I miss Sean Casey. But Sean Casey has nothing to do with the fact that the Tigers are where we’re at.”

WHAT?? When asked for comment at his present baseball address -- Colorado -- Grilli seemed as surprised as the rest of us at Leyland's reaction. (mlb.com)

THE (ABUSE OF) POWER OF THE INTERNET: You may have heard there was a blog report Monday that the Brewers were about to fire Ned Yost. I didn't link to it because there were about 84 smell tests it didn't pass -- at its worst, you could assume it was just a guy throwing something out there with no attribution whatsoever -- but some media outlets either reported it or attempted to follow up on it. Well, it wasn't true (duh!), and a furious Yost has some harsh words for the organizations that did repeat the rumor. (mlb.com)

DAMN STRAIGHT: Braves announcer Skip Carey chimes in on bloggers during a game broadcast. (www.cantstopthebleeding.com)

WARNING! WARNING! The Cubs are naturally concerned that Carlos Zambrano has stiffness in his right shoulder/right neck area. (Chicago Sun-Times)

DOUBLE WARNING! DOUBLE WARNING! Lost amid the euphoria of Edinson Volquez' fast start is the fact that he's been running up some high pitch counts (Middletown Journal)

WELCOME HOME: Rick Sutcliffe, who was diagnosed with colon cancer this spring, returns to the ESPN broadcast booth tonight. (AP via Chicago Tribune)

BACK ON THE AIR: Harold Reynolds, fired by ESPN in 2006 "based on accusations about his behavior that were never publicly detailed," talks to the New York Times about his dismissal, why he fought against it so vigorously, his current stint at SNY in New York, and his potential future in broadcasting.

INSTANT REPLAY: One night after they blew a home-run call on national television on a ball hit by Carlos Delgado at Yankee Stadium, major-league umpires did it again on a smaller stage Monday night, making an incorrect call on a home run by the Cubs' Geovany Soto in Houston. The New York Times reports MLB is working on a limited instant-replay proposal that may gain the approval of long-time replay opponent Bud Selig.

IF YOU CAN'T GET IT RIGHT, I'M NOT GOING TO TALK TO YOU: John Smoltz says he's finished giving medical updates about his injured shoulder because the media misinterpreted comments he made over the weekend. (mlb.com)

HERE AND THERE: Chone Figgins-to-the-White Sox rumors are surfacing (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . The Twins have lost Matt Tolbert for five to six weeks because of a torn ligament in his thumb (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) . . . The Marlins' Josh Willingham has a herniated disc in his back and could be out for a month or more (Miami Herald) . . . The Brewers have lifted Carlos Villanueva, last seen getting cuffed around by the Red Sox, from their starting rotation (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . The Padres have put the ailing Jake Peavy on the disabled list (mlb.com) . . . Andruw Jones has fluid and a torn cartilage in his knee. (Los Angeles Daily News)

OLD FRIENDS: Pedro Martinez will throw a bullpen session today (New York Daily News) . . . It's always something: Now Eric Gagne's shoulder hurts (mlb.com) . . . The Dodgers have placed Gary Bennett on the disabled list (Los Angeles Times) . . . Lenny DiNardo is back with the A's. (Costa Contra Times)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:43 AM | Permalink