I'm not worired about Ellsbury. All he'll ever have to do in his career is run really fast and not be totally deficient in EBH, BB and Ks. So far so good.

It's probably a pretty bad sign when the most exciting thing on the farm are a couple of AA relievers though

I wouldn't be worried about Ellsbury or Lowrie. Let them make their adjustments. Their numbers are going to look a little deflated no matter what playing in that park. But I usually like to look at ~200 AB's before I start drawing conclusions. It lets them go through about two hot and cold streaks, which should balance their numbers out.

You did fail to mention that Clay Buchholz went on the DL and will miss at least two starts. TINSTAAPP.

Lester would be exciting if he wasn't getting shelled. And there's always Petunia.

Matt Ginter looks like he's off to a good start, further polishing his credentials for the AAA Hall of Fame.

I'm definitely rooting for Natale. I remember seeing him play as a freshman at Trinity. Very quick bat and extremely selective hitter, even then.

Corky "One for My Last Fifty-One" Miller?

I’m beginning to think they won’t all be ready to start in teh Majors next year.

Not a problem. Bring up mid-summer and it's like you traded for three All-Stars. It means they won't succeed Papelpon/Pedroia as co-RoY, but that's life.

Some Taiwanese-signee Youtube magic

Chiang was signed for 375K

Huang was signd for 100K

Wood bats rule.

My guess is that the Sox will take it slowly with both Ellsbury and Lowrie (as evidenced by the fact that both are starting the year in Wilimngton). Lowrie just turned 22, and Ellsbury won't turn 23 until September, so at this point there's no good reason to push either one. Corsaletti is older, and I don't see him as having a particularly high ceiling anyway.

David Pauley's doing decently at Portland, although I'd like to see him miss a few more bats.

-- MWE

Hey! Corso's still got .410 OBP and 16 walks against 12 strikeouts!

Sure, he's only hitting .269 with almost no power. But nonetheless, Fear The Corso!

The ESPN rumor mill continues to grind away:

A classic reunion?
Apr 26 - Red Sox bullpen coach Al Nipper is hopeful -- maybe even confident -- that his old friend Roger Clemens will sign with the Red Sox, the Boston Globe reports. "I think we have a chance," Nipper told the newspaper. "We have a chance. We talked in Texas at great length, about things like how he'd fit in, and we talked to him about the ball club. I laid everything out. Believe me, I threw everything but the sink at him."

Clemens, who has drawn interest from the Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers and Astros, can begin negotiations with Houston on May 1. But agent Randy Hendricks told MLB.com on April 24 that Clemens "does not intend to play in May, so the May 1 date does not mean much," The New York Post reports.

The Astros make the most sense for the future Hall of Famer. The question is whether they are willing to pay the expected $3 to $4 million a month Clemens likely will command for the rest of the season. The Red Sox, Yankees and Rangers won't blink at those numbers, and they could escalate if it becomes a bidding war between the Red Sox and Yankees.

Hansen might be up at Pawtucket as early as tonight.

How hard does Lester throw? I've never seen the kid pitch-anybody know?

i hear low 90s

Damn. I thought I heard he hit 97 here and there. But, thanks Ponzi.

Hansen might be up at Pawtucket as early as tonight.

yup

you're welcome, brownshirt.

Wind must be blowin' wild and free in Rhode Island today. Petunia homereD!!

I understand that Lester sits in the low 90s with the fastball and can dial it up as high as 95-96. So you're both right, I think.

Mike Bowden had a dominating start last night, 9 K, 0 BB, 1 H in five innings. His overall line is weird, with too many hits, homers and runs, but awesome K/BB. Basically, he's had two excellent starts and one disaster.

Pedroia up to .278/.396/.444. This is the line we should be expecting from him year-in and year-out, right?

W/R/T Bowden: Look at the periphs and you'll be able to sleep at night. 2.84 DIPS, FWIW.

Lester sits in the low-90's and can dial it up, like MCoA said. If you want a mental picture of someone he throws like, think Andy Pettitte. Not to say he will have Pettitte's career, but they have the same repetoire (low-90's fastball, cutter, curveball, changeup).

Maybe the Sox'll look back and wish they'd spent big money on a low round pitcher when they could've had Tim Lincecum for just a little more last year than they gave Rozier. He's got a really interesting motion to watch, kind of a partial Nomo in that he gets so much body spin into every delivery. And you've gotta love a smaller guy succeeding instead of the usual six four type the scouts lust for. Yes, I'm about Lincecum's height. Go average sized guy Go!

Does anyone else think it's time to get Miller or someone else up to the big club in place of Bard? My heart can't take another 4-PB performance from Josh. Corky looked OK in spring training with the Mariners, though he didn't have to catch Wake there.

You know, I've been inclined to cut Bard some slack, but then I remember how a bunch of other catchers have caught Wakefield and none have looked this terrible. Something's got to give, and it's a shame, because Bard is a fine backup otherwise.

Well, honestly, if Bard is somehow so horrific that he shouldn't be catching Wakefield, then you just make Bard someone else's personal catcher and make the Captain catch the knuckler. Bard's never (to my knowledge) given any indication of being a PB-machine before catching Wakefield, so (1) if Varitek would be better catching Wakefield than Bard, and (2) if the improvement in catcher defense with Varitek's catching Wakefield is more than the theoretical decline in Varitek's offense that might occur if Varitek tires himself out catching Wakefield, then (3) Varitek should catch Wakefield and Bard should catch someone else. Perhaps Clement or Dinardo.

I agree with post 22. Theres no law that says the Sox backup catcher has to catch wakefield.

Varitek always gets to drive the Cadillac (Pedro, Schilling ...etc) maybe its time for him to take out the old Jalopy with no shocks.

I think, and this may be way off, that the idea of the personal catcher for Wakes was twofold: 1) give Varitek regular rest while allowing to focus on catching normal pitchers and 2) letting the backup become a sort of expert in the unique skill of catching the knuckler. That way, neither guy has to constantly go back and forth between the two. Wake and Tek have both seemed to prosper under this system. It should not be really hard to find someone who can catch Wake--I hope Bard comes around.

Keeping with the minor league thread theme: Pedroia keeps bouncing from a nice line to a crappy one. His K:BB still looks good, so I bet he'll come around. He's also essentially still in spring training right now, so he's probably a bit rusty.

In AAA, Matt Ginter's doing some nice stuff: 29 IP, 26 H, 19 K, 3 BB, 1 HR, 2.79 ERA. Maybe he'll take Dinardo's spot at some point?

Varitek should catch Wakefield and Bard should catch someone else. Perhaps Clement or Dinardo.

I nominate Beckett. You can compensate for the dropoff in offense from Tek by having him catch one of the better starters. For some reason, I don't see Schilling cottoning to the idea of having someone other than Tek catching him. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised to see Bard catch him ommorrow due to the day game after a nite game scenario.

I nominate Beckett. You can compensate for the dropoff in offense from Tek by having him catch one of the better starters. For some reason, I don't see Schilling cottoning to the idea of having someone other than Tek catching him. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised to see Bard catch him ommorrow due to the day game after a nite game scenario.

I guess that this got overtaken by events.

Is sox therapy alive?

Where do we talk about last nights game? The forum sox section only has Youkilis mancrushes metasticized into threads.

just for fun: Rolando Arrojo, April 2001 : 8 G, 14.1 IP, 0 runs, 13 K, 3 Svs, ERA of 0.00

michael bowden's last 2 starts: 19 k's, 1 bb, 3 hits in 10 innings for greenville.

Down here in Jerz, I had to watch via the Yes Network. Not a bad broadcast; it was Singleton, Key, and Leiter. Leiter was good, I like having a (recently) ex-pitcher in the booth, Orel Hershiser similarly brings good stuff to the booth.