NESN: Francona: Small Ball Still May Not Be the Answer For These Red Sox

With the type of lineup and defensive presence the Red Sox have coming into the 2010 season, is it time to start thinking more small ball?

I think the term “small ball” gets confused—or, at the very least, misused. The idea is, regardless of who is on our team, to put players in the best position to succeed. So often, when we have runners on first and second, we would rather have our good hitters hit rather than sacrifice an out. So many positive things can happen when we allow guys to hit. There are certainly times when a sacrifice bunt is in order, but there are many things to consider when doing it: Is there speed on the bases? Where are we in the lineup? Will they walk the next guy and set up a double play? How good a bunter is he? Basically, does it potentially put us in a better position to win? The one huge risk when allowing guys to swing away is the double play. That’s part of what makes baseball so interesting—everyone has an opinion on what happened or what should have happened.

Last year, there was a lot of big talk around Lars Anderson. How did he do in the minors last season, and how much can we expect from him now that a year has gone by?

Last year at this time, Lars had just completed the rookie development program. He was the talk of the town. Going into spring training, everybody was looking at Lars to make the next big impact. It was probably a little unfair, and I believe he tried to live up to a lot of those expectations and, in the process, put undue pressure on himself. After tearing up Double-A to end the 2008 season, he had to really grind through a year of adjustments. He is slated to be in major league camp as a non-roster player, and we are looking forward to seeing him a year more mature—and, hopefully, all the good things that will come with it.

Thanks to Roebuck.