We’re just less than 24 hours from the first televised game and about 17 hours until the Boston Red Sox play their first exhibition games of the spring schedule. And we’ve already got lineups if you haven’t seen them yet.
| Red Sox vs. BC (1:05 p.m.) | Red Sox vs. Twins (7:05 p.m.) |
| 1. Julio Lugo, SS | 1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF |
| 2. Rocco Baldelli, LF | 2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B |
| 3. David Ortiz, DH | 3. Kevin Youkilis, 1B |
| 4. J.D. Drew, RF | 4. Jason Bay, LF |
| 5. Chris Carter, 1B | 5. Brad Wilkerson, RF |
| 6. George Kottaras, C | 6. Jed Lowrie, SS |
| 7. Jonathan Van Every, CF | 7. Jeff Bailey, DH |
| 8. Nick Green, 2B | 8. Josh Bard, C |
| 9. Angel Chavez, 3B | 9. Gil Velazquez, 3B |
| Scheduled pitchers: Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Kris Johnson, Junichi Tazawa, Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard | Scheduled pitchers: Tim Wakefield, Justin Masterson, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez, Billy Traber and Dustin Richardson |
For those wondering why you don’t see Jason Varitek in there don’t worry, he’ll be in the lineup on Thursday. Terry Francona didn’t want him to catch two days in a row this early in camp.
I’m excited for the game tomorrow night (of course the UConn men are on at the same time so I’ll be employing two televisions). As I said earlier in a comment, it will be nice to hear the crack of the bat and the pop of the catcher’s mitt after Wakefield’s done with his two innings.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Red Sox will lose 14 players to the WBC. The good news is the Red Sox only lose two pitchers off the 40-man (Matsuzaka, Lopez). Hopefully Japan doesn’t overuse the reigning WBC MVP.
Before we get into the links from today, there’s some good news to pass along. According to Alex Speier of WEEI, Hideki Okajima won’t become a free agent until after the 2012 season.
Unlike some Japanese players who have clauses that make them free agents upon the expiration of their first MLB contract, Okajima will become arbitration eligible while remaining under Red Sox team control when his contract concludes following this season, according to an MLB source. As such, the Sox can retain him through six years of major-league service time. So long as the Sox continue to renew his contract, and barring a stint in the minors, the 33-year-old would remain with the club through the 2012 season without reaching free agency.
Okajima a Red Sox for the long-term [Full Count]
Francona’s daily briefing [Extra Bases]
Varitek will play on Thursday [Projo Sox Blog]
Jonathan Papelbon lets loose on D&C [Full Count]
What you’re missing [Extra Bases]
Ortiz puts on a show [Projo Sox Blog]
Tuesday’s recap [Extra Bases]
Scouting combine moves to Ft. Myers [Full Count]
“Can I have your autograph?” [Projo Sox Blog]
Red Sox should back Bay [Tony Mazz]
Red Sox spring training property presentations set [The News-Press]
Some minor happenings [Full Count]
