First Report From The Fort by Jared Carrabis
Spring Training has arrived!


You smell that? The fresh cut grass, the new leather gloves, it's Spring Training baby and boy are we glad to see you.

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Fort Myers, Florida on Thursday, it's no wonder why Red Sox Nation is all smiles. With the pitching staff and the Boston backstops reporting to the Fort along with several eager and early position players, this Spring Training opens with more questions than answers. If you don't mind, I'd like to tackle some of those questions and do my best to turn them into answers.

I can't exactly say that there is a "big" question entering Spring Training, because they're all big. No question mark has a greater significance than the other due to the fact that it takes an overall team effort to win a championship. However, since we can't put a significance on these questionable situations, we can put them in order in regards to how talked about they will be.

Let's start with our third baseman, Mike Lowell, shall we? Coming off hip surgery this past fall, Lowell has been working diligently to prepare himself to be ready for Opening Day. Lowell has dedicated his efforts to being ready all offseason long and has rejected an offer to participate in the World Baseball Classic to play for his home country of Puerto Rico. Even after his name was tossed around in trade talks all winter long, it is evident where Lowell's allegiance lies. Don't expect to see much of Lowell in the Grape Fruit League this Spring, as The Boston Herald has reported that he "is not expected to be truly ready until late March at the earliest."

One of the most often discussed debates of this past offseason was centered around right-hander, Justin Masterson. The Red Sox were faced with a similar decision entering the 2007 season concerning Jonathan Papelbon, closer or starter? The difference between the two situations being that the closer's role is one of the most valued positions on a pitching staff. In the Red Sox bullpen, we are fortunate enough to have a handful of relievers that can assume the role of a set-up man to Papelbon in the ninth.

Just like Papelbon had done in the Spring of '07, Justin Masterson will serve as a starter for the Red Sox throughout Spring Training. The workouts and innings of a starter will only do a world of good for Masterson to build his arm strength that he will likely put to great use as a reliever in the Red Sox bullpen. With a full rotation, Masterson is first in line to join the Boston rotation if an injury sidelines one of the five Boston starters. Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden would also be candidates to join the Red Sox rotation during the course of the season, but Masterson's versatility to be able to start and relieve will ultimately be his ticket to making the team to start the 2009 season.

WEEI.com has reported arguably the best news to come out of camp yet. For those that had their fingers crossed all winter long like I did, it seems as if though our hopes of Josh Beckett returning to 2007 form may be highly realistic. Coming from the mouth of his personal trainer, Beckett wasted no time turning the page on 2008 to prepare himself for 2009 by starting his shoulder exercises a little more than a week after 2008 came to a close for Boston. Beckett claims that his shoulder feels better now than it did at any point during the '08 campaign which means nothing but good news for Red Sox Nation and nothing but bad news for the opposition in 2009. It seems like he's been around for years, but keep in mind this guy only turns 29 in May.

It has been confirmed that Josh Bard will retake the role that he left behind in 2006 as Tim Wakefield's personal catcher. Wakefield expressed that although Bard struggled in 2006, he has never met a catcher that worked harder to catch his fluttering knuckleball.

"I said three years ago that I never had somebody work as hard as he did to try to catch me and do the right things," Wakefield said. "He was truly a professional with his attitude and his preparation for the way he went about his work. I look forward to working with him again."

Regardless of Bard being promised a "more significant role" this time around, expect Jason Varitek to make at least 100 starts for the Red Sox in 2009. A player that you can expect to see less of to start 2009 that saw far more time on the field to start 2008 would be that of Julio Lugo. Although the Red Sox claim that the two will have to "compete" for the starting job in 2009, this is Jed Lowrie's position to lose, not Julio Lugo's position to win. If and when Lowrie holds up his end of the bargain, Lugo will become the first utilityman to make $9 million. Regardless, expect big things from Lowrie as he now knows what to expect from the long grind of a full season of Major League Baseball.

For those that dreaded the Red Sox re-signing Jason Varitek, don't. As I mentioned before, Varitek will in fact see lesser appearances than he is accustomed to. He won't have to catch as many innings as he has in the past, thus resulting in less wear and tear on his body which will lessen the fatigue of the daily grind. Will all hopes of Red Sox fans, the reduced role for Varitek will boost his offensive numbers to numbers similar to those we have seen from the captain in the past.

Many have criticized the front office for not going out and signing a big bat like Adam Dunn and missing their opportunity on signing Mark Teixiera. In my opinion, although it would be nice to have, the Red Sox don't necessarily need another power-hitter in this lineup. Let's not forget, Jason Bay may not be Manny Ramirez, but this guy is a 30+ HR, 100+ RBI hitter. If Manny had actually stayed in Boston, those are the numbers he was more than likely to put up. The only thing that Manny brings to the table that Bay lacks would be the intimidation factor. Hopefully after the October that Jason Bay put on last fall, pitchers will have a little more respect for his great talent that was smothered in Pittsburgh.

If JD Drew can have a healthy season, with the emergence of Kevin Youkilis as an offensive force, and Jason Bay continuing to put up the consistent numbers that he has throughout his career, that only leaves one more question mark, David Ortiz. Reports coming from Fort Myers indicate that the wrist of Ortiz feels better than ever and that he will be at full health come Opening Day. Although he had his worst offensive showing in 2008 due to injury, expect Big Papi to return with a vengeance in 2009 because this left-handed slugger is far from being "done". My prediction: .302 AVG, 31 HR, 112 RBI.

The Yankees may have stolen the headlines with their big free agent signings, but it is safe to say that the Red Sox made the smarter decisions in the AL East in terms of building a championship ballclub. The race for the East will by no means by a cake walk with the Yankees returning to form and the Rays being better than they were in 2008, but expect this Red Sox team to do great things in 2009. It should be yet another exciting season here in Red Sox Nation.

-Jared Carrabis

(Photos from Boston.com)
Published on February 13, 2009

---