Spring Training Report (3/14/14)

Spring Training has been successful so far. Nobody is hurt, nobody is crying about their contracts and best of all nobody is arrested for murder. Felix Doubront is in shape and it shows, Grady Sizemore is back from a 2 year absence and looks decent so far. He may never be an all-star again but if he's got anything left in the tank, its a plus. Clay Buchholz has no ill effects from his bad shoulder he had last year. Today they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 and Rich Hill is back in town, tossing a scoreless 5th inning while notching a strike out. The only bawful was Rubby De La Rosa giving up Toronto's only run on 3 hits in 2 innings.

I said that nobody has been arrested for murder, but that doesn't mean people aren't getting arrested. 19 year old catcher Jon Denney of the Gulf Coast Red Sox was arrested after becoming drunk and belligerent with Lee Country police. He claimed he's making more money than the cops will ever see and is currently making 3 million dollars. He's actually making only $1,000 a month which is less than what most police officers are making, but never let the truth get in the way of making an ass out of yourself!

                                          He's not making 3 million a year and probably never will now

Jake Peavy is ok by the way. For those that don't know, he missed two weeks because he deeply lacerated his finger while showing his sons how to fish and cut bait. Thankfully he's ok but why he had to have a damn machete to cut fish is anyone's guess.

                                            Luckily Peavy avoided this kind of fate

In other news Jon Lester and the gang has been working with Allen Webster on his mechanics and already they've made a difference. In his March 6th start he retired 9 of the 10  batters he faced.

                                              Back in business? Sure hope so

That's good news because if Webster can turn into the star that many said he would be, he'd be a perfect shot in the arm for a rotation that's getting older every year. Also, a lot of people were down on him for his sub-par 2013 season but they're forgetting something. Webster was 1-2 with a hideous 8.60 ERA last year at the age of 23. In 2008, at the age of 23-24 a right-handed starter was 2-9 with a miserable 6.75 ERA for the Red Sox. That starter was this man:

                                                  From 2-9 in 2008 to 17-7 in 2010

Bottom line is that don't give up on Webster just yet. It took Clay Buchholz years to develop and had to be dropped to the minors in order for that to happen. Speaking of minors, the Sox recently cut 12 of their minor leaguers down to their respective minor league camps. Lefty starter Henry Owens, right handed starter Matt Barnes, third basemen Garin Cecchini, catcher Blake Swihart, right handed starter Anthony Ranaudo, outfielder Bryce Brentz, right handed reliever Alex Wilson, outfielder Alex Hassan, right handed relievers Noe Ramirez and Miguel Celestino, shortstop Heiker Meneses along with first basemen Travis Shaw. The good news is that most of these guys will or should make the majors at some point, they're highly regarded prospects. Owens in particular is a clone of Jon Lester and Cecchini is plan B in case Will Middlebrooks falters.

                                  6'7 21 year old Henry Owens could be the next Jon Lester

That about wraps it up for now, we'll see how things progress from here.