Jerry Remy

NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy joined Dennis & Callahan for his weekly discussion about the Red Sox. Asked if this team is a World Series contender, he said: “Do they have the players that can get and catch the Yankees and possibly Tampa Bay? Yeah, I think they do, but they’ve got to play great baseball. They are not an overpowering team and I think they just have to play their best baseball.”

Talking about the enigma that is Daisuke Matsuzaka, who pitches Wednesday night, Remy said: “I am done trying to figure him out. This is going on what, four years now? I can’t figure it out. And imagine being his pitching coach.”

Following is a transcript. To listen to the interview, visit the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

What are you convinced that you know for sure about this baseball team?

Well, they are going to score more runs then we thought they would score, No. 1. I think the pitching is going to get better as we move along. I think there have been signs with [Clay] Buchholz and [Jon] Lester. I expect better things out of [John] Lackey and of course, [Josh] Beckett has to get healthy. As far as Daisuke goes, who knows? I think as time goes on, we are going to see better pitching, the offense will stay the same, if not even get better, and I think they are going to put themselves in a position where they are going to be competitive all season long with those top teams.

Adrian Beltre is now the leader at the one-third pole for MVP. Did you see this coming? Did you think Beltre was this kind of player?

I had no idea, because when you play the West Coast teams, you only play them maybe six times a year. You really didn’t get to see very much [of him last season], so when they got Beltre, you know, I don’t get this, but the more I watch him, I’ll tell you what, if you want a guy that plays the game hard, this guy does it, day in and day out. He has impressed me. It looks like he has gotten some power back, hitting some home runs now. It took a little bit of while, but defensively he is outstanding. I had no idea that he was that good defensively, I really didn’t. He had a rocky start here, but over the last month he has been flashing some leather down there, so he has been a very good player for them.

You can make that argument right now that he is the MVP of the team, but what impresses me most about him is the way he goes about his business. He runs every ball out hard, every single he hits he is thinking double. Pretty impressive in a day where guys don’t really bust their tail all the time.

Do you hear anything about the future for Beltre?

No, too early. You don’t start hearing that stuff until when you see where the team is, you know, around the trading deadline. We were talking a month ago about them being out of it already and maybe busting the team up come trade deadline. Now you are thinking in a whole different way. They are going to be competitive all season long and maybe adding instead of subtracting, so as far as long term, I don’t know what their plans would be. They have never divulged anything about that anyway.

Do you think there is any chance they pick up [David Ortiz’] $12.5 million option? At some point, do you think David’s guys are going to go to them and say, “We’d like to know what the future holds? Are you going to pick it up or are we going to be a free agent at the end of this year?” Don’t you think that will happen around the All-Star break?

I imagine it would. There is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that you don’t hear about. I am sure a lot of it has to do with agents and, you know, “What are you going to do with me? Where am I going to go? Am I going to be here? I’d like to be here.” I don’t see them making a move on that until after the season. I think they want to see a complete season out of him and then they’ll make the decisions come the offseason on what the next edition of the Red Sox is going to look like and whether it includes David Ortiz.

I would have to say right now maybe not. I just think they are going to ride out the season and see what kind of numbers he puts up and see what direction they go in. He is getting up there in years and they have to start thinking about the possibility of maybe a younger DH for the future. These are all things that I think when you get to the second half of the year and when you start figuring out where this team is going to be, you know, they are probably thinking about it a little bit more than they are right now. Right now, they are just trying to keep themselves in a position to get to the playoffs, and that includes the players they have right now.

Does last night’s result, a ‘W,’ change what’s obvious in everybody’s mind, Lackey’s mind, [Terry Francona's] mind, anybody that is watching, that Lackey is somehow not right?

He is not the pitcher we saw with LA right now, but there were some signs to me last night that he was a little better than the linescore indicated. For the first time in about four starts, he was hitting corners with his fastball, which he was doing earlier in the season. A lot of the starts in between, the fastballs that aren’t over the plate and [have] been hit pretty good, he had some moments last night that I thought that returned to him. I don’t think his curveball is as good as we have seen it in the past.

If you are asking about health, I don’t think there is anything wrong with him. If there was, they wouldn’t be running him out there, you know how cautious they are with injuries. So, I think physically he is fine, I just think mechanically he may be off right now and hasn’t been able to get on that run. But I think before it is all said and done, you know, Lackey is generally a pretty strong finisher. He usually has kind of a rocky start, as a matter a fact for a couple of years he has usually been on the disabled list at the beginning of the season.

I think he is going to be OK. Even last night I said he keeps you in a position to win, even though it’s not pretty and he gave up four runs, but they still had a chance to come back and win that game. It’s not like he gave up 10 runs or it was like Daisuke walking eight guys. He kept you in a position where at least you had a chance without his best stuff, and that is what veteran pitchers do.

Would you want Victor Martinez spend the bulk of his time behind home plate, at first base or DH?

I think he is one of those guys that you probably continue to move around just like Cleveland had him. If the Red Sox were to get a little younger in the catching department, they may consider moving him a little like they have done in the past, like Cleveland did with him, and maybe even as the DH, but they have to be able to find another catcher. Jason [Varitek] is now at a part-time basis and they have to be able to get a guy that can go back there and catch every day. Then you could maybe use him, [by] going back to the Ortiz thing, if Ortiz doesn’t come back, maybe you DH Victor Martinez for the next five years.

So, there are a lot of options, lot of different things he can do and, you know, catch, play first base, which will make him appealing to a lot of clubs out there on the market if he gets out there.

How many people of the 38,000 in the ballpark tonight looked at their tickets, saw the matchup and said, “Daisuke — I can’t believe I got Daisuke tonight.”

I did ask the question in the pregame show, every time, “What do you expect out of Daisuke?” I have no clue. You could see a one-hitter, you could see a no-hitter, you could see eight walks, you could see the bases loaded every inning. I have no clue what to expect every time he goes out there, and I must say, doing a game like last game, where he is walking the whole ballpark, it’s not fun. Those games are not fun. When he is pitching good it is still going to be a three-[hour]-plus game, so I don’t know. I am done trying to figure him out. This is going on what, four years now? I can’t figure it out. And imagine being his pitching coach.

I can’t imagine what the pitching coach and the manager and the organization’s patience must be with this guy.

Well, the last time he walked about eight guys, he made a comment about something wrong with his lower body. Well, nobody knew that, and who knows where that came from because it’s just tough, it’s tough. You just hope he goes out and is somewhere in between last time and the time before and just hope for a decent start.

Would you be surprised if sometime between now and the Fourth of July, we hear the words “sports hernia” associated with Mike Cameron?

That is a tough, tough injury because it affects everything he does, from running to swinging the bat, and now, according to yesterday’s news, it’s on the other side. I don’t know what the final report was. He was examined last night by the doctors, so I am sure they will be taking more tests, maybe even today. So, I don’t know. I am not in the business of predicting injuries and how serious they are, but it could be a chronic thing, and that’s too bad.

Cameron is one of those good guys, he is a guy that comes and plays hard every day, he is very popular in the clubhouse, guys want to see him succeed and you know it is tough to see any guy go through injuries. You know, injuries bother me because I had them at the end of my career, so I know what guys are going through when they are hurt. They don’t feel like they are part of anything, so this could be a very difficult thing for him, and hopefully they can get it right and if it takes more time, it takes more time, but they have been able to survive without him and [Jacoby] Ellsbury by rotating those other three outfielders, and that has been a good sign for them.

How will this team look at Ellsbury’s return?

Obviously everyone wants him back and nobody knows when that is going to be. Every day we ask the question. He is swinging off a tee, he is doing this, doing that, but he still has the discomfort, and until that goes away we are not going to see him. I get upset when I read in the papers stuff about him being soft and stuff like that. That’s not the case at all. The guy is hurt. Period. It makes no sense running the guy out there at 70 percent and when he could do more damage and you could lose him for twice the amount of time. He is doing and they are doing everything they possibly can to get this guy back on the field, but it takes time. And when you crack four ribs, it doesn’t heal overnight.

Do you feel like you are watching a World Series championship-caliber team?

You can’t say that. I couldn’t say that in 2004. I couldn’t say that it in 2007. You just don’t know what’s down the road. As they are now right now, do I think they are good enough to get to the playoffs? Yes, I do, because I think in a lot of areas they are going to improve. Now, I couldn’t say that about the 2004 team that they were going to win a championship, I couldn’t say it about 2007, and I can’t say it about this team because there is too much season left. When you get to the playoffs, you don’t know what is going to happen anyway. But do they have the players that can get and catch the Yankees and possibly Tampa Bay? Yeah, I think they do, but they’ve got to play great baseball. They are not an overpowering team and I think they just have to play their best baseball.

I remember talking to Francona before they went on that stretch and played against all the good teams. He said, “We’ve got to be at the top of our game.” And they were. And when they are at the top of their game they look like a pretty good team.

On the NBA finals:

“I love the Celtic-Lakers rivalry. It’s great. I picked the Celtics in seven and I am going to stand by that.”