The Red Sox would like Daisuke Matsuzaka to keep his glove closer to his body to reduce stress on his arm. (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The idea of Daisuke Matsuzaka pitching in 2012 is becoming increasingly real.

The right-hander, now nine months removed from Tommy John surgery, threw a 40-pitch side session on Saturday in which he mixed sliders into his repertoire for the first time since the procedure. After the session, Sox pitching coach Bob McClure suggested that Matsuzaka is progressing extremely well in his rehab, to the point where he looked like a pitcher who never required surgery.

“As far as from what I’m seeing from a health standpoint, it was hard to tell he was ever even hurt from the way he’s throwing the baseball right now,” said McClure. “That doesn’t mean he’s ready, by no means. I’m just saying it’s free and easy, it’s coming out of his hand really good. It’s clean, it looks sharp. Looks like he’s on schedule.”

McClure said that there is no timetable for Matsuzaka’s rehab. However, the pitching coach said that once Matsuzaka had “a couple” more side sessions, barring a setback, he would then progress to throwing three or four live batting practice sessions, eventually including simulated innings.

During the side sessions, McClure and Matsuzaka are working on the pitcher’s direction to the plate. McClure noted that Matsuzaka tends to open up with his glove hand and head, with part of his body rotating towards first base when he throws. That, in turn, hampers the pitcher’s command and also places stress on his shoulder.

“We’re really dealing with some issues as far as a mechanical standpoint in order to get his body in the right position so this doesn’t happen again. There’s a little bit from where the rehab where he got into some bad habits,” said McClure. “It’s very simple. Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — In relative terms, spring training remains in its infancy. Pitchers and hitters alike are still looking to work their ways into playing shape and so it’s difficult to place too much credence into what is seen in games.

Nonetheless, even this early stage of the spring offers some pieces of the puzzle, even if they don’t reveal the broader picture. Such was the case in the Red Sox’ 7-4 loss to the Pirates at JetBlue Park.

A few takeaways:

– Vicente Padilla, in the mix for the job of the Red Sox’ fifth starter, had a poor outing, allowing four runs on five hits (three doubles), all of which came in his second inning of work. While Padilla featured a fastball in the low-90s and changed speeds on his curveballs, his stuff was simply flat. He did throw 22 of his 29 pitches for strikes, but he didn’t miss many bats; he neither struck out nor walked any hitters.

“He wasn’t executing two-strike pitches,” said manager Bobby Valentine. “I think first time that [Kelly Shoppach] was catching him and I think there was a little quandary where to go when he got ahead of a couple of those hitters. I don’t know that, for my money, his armspeed was what it was last time, the last couple of times. It was pretty good. His location was decent. He was executing early. He just didn’t execute late.”

– David Ortiz offered a promising sign in his second at-bat. He turned on an 88 mph fastball from left-hander Tony Watson and lined it into the visitor’s bullpen. Given how central his success against left-handers was to his huge 2011 season (indeed, it was the best season he’s ever had against southpaws), the fact that he went deep against a southpaw at this early stage of the spring has to be taken as a good sign.

In 2011, Ortiz hit .329 with a .423 OBP, .566 slugging mark and .989 OPS along with eight homers against lefties, and .298 with a .386 OBP, .548 slugging mark, .934 OPS and 21 homers against right-handers.

– Clay Buchholz said that he was pleased with how he felt over the course of his 51-pitch, three-inning effort on Friday night. He focused on working his changeup into the mix, and threw some good ones, including an at-bat in which he doubled up on the pitch to punch out Brandon Boggs. He did leave some fastballs over the plate in allowing two runs on three hits, but overall, Buchholz was pleased with the opportunity to continue to build his pitch count.

– More important signs for the Sox against lefties: Darnell McDonald threatened to end modern telecommunications as we know it with his satellite-menacing blast into geosynchronous orbit of a fastball by Pirates lefty Doug Slaten. McDonald’s roster value derives in no small part from his ability to do damage against southpaws, something that he was unable to do in the first half of last year but then did with underappreciated effectiveness in the second half.

McDonald hit .260 with a .333 OBP, .471 slugging mark and .804 OPS against lefties last year. Five of his six homers were against southpaws.

McDonald also doubled in the ninth inning against a right-hander.

“I said, ‘You’re going to get two at-bats not one. Make the best of them.’ Geez, he sure did,” said Valentine. “Those were two loud sounds. It shouldn’t go unnoticed. He’s a guy that, at times, is going to come off the bench. He’s a guy who’s fighting for a job. Thus far in this spring, he’s made the best of his opportunities to play good baseball.”

– It’s early and almost all statistics at this point are irrelevant. That said, Cody Ross has hit the ground running. He is now 4-for-9 in Grapefruit League games, while his primary competition for right field, Ryan Sweeney, is 0-for-8. Ross also stole one base but was cut down on another attempted steal.

– It is easy to forget at times that there are spots to be won in the Red Sox bullpen. Michael Bowden evidently has not forgotten. The right-hander has looked sharp out of the chute, retiring all eight batters he’s faced (and all 14 if one includes the six-up, six-down, three-strikeout race through the Northeastern lineup).

– Former Red Sox infielder Yamaico Navarro had three electrifying swings and misses in punching out against reliever Will Inman. Navarro’s strikeout came with the abandon of one who believed that the only acceptable outcomes against his former team were either a home run or a strained oblique.

Navarro, now 24, was traded by the Sox to the Royals last July in the deal that netted the Sox Mike Aviles. Kansas City subsequently flipped Navarro to Pittsburgh.

Carl Crawford has been all but ruled out for Opening Day (Mike Petraglia, WEEI.com)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — There are generally positive signs for the Red Sox with regards to the health of some of their players who have been dealing with injuries in spring training.

Carl Crawford resumed a throwing program after resting his surgically repaired wrist for a couple days. Andrew Bailey threw live batting practice and is now slated to appear in his first game of the spring on Monday, the same day in which Ross Ohlendorf is expected to make his first Grapefruit League appearance and one day after Aaron Cook will make his first appearance of the spring. Andrew Miller, who had some discomfort just above his left elbow, is now considered fine and will start throwing on Saturday.

Overall, by and large, the Sox are seeing positive signs in terms of their player health. But that doesn’t mean that they expect to have all of those players available for Opening Day. Indeed, in some cases, the team is trying to remove April 5 as a consideration for some of those players — perhaps most notably, Crawford — as they progress in their recoveries. Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — On one end of the Red Sox clubhouse sat Chris Carpenter, the hard-throwing reliever whom the Sox acquired from the Cubs as compensation for the departure of former GM Theo Epstein. In the middle of the clubhouse stood one of the few people in the world who can relate to Carpenter’s unusual path to the Red Sox.

Randy Winn spent 13 years in the big leagues, primarily with the Rays, Mariners and Giants. He was a versatile outfielder who could impact the game in any number of ways, and who earned an All-Star berth with Tampa Bay in 2002.

And he also was part of an unusual trade in 2002 that ended up assuming quite a bit of relevance this offseason. After the 2002 season, the Rays — who suffered through five brutal years — wanted to change the culture of losing that engulfed their organization. The team wanted to hire area native Lou Piniella away from the Mariners. Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox announced that they have reached agreements on contracts for the 2012 season with all 16 of their players who are on the 40-man roster but not yet arbitration eligible. Notable players among the group include reliever Mark Melancon, who was acquired in a trade with the Astros in December, left-hander Felix Doubront (who is competing for a spot in the rotation) and outfielder Darnell McDonald.

The entire group of players who agreed to deals is:

PITCHERS

RHP Michael Bowden ($484,000)
LHP Drake Britton ($480,000)
RHP Chris Carpenter ($482,000)
LHP Felix Doubront ($484,000)
RHP Mark Melancon ($521,000
RHP Clayton Mortensen ($486,500)
RHP Stolmy Pimentel ($480,000)
RHP Junichi Tazawa ($920,000)

CATCHERS

Luis Exposito ($482,000)
Ryan Lavarnway ($482,000)

INFIELDERS

1B Lars Anderson ($482,000)
3B Will Middlebrooks ($480,000)
2B Oscar Tejeda ($480,000)

OUTFIELDERS

Ryan Kalish ($483,000)
Che-Hsuan Lin ($480,000)
Darnell McDonald ($506,500)

The Red Sox feel that Felix Doubront is one of five candidates who features legitimate starter's stuff. (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – It’s early — too early — to draw conclusions.

The Red Sox remain open-minded as they continue to watch the competition for the back of their rotation unfold. It is too early for them to have selected favorites, and even with Daniel Bard having shown no hiccups thus far in his conversion from the bullpen to the rotation, the Sox have not yet penned his name into the rotation.

Instead, according to a team source, the team continues to evaluate a group of five pitchers — Bard and right-handers Alfredo Aceves and Vicente Padilla as well as lefties Andrew Miller and Felix Doubront — to round out the last two rotation spots and to achieve the best mix for their pitching staff.

To date, the biggest change to the rotation competition has been the fact that Carlos Silva’s shoulder inflammation has removed him as a candidate. Aaron Cook and Ross Ohlendorf, both signed to minor league deals, have yet to pitch in games while being held to conservative throwing programs, and so while they may prove capable of entering the conversation about Red Sox rotation options down the road, they have yet to do so.

All of that said, as the second turn of the rotation completes, the Red Sox mostly feel good about what they’ve seen in camp to date. There is no sense of panic, or a need by the front office to suddenly change course.

On many occasions, Red Sox officials said this winter that they would keep an open mind to the idea of adding starters either during spring training or during the season. That remains the case.

However, at this stage of the spring, the Sox have not felt any mandate to hit the reset button on the way in which they are approaching the back of the rotation. While they will keep an eye out for trade candidates, the team feels comfortable with the starting candidate pool already in its camp.

Bard and Aceves both showed excellent stuff in their second outings (and first multi-inning appearances) of the spring. Bard’s fastball was 94-98 mph with life; Aceves showed a full, wide-ranging pitch mix that underscored that he has starter’s stuff.

Doubront had a less-than-perfect line as he pitched two-plus innings on Thursday, permitting two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out two, and he threw nearly as many balls (23) as strikes (24). Yet all of that damage (and his more extreme command woes) came in his third inning of work; in the first two, he showed a low-90s fastball that he kept down in the zone, a swing-and-miss curveball, a solid change and a cutter.

“He threw the ball well. He’s a good pitcher,” said manager Bobby Valentine. “I thought he threw the ball extremely well until he got out of his rhythm. He wasn’t feeling good about his leg mechanic. I think he took the idea of slowing the day down a little literally.”

Padilla’s stuff and command has impressed the Sox both in his side work and in his one appearance in a Grapefruit League game, in which he threw two scoreless innings.

Miller, likewise, has shown promise and progress in the strides he’s made with his delivery in an effort to keep his rarely seen stuff over the plate. He suffered what has been characterized as a minor setback when experiencing triceps inflammation, but the Sox anticipate that he will soon throw a side session and then, barring a setback, get back on a game schedule.

In their own ways, all five of those pitchers have shown the making of starters’ arsenals at this early stage of camp. That, in turn, has given the Sox some confidence about the fashion in which they’re rounding out their rotation.

Of course, even if the Sox were interested in trading for pitchers, it is still too early in spring for a real market to materialize. So, the team will more likely be figuring out later this spring whether an upgrade is necessary or even possible.

But to date, the Sox have seen nothing to suggest that their program of seeking quality through quantity in their back-of-the-rotation options requires tweaking.

Jose Iglesias continues to perform well in the early stages of spring training. (AP)

JUPITER, Fla. – Jose Iglesias impressed with his glove. Nothing new there.

But on Thursday, he also did something noteworthy at the plate, rifling a line drive just inside the first base bag and down the right field line for a three-run triple against Cardinals right-hander Mitchell Boggs.

It was the only hit of the day in four at-bats for the 22-year-old, but manager Bobby Valentine noted after the Sox’ 9-3 loss that Iglesias made good contact in three of his four at-bats. Prior to the three-run triple, on which Iglesias got his hands inside of an inside 93 mph fastball from Boggs and lined it just inside the first base bag, he also flied to center and lined hard to center on a ball that died against the stiff wind that was blowing in towards the plate.

“He took the first pitch with the bases loaded, got another fastball in, didn’t overswing,” said Valentine. “His rhythm is getting close to being decent.”

Iglesias is now 2-for-7 with a walk, strikeout and triple this spring, and he continues to make dazzling plays. That was true not just of a play on which he made a sliding stop of a missile to his right, but also when his quick hands permitted him to turn a line drive directly at him into a double play.

“He has a very quick exchange. I think you saw that on the line drive double play in the fourth inning off a left-hander’s bat. He looks like he’s playing under control, too,” said Valentine. “In the field, he’s been alert for the pickoff plays and the bunt plays. He’s been in the right place on the cutoffs and relays. He’s erasing some of the preseason reports – trying to erase them, hasn’t done it yet.”

– Left-hander Felix Doubront, in a battle for a spot in the Red Sox rotation, started strong and then struggled with his command in his second and third frames. While he snapped off some good curveballs and his fastball was in the low-90s, he ended up allowing two runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batter while striking out two in two-plus innings. He threw 24 strikes and 23 balls. Read the rest of this entry »