Left-hander Justin Thomas could find his way onto the Red Sox' Opening Day roster. (AP)

For the most part, Justin Thomas has had a quiet, little noticed spring. When the Red Sox signed the left-hander to a minor league deal, few heads turned. And even though he leads the Red Sox in Grapefruit League appearances, having pitched in 10 games, his entry and exit from contests has fallen mostly below the radar.

Yet depending on the results of the examination of Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey‘s right thumb — which is being checked today in Boston to determine both the nature and severity of the injury — Thomas could find himself on the Sox’ Opening Day roster. The 28-year-old has a 4.50 ERA, eight strikeouts and three walks in 10 innings this spring, but digging a bit deeper, one can see how Thomas might represent a good fit for the Sox’ Opening Day roster if Bailey is sidelined, particularly if the closer’s injury is, as expected, of the short-term variety.

First, there is the obvious reality that…Thomas is left-handed. Right now, the only left-handed reliever who is virtually certain to open the year on the Sox roster is Franklin Morales. Morales has the potential to be in the mix as a setup man, rather than being the prototypical situational reliever.

If Morales is used in such a fashion, the Sox won’t have a middle-innings left-on-left pitcher. Thomas, meanwhile, held lefties to a .188 average (19-for-101) with one extra-base hit while pitching an International League-high 63 games for the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis last year. Read the rest of this entry »

Jarrod Saltalamacchia had his best day of the spring on Wednesday. (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — It had been a slow start to the spring for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who not only was just 1-for-13 in Grapefruit League action, but also missed time due to bursitis in his hip.

On Wednesday, in a 6-5 loss by the Red Sox, the 26-year-old had a game that represented a satisfying change of fortunes. Batting left-handed in all three of his at-bats against Pirates starter Kevin Correia, he went 2-for-3 with a double to left-center and a massive home run to right field.

“Me and [hitting coach Dave Magadan] have been working on some things, trying to stay on the ball more, and I was able to do it today at the plate,” said Saltalamacchia. “This spring I’ve really been getting underneath the ball and popping it up too much, just kind of bat head dragging a little bit. So we’ve really worked on getting the head outand staying on top. If I roll over or ground out, that’s OK, at least it’s not a pop-up. But what I’m still trying to do when I get two strikes, is trying to fight my way to get the ball in the field instead of striking out.”

That being the case, Saltalamacchia was particularly pleased with his second-inning double, in which he lined a two-strike fastball off the fence in left-center, a potentially important sign for a player who struck out in 119 of his 358 at-bats last year.

A year ago, the average AL hitter hit .185 with a .252 OBP and .283 slugging mark in two-strike counts. Saltalamacchia hit .157/.208/.347/.555, marks upon which he is hoping to improve. Read the rest of this entry »

Jose Iglesias was deemed major league ready by manager Bobby Valentine. (AP)

BRADENTON, Fla. — Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine talked at some length about shortstop Jose Iglesias, proclaiming the 22-year-old “pretty close” to big league ready. That said, Valentine would neither commit to nor dismiss the idea of carrying the prospect on his Opening Day roster.

“Readiness for the big leagues? Pretty close,” Valentine said of Iglesias. “I think we’ve seen a lot. Now it will just be a determination of whether it’s his time. I think he’s played pretty well. He’s showed really good progress. We have to decide if he has enough undergraduate credentials in order to take the next step forward.”

Valentine made clear that he thinks that Iglesias has major league abilities as both a hitter and fielder. However, he noted that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the right fit for the 2012 Red Sox at the start of the season.

“I think his ability is good enough,” said Valentine. “Whether it’s his time is the question, with all the other contributing factors. Mike Aviles is doing great. There’s been a lot of guys who have been somewhere else waiting for their opportunities.

“Or, if there’s, again, some formula that says he needs another something. His ability is all I’m saying. I haven’t taken into consideration whatever that other stuff is, time in the classroom.” Read the rest of this entry »

Bobby Valentine. (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox appear likely to use a pencil as they define their pitching plans for 2012.

The team has taken a flexible approach to the shape of its pitching staff in spring training, with Daniel Bard, Alfredo Aceves, Felix Doubront, Vicente Padilla and Andrew Miller all being considered for either the rotation or bullpen. While the team will have roles for each of those hurlers (assuming they make the team) at the end of spring training, those could be subject to redefinition as the season progresses.

“You take the best of what you have and even during a season as we’ve seen many teams change their emphasis and move a starter to reliever or reliever to starter a guy who’s been on the bench to an everyday player to have the look to change a little,” said Sox manager Bobby Valentine. “I don’t think anything’s going to be in concrete here in the next week nor the next three weeks, but we’ll have a good group going forward.”

In other words, pitchers who open the year in the rotation won’t necessarily stay there for the full season, while the opposite route — from bullpen to rotation — might also remain open during the season. Read the rest of this entry »

Aaron Cook will make his first appearance of spring training on Sunday. (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox are starting their third turn of the rotation. Opening Day is now fewer than four weeks away. And so, it would seem, it would be difficult for someone other than the five candidates who have made two or three appearances this spring to assert himself as a starting candidate.

But that is precisely what Aaron Cook will try to do on Sunday. Cook has been healthy this spring, but the Sox elected to have him follow a conservative schedule this spring in deference to the fact that he’s dealt with shoulder issues in each of the last two seasons.

On the day that likely Opening Day starter Jon Lester makes his third start of the spring, in which he will stretch out to four innings, Cook will make his maiden appearance in Sarasota against the Orioles, pitching one to two innings.

It remains to be seen whether he has time to assert himself as a candidate for the Sox rotation by the time the team needs a fifth starter on April 11. Sox decision-makers are ruling him neither out nor in.

“You know, he’s in that running for the four or five starting guys. He’s one of the guys in there,” said Sox pitching coach Bob McClure. “[The calendar] may be an issue at some point. I don’t want to rush him. I want him healthy and so does he. He doesn’t want to go backwards either. We’ll just have to see on that. But I’m not going to rush him through it because he’s got a career still ahead of him.” Read the rest of this entry »

MILWAUKEE — With major league teams required to set their 40-man rosters to protect players from the Rule 5 draft on Friday, the Red Sox explored trade interest in some of their players who are out of options during the GM meetings in order to get a feel for how many spots they might have available to add players, according to a major league source.

Left-handed pitchers Franklin Morales, Andrew Miller and Felix Doubront and right-handers Michael Bowden and Scott Atchison all represent pitchers who are out of minor-league options but whose role on the big league roster is somewhat uncertain. As such, the Sox spent part of the GM meetings exploring what kind of interest existed in those pitchers, given that it will be virtually impossible for them to form a big league bullpen next year that would include all of them on the Opening Day roster.

If the team expects, based on interest shown at the GM meetings this week, to move one or more of those arms during the offseason, then it would impact the number of players whom the team might consider adding to the 40-man roster on Friday in order to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.

Read the rest of this entry »

Erik Bedard

On a day that was meant to welcome a new pitcher into the Red Sox fold, it was an old friend that stole the headlines.

Trade deadline acquisition Erik Bedard lasted five innings in his Red Sox debut, allowing three runs on seven hits while walking none and striking out five, but Justin Masterson, who left Boston for Cleveland in the Victor Martinez trade exactly two years before Bedard came to the Sox in his own deal, was able to keep the Red Sox batters at bay long enough (6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) to give Indians hitters a chance at winning the game.

They did just that as the Tribe plated three additional runs off Boston relievers Franklin Morales and Andrew Miller in Cleveland’s 7-3 win over Boston Thursday night at Fenway Park.

With the win, the Indians take the season series between the two teams 6-4 to equal their most wins over a Sox squad since 2001. Masterson also moves to 3-0 against his former club with a 1.94 ERA in four starts.

Here’s what went wrong (and what went right) for the Red Sox in the loss:

WHAT WENT WRONG

– The bottom half of the second inning was one for the memory banks and even the record books. Josh Reddick struck out on a wild pitch and then advanced to first before Masterson set down Jason Varitek, Marco Scutaro and Jacoby Ellsbury on strikes as well. The four strikeouts in an inning tied an MLB record, although it was the 56th time the feat had occurred in the majors and the sixth time it was done by a member of the Indians organization (the most by any franchise). It’s the second time a pitcher has struck out four batters in a single frame this season as A.J. Burnett did the same thing for the Yankees on June 24.

– Although strikeouts certainly were a culprit, the Red Sox were simply unable to get runners in scoring position in the loss. After a two-run first inning, Boston baserunners reached second base only twice over the remaining eight frames, once on a Josh Reddick home run and the other on a throwing error to second that should have retired David Ortiz but instead allowed the DH to stand in scoring position. Read the rest of this entry »