There are 5 days left until the season starts, roughly 120 hours until the first pitch to the Red Sox’s opening day. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited. I have a few things on my mind regarding this Red Sox team that I thought I would share in this post. Enjoy!
- Jacoby Ellsbury is not in today’s lineup after jamming his ankle on Sunday. It was originally reported that the Sox would give Ellsbury Monday off to rest, there was an off day yesterday, and he should be ready to go today. That’s not the case. I haven’t seen/heard anything to indicate that his injury is more serious, but it’s a little unnerving considering we’re five days away from Opening Day.
- With Ellsbury out of the lineup today, Jackie Bradley Junior will be playing center field and leading off. Bradley’s hitting .444 for Spring Training in 65 plate appearances. He’s making this team. Bradley is by far the most exciting story to come out of Spring Training. With the success of young, exciting players like Mike Trout, Stephen Strasburg, Giancarlo Stanton, and Bryce Harper, the Red Sox really can’t afford to NOT have Bradley on the team.
- The Red Sox are dropping the prices of concessions during April, in a part to lure fans to Fenway. It’s sad, really, that things have gotten so bad that Sox fans won’t want to go to every game. I live in Iowa, and I try to make it to at least one Sox game a year, whether that’s in a city in the Midwest or a chance to head to Boston. If I lived in or around Boston, I’d be going to as many games as possible. Fans love the team, not the drama that has encompassed them the past few years.
- I plan on going to two Red Sox games this year, one in May in Minneapolis and one in September in Boston. The game in Boston will be against the Yankees, which will be a first for me, and I’m really excited about it.
- Jon Lester was officially named the Opening Day starter today. Is this really significant? Not really, considering the Sox have pretty much been going with a rotation of Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, Doubront, and Lackey all of Spring Training.
- There are a few reports out there that David Ortiz won’t be ready til around May 6th (again, estimate). Depending on how quickly Ortiz progresses, the beginning of May does seem likely for a return date. Remember, he needs to get his swing ramped up as well, which Ortiz has said takes about 50 at-bats.
- Kind of getting lost in the shuffle is Stephen Drew. He’s been out with concussion symptoms for weeks now, and he was cleared to resume baseball activities last week. However, it appears Iglesias will be the Opening Day starter at shortstop. If Iglesias takes off, will Drew resort to a bench player, traded, or will Iglesias be sent down to Triple-A?
- My goal is to finish Francona’s book by Monday and get a review out next week. It’s taken me a little bit longer than I would’ve liked. I read before I go to sleep; and most nights lately, I’ve pretty much passed out as soon as I’m in bed. Thank goodness for my (almost) weekly trips to Starbucks to read.
- Speaking of Francona, there's a new video out from the Indians featuring the Sox's former manager. You've heard of SIRI? Well, wait to you see TERRi: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25874721&c_id=mlb
- Next weekend, April 6th, I’m doing a 5k sponsored by our local Single-A affiliate, the Quad Cities River Bandits (now part of the Astros organization). Here’s the link for the race: http://www.milb.com/news/article.jspymd=20130321&content_id=43071808&vkey=pr_t565&fext=.jsp&sid=t565
It’s pretty cool, the route actually goes through two states (Iowa and Illinois) and goes across 3 bridges. I’m a little nervous about it, since I just completed my first 5k two weeks ago. But, it should be fun. If you live around the area and are interested, sign up.
And that’s about it for now. Hopefully, I’ll get another post out tomorrow or Friday to let you know about my predictions for the season.
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