Lester Looks Better--Papelbon Talks Continue

John Lester's second spring training start had a decided edge over his first one. He pitched three innings, without strain, and allowed one run on 4 hits. He threw 56 pitches, 33 for strikes. That's still too many balls for his 56 pitches, but he's heading in the right direction. The Red Sox lost to the Reds by a score of 7-6. Here's what Jon had to say after his encouraging outing...

"I got another week under my belt, another bullpen and I just felt more comfortable," Lester said. "You see somebody other than your own team for the first time, you're more amped up. That could have resulted in me being a little erratic Saturday.
Right now, I feel good. Mechanically, I'm feeling good and physically, I feel strong. Today, I didn't really get tired, even though it's the first time throwing three innings. I feel comfortable where I'm at right now."

Peter here...well said Jon, and we feel the same way, too. Here is the Red Sox pitching summary from yesterday. It seems that Javier Lopez, a lefty in the 'pen who we are counting on, had a bit of difficulty. Take a look...

Lester 3 4 1 1 1 2 0
H Okajima 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
M Delcarmen 0 0 0 0 2 0
J Lopez (L) 1 4 5 0 1 0 0
D Hansack 2 1 1 1 1 2 0
J Switzer 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Hey, the Sox lost, but, as far as I know, it's only March 6th. We are fine. BETTER than fine! In other news, the Papelbon money talks are still ongoing, and I STILL say this...pay the man his $900,000.00 or so per year. If anyone is worth it, he is. He saved every World Series game, often going for more than one inning, and without him last year, 2007 would have been a second place baseball season, just like too many others before. We're used to winning now...we're a different breed of baseball fans here in Red Sox Nation and Red Sox International. We're on top...we're number one. Numero uno. The best in all of baseball until someone knocks us off our hallowed perch. And to tell you the truth, THAT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!

I hope your Thursday will be a monstrously tremendous one, and if you'd like, click on the title of this post for a Boston Globe article penned by the attractive (yes, she is!) and talented Amalie Benjamin. It's all about JD Drew, who came on so strongly in the '07 postseason. And speaking of someone with high hopes for 2007, treasured reader Brittany (Red Sox.NJDevils) brought to my attention words written by Curt Schilling from his blog. With her permission, I'd like to post a bit of it, right now. You see, Brittany is an everyday reader of PRSF and sometime's she's just like a roving reporter for me. If she sees something that interests her and it's Red Sox related, she lets me know. Brittany, just so you know, I appreciate that so very much. My Constant readers, say hi to her in the comment sections sometime! She's one of a kind, living in Jersey (Bruuuce) and loving the Sox. Here is what she had to say in her yesterday comment. These are the words of Curt Schilling, our wounded veteran. Thank you for this, Brittany. You're the best, and you're irreplaceable...

"Manny looks incredible. He is always in great shape but he looks leaner and stronger this year... Papi looks like he’s moving a hundred times better than at any point last season. Manny Delcarmen looks fantastic too."

Peter here, one more time. As you can see in the above pitching summary, Little Manny had some trouble locating the plate yesterday. But Big Manny? Smooth sailing ahead. I'm sure he wants to improve his '07 numbers. I know he knows they weren't where they should be. But he was pure spun gold laced with platinum and rare diamonds when it counted, in the postseason. The result? We all know that! I'm actually STILL smiling, all these months later. And I'll still be smiling some 10 years from now, GOD willing. It was a MAGIC year, and every one of us came to believe that magic, mixed in with some great pitching and timely hitting and tremendous defense, results in something good. And boy, was 2007 golden good!!

Thanks for being here and please don't forget to click on the title for Amalie's article about our rightfielder. And as always, be safe. Be well. Forever. I need every one of you back here tomorrow, and the day after that, and...I could keep going, but you know what I mean. See you tomorrow, if not later today. I love every one of you. Your comments are ALWAYS welcomed.