5 Things to Be Exicted About for 2013

FINALLY!  Spring Training has arrived!  Pitchers and catchers reported to camp yesterday and the 2013 Boston Red Sox season is officially underway.  As most of us here in New England are still digging out of 2 feet of snow (with more on the way), I give you the 5 things I’m excited about for the season!

1)  Will Middlebrooks

It seems like forever since the Sox have had a home grown power hitter.  I don’t really count Dustin Pedroia as he’s not knocking more than 20 homers a year consistently and none of the big boppers of years past have been homegrown.  While Middlebrooks is young and his patience at the plate is troublesome, I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in his sophomore year.  If he can shake the injury bug that plagued him a bit last year, he should be able to produce hitting behind Napoli and Ortiz.  We do see a lot of sophomore slumps in baseball so that’ll be worth watching but if Will can stay healthy I think it’ll be an exciting season at the hot corner.

2)  John Lackey

While it seems everyone in the Boston area has given up on Mr. Lackey, I have not.  He comes off a season where he didn’t pitch an inning and before that an embarrassing campaign that I’m sure he wants to erase from people’s memory.  The John Lackey I remember (from his Angel days) is a fierce competitor and I can see him coming out with a me against the world mentality.  I think the competitor in him wants to show Boston something and I think we’ll see a whole new Lackey.  Add to that the early pictures have shown him in great shape (looks like he lost a lot of weight) and the coaches raving about his bullpen sessions and I think we’re in store for the John Lackey of old.

3)  The Return of John Farrell

While I’m excited that the Red Sox chose John Farrell as a manager, I’m more excited to see how he impacts our starting pitching.  Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz flourished under Farrell when he was the pitching coach and I think these two especially will be changed pitchers under his guidance.  He knows them, worked with them when they were younger.  They’ll listen to him and hopefully he can help them regain their confidence and effectiveness they had a short while ago.  John Lackey and Ryan Dempster can certainly use a veteran leader to help them as well and our young guys (Bard, Doubront, etc.) will benefit from his leadership.

4)  The New Guys (Gomes, Victorino, Napoli, etc.)

While the names may not bring excitement, I think the Sox made some really good moves this offseason.  I don’t know about you but watching the Red Sox play last year was PAINFUL!  They were the most unhappy, crabby bunch that I think has played for the team in years.  It seemed like they were going through the motions and at times looked like they were not having any fun at all.  Adding Johnny Gomes, Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli are not only adding veteran leaders but also adding “fun” players.  I’ve watched these players over the years and they are fun loving likeable personalities that the Sox are in dire need of.  Add to that the new bullpen additions and I think we’re in store for a “fun” team ala 2003-2004 eras.  I hope so because I don’t think I can sit through another 162 games of BLAH!

5)  What to do with Jacoby Ellsbury?

What will the Red Sox do with pending free agent Jacoby Ellsbury?  This is a situation that should be fun to monitor all year.  Ellsbury’s coming off an injury plagued down season but just a year ago put up MVP type numbers.  His injury history is downright scary and the Sox need to play this one right.  If he comes out strong and the team is not doing so well, look for a trade before the all-star break.  If he gets hurt again or under performs, I really don’t know what they’ll do.  I tend to think his value is low right now but he seems to want to test free agency.  I hope the Sox play this right and either sign him long term or I hate to say it, trade him and get something for him.  Either way, it’ll be a fun to watch and debate over the course of the year.

I’ll be checking in weekly to give updates and such and more often when some Spring Training games actually start happening.  Man, April can’t come soon enough!