There are quite a few pitchers down in Fort Myers already, though their official reporting date isn't until Sunday. Presumptive starters Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, and Felix Doubront are already on hand and throwing - getting their photos taken and even speaking to the early arrivals among the Red Sox beat writers.
The Globe has a great profile of Lackey out today (available online here), and some additional Q&A with the big righthander is available over at the Extra Bases blog. It details Lackey's first few troubled years in Boston, and his understanding of why the fans haven't embraced him.
I really think that John Lackey could be an important cog in the rotation this year - the projections for him from the Bill James 2013 Handbook are decent. Though the win-loss record isn't terribly impressive, James still projects Lackey to toss over 200 innings, something he's done five times so far in his career.
The first official workout for the pitchers and catchers isn't until next Tuesday, but Lackey was among the pitchers throwing bullpen sessions yesterday. Lackey looks to be in great shape after taking the entire 2012 season to recover from Tommy John surgery, and is eager to get started and prove to the fans that he's worth some of that enormous salary he's getting.
One of my crazy predictions for this season (which I'll publish before opening day at RSNalberta.blogspot.com) is that John Lackey will be ahead of Clay Buchholz in our depth chart by mid-season. I just hope that's because he's almost ace-like, and not because Clay regresses.
ReplyDeleteI totally see that. I really think this could be a big year for Lackey: expectations from fans are WAY down, so anything he achieves will be well-received.
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