Spring Fever

Cy Young hopeful Jon Lester was one of several early arrivals at the Sox spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida.  

"People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring" -Rogers Hornsby

After a long, harsh and blizzard filled winter in which New Englanders began to doubt if the sun would ever shine again, the light at the end of the tunnel has finally arrived. Today marks the first official day of Spring Training, with Red Sox pitchers and catchers reporting for duty at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. While the first official workout doesn't begin until Tuesday, pitchers and catchers had their physicals today and also began their conditioning tests. 

Here's some interesting tidbits from Camp as we patiently await for position players to report on Friday... 

-John Lackey, entering the second year of his gargantuan five-year, $82.5 million contract, looks to be in much better physical condition, with reports stating that he has lost at least ten pounds from increased offseason conditioning. It's about time. After going 14-11 with a bloated 4.40 ERA in his first year in Beantown, something had to change. Hopefully his improved physique advances his game this season. Either way, at least it appears Lackey is taking Year Two in Boston more seriously than Year One. 

-Newcomer Bobby Jenks, fresh off signing a two-year, $12 million deal with the Sox in the offseason, made sure to smooth things over with Jonathan Papelbon, the incumbent closer. Instead of causing drama and demanding a shot at the closer role, Jenks appears to be all business thus far, entirely comfortable with his new role. 

"I didn't come here to step on [Papelbon's] toes, that's for sure," Jenks told the Boston Globe. "If those questions do come up, it's going to come down to the decision of the manager and whatever they think is best for the team." Amen, Bobby. 

-Clay Buccholz appears to be much more comfortable entering his second full season as a starter. After going 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA and narrowly missing out on the Cy Young award last season, Buccholz looks to build upon his stellar 2010 campaign. The 26-year-old Buccholz is entering his prime and said recently that the confidence he built from last season should carry him a long way in 2011. 

"It definitely feels different," said Buccholz recently. "It feels good to have a full season under my belt, feeling that I belong in this position and feeling like the team has a little bit of confidence in me going into spring training." 

Thank god Theo didn't trade Buccholz for Johan Santana a few years ago. 

-Entering his third full season in the Big Leagues, flamethrower Daniel Bard is transitioning from a youngster to a veteran right before our eyes. And, while the golden armed 25-year-old will no doubt assume the closer's role someday, Bard isn't counting down the days. He said he is comfortable with his role and relishes the fact that Theo Epstein went out and picked up bullpen help in Jenks and Dan Wheeler.  

"We'll have more help down there than we had last year," Bard said. "That's kind of what I felt we needed down there, some guys who you kind of know what you're getting out of them." 

Interestingly, Bard also noted in an interview with NESN's Tom Caron and Peter Gammons that he wouldn't be against becoming a starter someday in the future, should the team need him. He also predicted a bounce back year from lefty Andrew Miller, his former teammate at UNC. 

-After rehabbing his broken foot for the past seven months, Dustin Pedroia, an early arrival at the team's facility, said he's "done everything," feels "great" and is "ready to go." However, he did scare the daylights out of Sox fans by comparing his injury to Grant Hill's and Yao Ming's, both of whom had their careers either end or put on a hiatus for years because of it. But, not to fear, Sox fans. Unlike Hill and Yao, Pedroia is much smaller and lighter, which means less weight adding pressure on his foot. He will also wear a custom made pad over the injured foot likely for the rest of his career, making sure another foul ball doesn't send him back on the DL. 

-Other early arrivals include Josh Beckett, Dice-K, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek and Adrian Gonzalez. While the prize-free agent first baseman did take grounders the past few days, Gonzalez has abstained from swinging a bat as he recovers from off-season shoulder surgery. 

-One player who didn't arrive early was speedster Carl Crawford. But don't make anything of it, Sox fans. Crawford is working out as hard as ever in Houston with personal trainer Lee Fiocchi and set to arrive Friday. Crawford noted that working out alone with just Fiocchi allows him to eliminate distractions, focus more on specific drills and get his body in the best possible shape to start the season.

The Sox are back. 

And for the first time in months, everything is right in the universe again.