February 15, 2009 at 11:12 AM
February 15 Fort Report
Some notes and links from the Minor League Complex:Over the off-season, Clay Buchholz worked with sports psychology coach Bob Tewskbury to improve his ability to deal with the mental challenges of pitching … Justin Masterson will work as a starter through March, at which time the Sox will decide whether he’ll start the 2009 season in the bullpen or the rotation … According to WEEI.com, Masterson plans on working his change-up in more this year, while Masterson has been pitching with the major league staff … Buchholz and Michael Bowden have been working out with the minor league pitchers, while Masterson has been working out with the major league staff … Marcus McBeth is the only pitcher who has yet to report, he has been excused for personal reasons …George Kottaras has been catching Tim Wakefield a lot in the first few days of camp, but expect that Josh Bard and Dusty Brown will also get some pitches in with Wake over the next few weeks … Kottaras will not play in the World Baseball Classic this spring, despite being named to the provisional roster for Team Canada … Alex Speier reports that Nick Hagadone has regularly been the first player on the field every morning, and has been throwing from 60, 90, and 120 feet, as well as throwing a bullpen session to Ty Weeden … Hagodone is still taking it slow, and isn’t reaching back yet with his fastball … Speier also chimes in on Weeden, who is fully recovered from the torn meniscus he incurred at the end of the 2008 season - Weeden has been working out at full strength since September … Chris Carter has been in the Fort since January 14, and apparently has slimmed down quite a bit … Lars Anderson is also in camp, participating in fielding drills on Sunday morning … Luis Exposito will be reporting tomorrow …Major leaguer position players who reported to camp over the last few days include Dustin Pedroia, Julio Lugo, Jed Lowrie, David Ortiz, and Jacoby Ellsbury … The official reporting day for MLB position players is tomorrow … The major league roster seems to be set with a few exceptions – the position battles you’ll surely hear about in the coming weeks are starting shortstop (Lowrie v. Lugo), backup catcher (Bard v. Kottaras v. Brown), the end-of-the-bullpen (Javier Lopez, Wes Littleton, and Miguel Gonzalez), and a bench spot to fill for Mark Kotsay until he returns around May (likely Brad Wilkerson, but Carter, Jeff Bailey, and Paul McNulty could get some consideration if they impress this spring) … Kevin Thomas reports that former sox minor-leaguer John Nathans is suing former Sox second baseman Jose Offerman for $4.8-million in damages for injuries sustained when Offerman attacked Nathans with a bat in a August 2007 independent league brawl.