ESPN did a great job with their latest baseball commercial. Although to be honest, Nick Swisher is a much better actor than Buchholz. Hopefully it’s the last time I have to compliment an MFY player this season.

Woah, it’s almost April? Holy crap, I must have overslept! What? You’re not buying it? Yeah, me neither. I’ve just been lazy and haven’t posted anything since truck day.

Let’s be honest though, in Spring Training no news is good news. Think about the teams that have dominated the headlines in March: the Twins (because of Joe Nathan), the Mariners (because of Cliff Lee) and the Mets (because of Jose Reyes’ thyroid). The Sox really only had two issues, Dice-K’s setback and Pedey’s wrist-roll. Neither seems to be a big deal though, so everyone can exhale now.

In the past I’ve tried to make predictions about the season, but I’ve learned that: (1) I’m not very good at it and (2) it really all comes down to health. So instead, I’m just going to give some observations based on what I’ve seen from the Sox in ST:

• Clay Buchholz may have talent, but until he trusts his fastball he’s never going to be better than a #4 starter. His great changeup and curveball don’t do him any good when he’s behind 2-0 or 3-1 in every count.
• Timmeh on the other hand is the gift that keeps on giving. I don’t know how you could not slot him in as the #4 or #5 starter until he gets hurt and becomes ineffective (sometime around August.) Maybe by that point Buchholz will figure out where the strike zone is.
• You’ve gotta love The Three Amigos: Beckett, Lester and Lackey. If we’re lucky, they’ll push each other each to get better like Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine did back in the day for the Braves.
• David Ortiz will never be the .300 AVG guy with 30+ HR again. He’s going to be some combination of his first and second halves from last year: a .230 hitter who still has some thunder in his bat. You’ll get those 20+ HR you’re looking for, but no .280 BA.
• I have no clue what to expect from Marco Scuatro at the plate (except some wonderful Marco-Polo chants from the Fenway Faithful). However, I predict quite a few Sportscenter Top-10 double plays featuring him and Pedey.
• Yankees Suck

Well, I think that pretty much covers it. You should all be ready for Opening Night now. Play Ball!