-Number one prospect Hanley Ramirez started a triple play in the sixth inning of today's Sox/Phillies game. There was a line drive that everyone thought was going to be an RBI single, but Ramirez's 6'3" body leaped, made the catch and then ran to second, tagged the base and threw it to Kevin Youkilis at first for the third out.
Before this spring training, I was never aware of how tall Ramirez is. 6'3" makes him one of the tallest players invited to spring training. And you especially don't see shortstops that tall.
-Kevin Youkilis is a machine when there are base runners in scoring position.
Today, with a man on first and second, Youkilis was at the dish and I just knew he was going to get a hit. A couple pitches later, single to left.
Last season Youkilis hit .339 with runners in scoring position with 27 runs batted in. Youkilis finished the season with a batting average of only .260.
Youkilis is right on the edge of starting the season in Pawtucket or in Boston. If he continues to have a strong spring with the bat and in the field (he started today's game at first), then he'll definitely be on Boston's 25 man roster.
Youkilis' main competition for a spot on the bench will be Roberto Petagine and David McCarty.
-28 year-old Bronson Arroyo has to be a starter, as pointed by The Baseball Savant.
I agree with The Savant here. Tim Wakefield needs to be the man in the pen because he'll be more valuable there rather than Arroyo. If the winds are bad, Wakefield is in the pen and doesn't pitch. But if the wind is bad (or any other circumstance that doesn't bod well for a knuckleballer), and Wakefield is in the rotation and we have to start him, then we are at a disadvantage.