2014 Spring Training Wrap - bayers3's Dynasty

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2014 Spring Training Wrap

Posted on May 24, 2014 at 02:38 PM.

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THE BOSTON GLOBE (RED SOX DYNASTY REPORT)

SARASOTA, FL - Red Sox closed out a busy month in the Grapefruit League this week, most of the activity went down in the front office, but for the most part there weren't many surprises on the field.

Prior to the start of spring training the Red Sox pulled the trigger on a massive coaching and scouting shake up that may point to further changes during or after the season. GM Ben Cherington started the purge, working closely with Manager Jon Farrell, and released a number of position coaches. Greg Colbrunn (Hitting), Juan Nieves (Pitching), and Brian Butterfield (3rd Base) were all relieved of their positions. Jorge Rodriguez, 38, now takes over as hitting coach and should help improve and develop Boston's plate discipline. Veteran pitching coach Devin Lipscomb takes over a pitching staff that should be solid, but many hope he will be able to cut back on hits and HR's allowed. Daniel Cora takes over at 3rd Base, specializing in fielding, he will be working closely with the infielders to help improve an already good defense.

As for the scouting department, the front office has decided to shift their focus out of the Central region and put more emphasis on International scouting. Tommy Webber (Central) and Shaun Munoz (East) were let go and replaced with Robert Jack (International) and Richard Pressly (West). Both Jack and Pressly specialize in pitchers and are well regarded in the scouting community. Farm Director Jon Johnson was retained and should continue to work with scouts to help keeps Boston's farm system loaded.

As for the actual baseball, nothing all that exciting to report. The vets played well and the rookies looked like rookies at times, but few jumped out as particularly worrisome. It's hard to take spring training too seriously since the sample size is so small, the only player that really helped themselves (despite not hitting very well) was OF Grady Sizemore. Sizemore has been out of baseball since 2011 (71 games with Cleveland), but he looked excellent in the outfield and won himself a starting spot in LF.

Can Sizemore return to All-Star form?

SPRING TRAINING (By The Numbers)

Red Sox : 12-16, 4th AL East

Hot Hitters
DH David Ortiz : .324 6HR 18RBI
1B Mike Napoli : .267 4HR
3B Will Middlebrooks : .262 4HR

Cold Hitters
LF Grady Sizemore : .178 3HR

PROJECTED STARTERS (* Returning Starters)

C AJ Pierzynski
1B Mike Napoli*
2B Dustin Pedroia*
SS Xander Bogaerts (R)
3B Will Middlebrooks*
RF Shane Victorino*
CF Jackey Bradley Jr. (R)
LF Grady Sizemore
DH David Ortiz*

SP Jon Lester*
SP Clay Buchholz*
SP Jake Peavy*
SP Jon Lackey*
SP Felix Doubront*
SU Junichi Tazawa*
CL Koji Uehara*