Penny and Buchholz fight for 5th spot

The No. 5 slot in the Red Sox rotation is one of the team's biggest question marks, and it will continue to be with the improvement of Brad Penny from injury and Clay Buchholz from his former pitching self. Both Penny and Buchholz made strides on Tuesday. Penny threw 20 pitches without incident to live hitters while Buchholz threw three hitless innings, striking out two against the Orioles.

Pitching coach John Farrell said Penny and the Sox were “encouraged” by the performance. Penny has been working on strengthening his right shoulder after an injury-marred 2008 with the Dodgers and has been on a slower schedule than the other starters.

“The stuff that’s coming out of his delivery, the quality, velocity, better command - it was another positive step for him,” Farrell said after the session, which was observed by starters Josh Beckett [stats], Jon Lester [stats] and Tim Wakefield [stats].
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“That’s probably the most confident I’ve been that I can ever remember,” Buchholz said. “I definitely felt good, that was the best outing I’ve had in a long time.”

I like Buchholz' chances of making the team out of spring training, especially since we're one month from baseball and Penny is only throwing to live batters. He's got to get back into games to prove he can be trusted. This smacks of last year's Red Sox, when the team took injury-plagued Bartolo Colon and moved him to Triple-A to start the year. Buchholz struggled badly at the MLB level, eventually losing his spot in the rotation to Justin Masterson, among others. A year older, maybe he can keep the job this time.

Harden impresses; Cubs rotation taking shape

Rich Harden impressed in his first spring outing. In addition to the strong numbers for two innings of work, he snared a line drive just to the left of his head off the bat of Franklin Gutierrez.

Harden allowed two hits while striking out one, throwing 17 of his 25 pitches for strikes. Manager Lou Piniella announced before the game that Harden would be his No. 4 starter, pitching April 10 in Milwaukee.

The rotation is rounding into shape, with Ted Lilly as No. 3 and Sean Marshall likely in the fifth hole. Piniella said he would skip the fifth starter because of a day off in the first week, saving Marshall for the opening of the St. Louis series April 16 at Wrigley Field. Marshall can be available out of the bullpen the first week, assuming he's named the starter.

The only other question is who will be the Opening Day starter April 6 in Houston. Piniella has spoken to Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano, and both have said they would like to pitch that day.

"Me and Zambrano don't even talk anymore," Dempster deadpanned. "Actually, I'm just kind of digging this middle-relief role."

Sounds like Dempster is confused with his former self! The Cubs rotation is good if Harden can stay strong for 20-25 starts this year. It's even better if he's strong enough down the stretch. Jeff Samardzija would probably end up in the Cubs' bullpen, so if Harden misses any time this year a minor leaguer would need to fill out the rotation.

WBC matchups and predictions - 3/11/09

Wednesday's World Baseball Classic lines up three intriguing games:

The Netherlands vs. Puerto Rico - 5:30 pm, EST - San Juan, PR
***Does NED have one more upset left to win the Pool? Puerto Rico is playing at home.

Venezuela vs. USA - 6:30 pm, EST - Toronto, ON
***Initial head-to-head losers are 1-2 in rematches in the 2009 WBC. USA beat VEN, 15-6.

Mexico vs. Australia - 9 pm, EST - Mexico City
***Australia scored 13 unanswered runs to down Mexico, 17-7 in their first meeting.

Picks: Puerto Rico, USA and Mexico

Unfortunately, I see Australia heading home. Mexico and Cuba will vie for the Pool B title while the Americans and Puerto Ricans will avoid each other in Pool 2 with victories. If the USA gets The Netherlands in Pool 2, it will be ugly.

WBC roundup - 3/10/09

What a night for The Netherlands and baseball world wide. Not only did the Honkballers advance to Pool 2, they bounced the heavily favored Major League-laden Dominican Republic 2-1 in come-from-behind fashion. A two-run rally against Dominican closer Carlos Marmol (I can hear Cubs fans trembling about the back end of their bullpen already) left DR standing and staring while the Dutch partied in San Juan, Puerto Rico. What a scene.

You can chalk this win up there with some of the better upsets of all time. The 1980 USA hockey team defeating the Soviets is still bigger (it led the USA to the gold medal game against the best team in hockey), but this is not too far off. The Dominican Republic is probably the second best collection of talent in baseball after Team USA. The soccer upset equivalent is possibly Senegal defeating defending champion France in the 2002 World Cup.

If the first Dutch upset of the DR was a fluke, this was at least a better fluke. Upsets do happen more often in baseball. Teams that win 100 games in MLB still lose 62, but The Netherlands' win only helps build interest and intrigue for future World Baseball Classic tournaments. It's huge.

In other action, Venezuela smoked Italy, 10-1. Venezuela is on to face the Americans for seeding purposes out of Pool C. Cuba struggled to get past Australia, which is another surprising team in this year's classic. The Cubans rallied with three late runs to squeeze by, 5-4. They're qualified for Pool 1 while Australia faces Mexico in order to move on.