ESPN

BUCHHOLZ SHARP IN SIMULATED GAME: Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz tossed a 48-pitch simulated game this afternoon at Fenway Park in preparation for his start on Sunday in Kansas City. It’ll be a total of nine days between his last spring training start and his season debut.

“Everything felt good,” he said. “Surprisingly I felt a lot more comfortable than I expected to. I felt smooth with all the pitches and made adjustments on a pitch-to-pitch basis. For the most part it went good.”

It’s the first time in over a week Buchholz has seen batters in the box. Due to the three off days the Sox have in the first nine days of the regular season, Boston’s rotation can be stretched out a little bit. Buchholz has thrown a couple of bullpen sessions, but it’s not the same when you’re not facing batters.

Teammates Jason Varitek, Bill Hall and Jeremy Hermida served as the batters for Buchholz.

“We’re just trying to figure out a way to not get rust,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who watched from the stands. “It was a good thing to do.”

Buchholz has been calmly chomping at the bit to get out there and now he’s really looking forward to his first start of 2010.

“I’m ready,” he said. “It wasn’t that long ago, but it seems like an eternity since last season ended. I feel good. I feel healthy and that’s the main thing. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

DICE-K AND BOOF PAWTUCKET BOUND: Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka will start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday at McCoy Stadium. The right-hander, who has been on the disabled list since April 3 with a neck strain, is scheduled to throw 80 to 85 pitches. He will need a couple of rehab starts before he rejoins the Red Sox.

Fellow right-hander Boof Bonser will start for the PawSox in their home opener on Thursday against Rochester. He was placed on the DL on March 31 with a right groin strain. He’s scheduled to throw 80-85 pitches.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS: Reliever Alan Embree will also pitch for Pawtucket on Thursday. The Red Sox re-acquired the left-hander this spring and he has an opt-out clause in his agreement that states the club has until April 15 to call him up or he becomes a free agent. He can also choose to stay in the minors in hopes of getting a call up during the season. “We’ll try to pitch him as much as we can without going overboard,” said Francona.

SUCCESSFUL SURGERY: Red Sox pitching prospect Junichi Tazawa had Tommy John surgery in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday and it was successful. The right-hander returned to the Sox’s spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla., to begin his rehab.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said he found out that slugger David Ortiz was upset the night before because he heard it being discussed on the clubhouse TV Wednesday afternoon.

“Did he curse?’’ asked Francona, feigning innocence.

The manager held steady on his conviction that two games into the season was no time to be making changes in the Sox lineup, especially one as drastic as platooning the besieged Ortiz against left-handers.

The lineup card posted in the clubhouse was the same as the one for the first two games of the series. Against Yankees’ left-hander Andy Pettitte, Ortiz was batting fifth and serving as DH. Mike Lowell, a potential right-handed alternative to Ortiz, remained on the bench.

“The thing I’ve learned here that is hard is you’ve gotta be patient,’’ Francona said, “and when you don’t want to be patient you need to or you can really screw up some things.

“Tonight would have been a really good night to play Lowell. It would have been a bad night not to play David, and since they won’t give us two DHs, we kind of have to make a decision.’’

Lowell would have been a good choice because he has yet to play this season and has good numbers against Pettitte (.345, 10 for 29 lifetime).

So why play Ortiz? Was it because he also has good numbers against Pettitte (.367, 18 for 49), or because Francona didn’t want to send the wrong message to Ortiz?

“Both,’’ Francona said. “He’s had a lot of success against Andy, and again, we’re nine hours into the season. It’s early. Again, the one thing that we really try hard, we want to have an atmosphere where guys want to do the right thing. We always talk about that. And we want them to walk up there and feel confident. I don’t want David looking over his shoulder a game and a half into the season.’’

Asked if he felt he needed to convey that message to Ortiz directly, Francona said: “That’s why he’s playing today. I think he knows that being reactionary in my job, especially here, I think that has a chance to set things off in a bad chain reaction, as opposed to helping.’’

Francona brought up the fact he was asked why he didn’t use Lowell to hit for Ortiz against left-handed reliever Damaso Marte in the eighth inning Tuesday.

“We got a runner on second, nobody out, dead-pull hitter, that’s what we’re looking for,’’ he said. “Just didn’t work.’’

No one challenged Francona on his explanation, but in truth, Kevin Youkilis was on first base when Ortiz came up in the eighth, and advanced to second only after Marte threw wildly on a lob to first.

Following Tuesday's game, Ortiz reacted with an expletive-filled response when someone suggested to him that his seven hitless at-bats in the season’s first two games would probably prompt discussion of his slow start last season.

"Good," he said, turning to face reporters. "You guys wait till [expletive] happens, then you can talk [expletive]. Two [expletive] games, and already you [expletives] are going crazy.

"What's up with that, man? [Expletive]. [Expletive] 160 games left. That's a [expletive]. One of you [expletives] got to go ahead and hit for me."

Ortiz did not hit a home run until May 20 last season, and was hitting just .196 as late as June 10, 59 games into the season.

Reflecting on Ortiz’s mini-rant, Francona said: “I think not being that good a player, I don’t know if I understand that side of it. He’s done a lot of good things here and I think he felt some people bailed on him last year. I hope he remembers the other side, too, that we do go through this together.

“Sometimes guys get touchy after a game. That’s why I normally don’t pay much attention to it. The quotes that guys give after a game aren’t something I hang my hat on.’’

Asked if there was anything he had learned during Ortiz’s prolonged slump last season that would help him now, Francona said: “Every day I think you have to continue to earn your stripes in this game. It doesn’t matter who you are. I’m talking about as a manager, not just players. I mean, it doesn’t get easier. You build relationships, know people, care about people, but every time you’re going through what you’re going through, it’s more important because it’s now. I don’t think that will ever change.’’

While it’s not hard to reach a consensus that two games is too small a sample size to make any lasting judgments, Ortiz has been struggling against left-handers for the last two years, batting just .212 with a .718 OPS against lefties (11 home runs in 273 at-bats) compared with .262 and a .867 OPS against righties (40 HRs in 691 at-bats).

Asked if there was a point at which he would be forced to address the issue if Ortiz continued to struggle against lefties, Francona said: “Why would I come out and say, ‘Well, I’m going to put a date on this.’ That’s not me doing a very good job if I fell into that.

“The other thing to kind of remember is, I know the numbers. Using David, he drove in 99 runs last year. If you didn’t play him against certain lefties, he wouldn’t have had those numbers against righties. Facing left-handers, guys at times have to do that. It keeps left-handers on the ball. You can get in some awfully bad habits playing just against right-handers. It’s a little deeper than just what people are looking at.’’

Terry Francona in his pregame media session explained why he gave no thought to batting for David Ortiz against left-hander Damaso Marte in the eighth inning Tuesday night, saying that with a runner on second, a left-handed pull hitter has a better chance of hitting the ball to the right side to advance the runner than a right-handed hitter trying to go the other way.


No media member challenged his explanation, and the thought occurred here belatedly that Kevin Youkilis was on first base when Ortiz came to the plate, and it was only after Marte made an atrocious lob over to first, allowing Youkilis to advance, that the scenario Francona described came into play.


Nonetheless, Francona emphasized that he does not want to place Ortiz in the position of “looking over his shoulder,” especially this early in the season.


He also acknowledged that he is well aware of Ortiz’s shortcomings against left-handers the last two seasons, but said there was little reason for him to set any kind of deadline for Ortiz to do better.

“Tonight would have been a good night to play [Mike] Lowell, but a bad night not to play Ortiz,’’ Francona said.

He was alluding to the fact that Lowell has good numbers against Pettitte (10 for 29, .345) and he doesn’t want the rust to accumulate, but that Ortiz also has good numbers (18 for 49, .367) and sitting him would be sending the wrong message.

Check back for more from Francona, and other pregame info.

The Red Sox lineup for Wednesday night’s game against the Yankees is posted, and it should surprise no one that David Ortiz is the DH, even with left-hander Andy Pettitte on the mound for the Bombers.

Manager Terry Francona made it clear Tuesday night, when he was asked whether he considered pinch-hitting Mike Lowell for Ortiz against left-handed reliever Damaso Marte, that the Sox would not make that move this early in the season.

Ortiz is the team’s DH, period, and the Sox are going to give Ortiz sufficient rope before deciding they need to consider alternatives against left-handed pitching. Ortiz hasn’t hit lefties the last two seasons -- he is batting .212 with a .718 OPS against lefties (11 home runs in 273 at-bats) compared with .262 with a .867 OPS against righties (40 HRs in 691 at-bats).

But the Sox aren’t prepared to go to Ortiz -- yet -- and tell them this isn’t working.

Here’s the lineup, as relayed by ESPNBoston’s Joe Mac from the clubhouse:

1. Ellsbury, LF
2. Pedroia, 2B
3. Martinez, C
4. Youkilis, 1B
5. Ortiz, DH
6. Beltre, 3B
7. Drew, RF
8. Cameron, CF
9. Scutaro, SS
SP -- Lackey, RHP

Coverage from Gordon Edes and Joe McDonald from last night's game:

Ortiz lashes out after question about slow start

BOSTON -- The story is as old as the game itself, a great player fighting to keep the shadows from closing in on him before he's ready to concede he is something less than he was.

The town he once owned is now openly discussing his successor. His team, one he carried to glory it had not known in decades, offers no assurances that his services will be desired beyond this season. His income, one that has allowed him to live like royalty, is unlikely to be duplicated at the same scale beyond October. And his swing, which once commanded respect accorded only to a few, now is subjected to constant scrutiny, scouts and media and fans forming an unholy chorus of doubters.

Tuesday night, it all became too much for David Ortiz. Behind his Big Papi persona, Ortiz in happier days would have mocked his inquisitors with good-natured insults and deflected the tougher questions with insouciant bravado.

* Click HERE to read the rest of this story

April hasn't been kind to Lester

BOSTON -- Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester knows exactly what his career numbers are in the early months of the season, especially in March and April. The statistics aren't very good and he's not too worried about it.

The trend continued Tuesday night at Fenway Park when Lester failed to get past the fifth inning, allowing four runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts against the New York Yankees. The left-hander ended up with a no-decision but New York won 6-4.

Lester, who is 2-4 with a 4.94 ERA in 13 career starts (one in March and 12 in April) in the earliest part of the season, can't pinpoint why he struggles out of the gate.

* Click HERE to read the rest of this story

This was not a night to bring up UZR ratings and Runs Saved.

Marco Scutaro, the Red Sox's new shortstop, made a two-out throwing error that prolonged a Yankees rally in the eighth and became the focal point of Tuesday’s 6-4 loss when Hideki Okajima walked Nick Johnson to force in what proved to be the winning run.

“I just made a bad throw, that’s it,’’ said Scutaro, who short-hopped first baseman Kevin Youkilis on Derek Jeter’s ground ball to his left. “I don’t really have an excuse. A good throw, he’s out.’’

Manager Terry Francona thought Scutaro might have hurried his throw when he saw Jeter hustling down the line, but Scutaro said that was not the case. Youkilis, meanwhile, lamented that he wasn’t able to spare Scutaro the error with a clean pickup.

“It hopped up quick and hit the top of my glove,’’ Youkilis said. “It didn’t get in the webbing. Those plays I blame myself. I thought I could have made it, but it took a bad bounce.

“One play doesn’t screw up the game. There were tons of stuff we could have done better.’’

Mike Cameron was at the other end of the clubhouse when a swarm of reporters closed in around Scutaro. “Don’t mess up,’’ he said to lockermate Bill Hall. “Reminds me of when I was in New York.’’

Scutaro made just 10 errors last year for the Toronto Blue Jays, his first full season of playing shortstop in the big leagues, and only three of those came on throws. This one would not have received the attention it got, of course, if Okajima had been able to stop the bleeding, but he walked Johnson on five pitches, his 3-and-1 pitch running well inside.

“It’s always hard to make an error that costs you the game,’’ Scutaro said. “But you turn the page, come back tomorrow and try to win the series.’’

Double trouble:

Whether or not the Yankees' Mark Teixeira was actually out on an attempted double play by the Red Sox in the fifth inning, the play proved costly for Boston.

With no outs and the bases loaded, Red Sox starter Jon Lester got Teixeira to hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield. Scutaro made the play and a good feed to second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who quickly got the ball out of his glove and made a strong throw to first base.

Youkilis stretched for the throw and appeared to complete the double play. First-base umpire Paul Schrieber called Teixeira safe, allowing the Yankees' second run to score.

On the replay Teixeira appeared to be out by a big toe.

"He was out," said Pedroia.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona called it a big play.

"It was close," he said. "I'd like to think they're always out. That's the way the game goes."

The play took on added importance because Alex Rodriguez followed with an RBI double and Robinson Cano added a sacrifice fly to give New York a 4-3 lead.

"Yeah, I thought he was out," said Lester. "Everybody on the Red Sox side thought he was out, and everybody on the Yankees side thought he was safe. It was a bang-bang play and they did a good job trying to turn that. The ball wasn't hit very hard and we had a couple of bang-bang plays go our way earlier in the game, so obviously we would have liked to have had that. It just didn't go our way at that time."

V-Mart goes deep:

Victor Martinez hit his first home run of the season in the third inning, crushing a 0-1 offering from Yankees starter A.J. Burnett and depositing it into the Red Sox bullpen to give Boston a 3-1 lead.

"What a nice swing," said Francona. "He's a good hitter."

The blast was the 11th of Martinez's career against New York, his highest total against any team outside the AL Central.

Many players have trouble producing in the early months of the season. Not Martinez. He's batting .321 with 19 homers and 77 RBIs in 126 career games in April.

Buchholz to throw Wednesday:

Clay Buchholz will throw a simulated game Wednesday afternoon at Fenway. With three off days to start the season, the right-hander isn't scheduled to make his debut until April 11 in Kansas City. In order to stay sharp, he'll work tomorrow.

"Whatever he needs, but it won't be huge," said Francona. "That will get the rust off going into his start."

It will be a total of nine days between his last spring start and his season debut. Buchholz said he doesn't know how many pitches he's going to throw in the simulated game, but he'll get up and down three times.

He tossed a bullpen session on Tuesday and said he felt a little awkward, so he threw another pen session on Wednesday with pitching coach John Farrell acting as a batter.

"I don't think it's going to be a huge awkward feeling tomorrow, but my body feels refreshed and that was the key thing," Buchholz said.

BOSTON -- Quick hits on the Yankees’ 6-4 win, which ensured that the Bombers will not lose their first eight meetings of 2010, which they did in ’09:

1. Boston’s first error in two games, an eighth-inning throwing error by shortstop Marco Scutaro on Derek Jeter’s routine bouncer, proved costly when Hideki Okajima walked Nick Johnson with the bases loaded to force home the go-ahead run. Scutaro hurried his throw with Jeter busting down the line, and first baseman Kevin Youkilis couldn’t handle the tricky short hop.

2. Johnson, who replaced Johnny Damon in the No. 2 hole for the Yankees, is living up to his reputation as an on-base machine. In the first two games, Johnson has drawn four walks and been hit by a pitch. He has seen at least four pitches in all of his at-bats except one, and in that one he was nailed by a Jon Lester fastball.

3. Sox had a chance to tie in the eighth after one of the more ludicrous errors you’ll see, a lob to first by Yankees reliever Damaso Marte that somehow bounced through first baseman Mark Teixeira’s legs. Youkilis, who had singled, strolled into second with no outs, but after Marte retired David Ortiz on a flyball, Joba Chamberlain got both Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew to chase third-strike sliders.

4. The celebrated starting pitching on both sides is stuck in spring-training mode. Three of the four starters in the first two games -- Josh Beckett and Jon Lester for the Sox, A.J. Burnett for the Yankees -- have not gotten past the fifth inning, while the fourth, CC Sabathia, lasted one out into the sixth. The combined line for the four: 20 IP, 26 H, 17 ER, 7.65 ERA, $353.6 million.

5. Lester looked fabulous in the first inning, throwing first-pitch strikes to all three hitters, getting Jeter to K on a swing-and-miss on a 95 m.p.h. heater and Teixeira to look at a 97 m.p.h. riser for a called third strike. But he walked three batters and hit two thereafter, his pitch count spiking to 94 before he was lifted.

6. Victor Martinez did much of the early damage against Burnett, hitting a two-run home run into the Sox bullpen in the third and an RBI double off the Wall in left-center in the fifth. But despite having base-runners in each of Burnett’s five innings, Sox couldn’t add to the damage, going just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position through the first seven.

7. Two games into the season, count on the talk-show lines to light up with complaints about David Ortiz, who is hitless in seven at-bats and has had just one good swing, drilling a one-hop liner into the teeth of the shift on his first at-bat Tuesday. With Mike Lowell on the bench, there will be clamoring for him to bat for Ortiz against lefties, a call that Terry Francona is unlikely to answer any time soon.

8. Scott Atchison retired Teixeira on a fly ball to right with the bases loaded to end the eighth, but his Sox debut lost its luster in the ninth, when Robinson Cano homered deep into the right-field grandstand.

9. Mariano Rivera, who pitched the ninth, has converted 60 of his last 64 save chances on the road since blowing his first two chances on the road in 2007. The second of those blown saves came against the Red Sox.

The Yankees successfully executed a double steal Sunday, Brett Gardner stealing home while Derek Jeter strolled into second.

The defensive team basically has five options to stop that play, a Red Sox coach explained before the game.

The catcher can:

1. Throw to third.

2. Throw directly to the shortstop, who doesn’t move.

3. Fake the throw to second, then throw to third.

4. Throw to the shortstop cutting across in front of the bag, with the shortstop throwing back home.

5. Hold the ball.

The play is generally called ahead of time, and can be altered during an at-bat, depending on the count.

Throwing to third is a better option with a left-handed batter at the plate, which was the case Sunday with Nick Johnson at the plate.

The Red Sox chose option No. 4, but catcher Victor Martinez’s throw tailed away from shortstop Marco Scutaro, giving him no chance to throw back home.

Is there a sixth option, throwing the ball back to the pitcher? The coach said you generally don’t want to do that because it can lead to confusion, the pitcher perhaps thinking the throw wasn’t intended for him.

BOSTON -- Opening Night seems forever ago.

At least that’s how Red Sox manager Terry Francona feels. After Boston defeated the New York Yankees 9-7 Sunday night at Fenway Park, the teams had Monday off and get back at it tonight.

“It seems like it’s been a long time since we’ve played,” Francona said. “Spring training you’re out there every day, but again, it was nice to give the players [the day off] because it was a late night, a long day. It was nice to let guys get their lives organized a little bit.”

Here are some notes from Francona’s pregame meeting with the media:

* Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz will throw a simulated game Wednesday afternoon at Fenway. Due to the three off days to start the season, the right-hander isn’t scheduled to make his debut on April 11 in Kansas City. In order to stay sharp, he’ll work tomorrow.

“Whatever he needs, but it won’t be huge,” said Francona. “That will get the rust off going into his start.”

* Red Sox pitcher Junichi Tazawa had Tommy John surgery today, but Francona had not received an update as of 4 p.m.

* Francona was not on hand during the press conference on Monday when the Red Sox announced the four-year, $68 million contract extension for pitcher Josh Beckett. When Francona held his daily briefing, he commented on the new deal.

“I thought they handled it so well,” said Francona. “For that to get done the way it did, I thought was really professionally done. I remember back when we signed [John] Lackey, Theo gave Josh a call and thinking, ‘Good move.’ They did a really good job together. In a place like this it’s hard to get a deal done without a lot being said, and you never heard anything about it. I know Theo did a great job, but I think Beckett handled himself very well.”

* Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester gets the nod tonight against the Yankees. The southpaw was 1-1 with a 4.43 ERA in four starts against New York in 2009. Overall, he’s 3-1 with a 3.88 in eight career starts against the Yankees. The Red Sox expect great things from him again this season.

“We’re excited,” Francona said. “He had, I think the word I would use this spring is ‘powerful’ because right from the get-go he was out there grunting and the expectations of himself are really high. We just need to get him into that groove where he feels good about himself because once he gets to that he’s one of the best in the game.”

* Francona had a meeting with the non-starters prior to the season opener and asked those players to be patient as far as playing time because there are three off days in the first nine days of the season. When asked if he talked with veteran third baseman Mike Lowell about what his role would be this season, Francona didn’t have to single him out of the group.

“He has a good understanding and I can’t tell somebody something that I don’t know,” said Francona. “We basically told the guys who aren’t starting in our meeting the other day is, ‘You have to be patient.’ You don’t want guys to sit for very long, but at the same time you want the guys who are playing to kind of get into a groove, too. The first 10 or 12 days are always difficult on everybody because if you lose patience you can get frustrated.”

* Top Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland, who had brain surgery on March 16 to remove a malformation, was in attendance on Opening Night. He visited with many players and staff members, including Francona.

“It was great,” said Francona. “It was very nice to see him.”

* Speaking of Opening Night, Francona joked that he thought it was someone other than Neil Diamond who was singing “Sweet Caroline” live in the eighth inning.

“I don’t know if the Red Sox want to hear this, but I thought it was Dick Vitale,” Francona said.

The Red Sox manager was hoping for a visit from by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, who sang "God Bless America" in the seventh inning.

“I wish, he’s my favorite,” he said.

Francona was also pumped to see former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

“The fans got to show their appreciation and it was pretty obvious Pedro was enjoying it -- as he should. I thought it was a pretty good idea,” Francona said.

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Nick Johnson, DH
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Nick Swisher, RF
8. Marcus Thames, LF
9. Curtis Granderson, CF
SP -- A.J. Burnett, RHP

BOSTON -- Here is tonight's Red Sox lineup for Game 2 against the Yankees (7 p.m. ET), which is the same one they used on Opening Night:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Victor Martinez, C
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. Adrian Beltre, 3B
7. J.D. Drew, RF
8. Mike Cameron, CF
9. Marco Scutaro, SS
SP -- Jon Lester, LHP

When bullpen coach Gary Tuck raved this spring that the Red Sox have the best collection of catching he has seen in his 35 years, he wasn’t just referring to the catchers that were in big-league camp. He also was referring to Ryan Lavarnway and Tim Federowicz, two receivers with diverse skill sets who are climbing the organizational ladder together after being selected in back-to-back rounds in the 2008 draft.

Having good catching in the system is timely, inasmuch as both Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek, who will comprise the team’s big-league catching corps this season, are coming to the end of their contracts in 2010.

Lavarnway, 22, is an offensive-minded backstop with a ton of power potential. He was drafted in the sixth round out of Yale after hitting 33 home runs over a 120-game college career. Having only converted from the outfield to catching in 2007, he is still learning the trade defensively. Federowicz, on the other hand, was selected in the seventh round out of North Carolina more for his defensive tools than for his bat. At 22, just two days older than Lavarnway, Federowicz is already considered close to major league-ready behind the plate.

Since being drafted together in 2008, the two have become friends despite competing for time behind the dish over the last two seasons.

"I think Tim's great,” Lavarnay said. “He's a great guy, a good clubhouse guy. ...

"I can learn a lot from him in terms of catching because he does a lot of things very well back there. I think that I'm better for him being around. I don't think there's a better catcher than him in the minor leagues, and having him around definitely raises the standards for me."

In addition to the impressions made on Lavarnway, Federowicz has also impressed the Red Sox front office with his defensive skills.

"Fed is a little quicker behind the plate with a very good release, ability to run the pitching staff, and call games,” Red Sox farm director Mike Hazen said. "With Fed, we're just working on the finer points of his blocking and receiving skills."

At 21, Federowicz also demonstrated some offensive proficiency in 2009, hitting .345 with a .955 OPS and 10 home runs in 55 games with low-A Greenville. Promoted to high-A Salem in late June, he initially struggled, hitting just .194 in his first 26 games, but adjusted to the Carolina League enough to hit .319 in the season’s final 25 contests. Ultimately, while he led the Red Sox system with a combined .305 average for the season (players with 250 or more at-bats), he’ll need to focus on staying consistent at the plate.

This spring, Federowicz is focusing on his leadership skills and improving his overall game.

“As a catcher, I need to be the captain on the field, so one of the things I really want to work on -- and it actually may be one of my weaknesses -- is being more vocal throughout the games,” he said. “I also need to continue to work on being a guy that can handle a full season of baseball, someone who can be relied on every day.”

Federowicz, called “FedEx” by his teammates, is also concentrating on forging relationships with his batterymates.

“You have to kind of get into their heads, find out what kind of pitcher they are, and what they want to accomplish each outing,” he explained. “I try and figure out what they want to throw, so we’ll talk between innings. The biggest thing is to be able to build that relationship, to know what they want to get out of their outings, and to establish what I want to get out of them.”

While discussing his own developmental needs, Federowicz also spoke highly of Lavarnway’s work ethic.

“Ryan’s a good player, and he’s been progressing as a catcher. He really focuses on fixing everything that he needs to fix and wants to develop as a player. I think that’s going to help him out in the future.”

One aspect of Lavarnway’s game that has not needed a lot of fixing is his offense. The catcher displayed his slugging prowess with Greenville in 2009, hitting .285 with a .907 OPS and 21 home runs over 106 games, leading the Red Sox system in both OPS and home runs. But while Lavarnway dominated South Atlantic League pitching in 2009, he is still a work-in-progress defensively, and the hope is that his mitt catches up to his bat in the next couple of years.

"Ryan probably had the best overall offensive year of all of our catchers," said Hazen, "We're working with Ryan on receiving technique and overall throwing mechanics. Ryan's ability to stay behind the plate will be very important for his career."

The refinement of Lavarnway’s catching skills will indeed be crucial, as it is generally believed that he lacks the range to play outfield in the majors and has minimal experience at other positions. Lavarnway recognizes that he needs to develop his defensive game.

"That was definitely my biggest weakness last year and coming into this season,” he admitted. “Going into the offseason, that was the No. 1 thing that I wanted to focus on and that I spent the most time thinking about, and that's what I've spent the most time on in practice and in spring training."

The 22-year-old has been working closely with Boston's catching instructors this spring, including minor league catching coordinator Chad Epperson. In particular, Lavarnway described working on improving his initial catching position, which would help in receiving pitches, getting in position to throw, and being able to move to block more pitches in the dirt.

"I'm happy with the progress that I'm making and continue to make," he said. "I watched a lot of video of Joe Mauer and Jason Varitek. I try to emulate the things that I think they do well. I think that's the style I'm trying to get."

Heading into the 2010 season, Federowicz and Lavarnway once again will break camp as teammates sharing the catching and designated hitter duties, this time in Salem. If Federowicz can continue to refine the intricacies of his defensive game and demonstrate consistency at the plate, he could be in line for a mid-season promotion to Double-A Portland. If that is the case, look for him to see action in major league camp next spring training with the hopes of positioning himself to be a major league option by 2012. As for Lavarnway, the former Ivy Leaguer knows that he will need to prove himself defensively at every level to stick behind the plate. If he can establish himself as a major-league caliber defensive catcher, the Sox could have another backstop in the mold of Victor Martinez on their hands.

Ultimately, while both players have refinements to make over the next few years, the Red Sox have two more catchers with the potential to be major league impact players on their hands. There is much to be said for finding that type of talent in the sixth and seventh rounds, yet another success story for Boston's amateur scouting department. Now the responsibility lies with the organization’s player development staff to work with Federowicz and Lavarnway on improving their identified areas of need. The work in those developmental areas will go a long way in determining whether Federowicz and Lavarnway can reach that potential, and 2010 will certainly be an interesting year to follow their respective development paths.

Andrews is designer and developer of SoxProspects.com and a special contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Chris Hatfield and Chris Mellen of SoxProspects.com contributed to this report.

Here are five things to think about during Tuesday night’s game between the Yankees and Red Sox at Fenway Park, all courtesy of Bill James’ 2010 Gold Mine:

1. A.J. Burnett, who is starting for the Yankees, threw more curve balls (1,067) in 2009 than the entire staffs of the Cubs (963) and Indians (508). Burnett throws his curveball 31 percent of the time, compared to 66 percent fastballs.

2. The first three hitters in the Yankees’ lineup last season combined to score 365 runs while driving in 307, both totals the highest in baseball. For most of the season, that meant Johnny Damon, hitting in between Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira. Nick Johnson has replaced Damon in the No. 2 hole. Sunday night, he went 0 for 2, with two walks, and did not score. Jeter had two singles and drove in a run, while Teixeira was 0 for 4 with a walk and run scored.

3. After six years in the majors, Kevin Youkilis’ OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) has not gone down. His OPS line reads: .780, .805, .810, .843, .958, .961. That’s five straight seasons in which he has improved. The record is six, held by 13 players, the most recent being David Ortiz (2002-07).

4. Sunday night, the Yankees executed a double steal against the Sox, Brett Gardner credited with a steal of home while Derek Jeter cruised into second. The Red Sox in 2009 allowed 151 stolen bases while throwing out only 23 runners attempting to steal. That’s the worst stolen-base percentage allowed (86.8 percent) in the AL in at least 50 years, which is as far back as records are kept. The only big-league team to do worse was the 2007 Padres.

5. The Sox have never had a career first baseman. The most seasons a Sox player has played first base regularly is 7, by Mo Vaughn (1992-98).

“The position has been played, for almost all of Red Sox history, by people who came in and were there for a couple of years and then were gone, like Kevin Millar and Dick Stuart and Mickey Vernon and Bill Buckner,’’ James writes.

James asserts that if Youkilis can play the rest of his career at first, with similar results, he will be the best first baseman the team has ever had. Right now, he ranks Vaughn first, with Jimmie Foxx a close second.

Check out the ESPN prediction board and nine of the WWL’s panel of, ahem, experts predict that Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester will win the American League Cy Young Award. The only pitcher to receive more votes was King Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, with 15, while CC Sabathia of the Yankees received eight.

(The long list of voters reminds me of the day in the 1985 World Series when Peabody’s John Tudor walked into the Cardinals clubhouse, looked at the gaggle of reporters crowded around his locker, and said, “What do you need to get a media pass, anyway, a driver’s license?’’)

For the record, I voted for Lester this season, and did last year, too. If the award had gone to best AL pitcher after May 31, it would have been a coin flip between Hernandez (14-2, 2.10) and Lester, who went 12-3, had the second-best ERA (2.31) in the AL in that stretch and averaged an AL-best 10.19 K’s per nine innings.

Lester, who makes his 2010 debut tonight against the Yankees at Fenway Park, had six games last season in which he fanned 10 or more batters, a record for a Sox left-hander.

But Lester lost any chance at the award, and a 20-win season, in his first 10 starts, when he went 3-5 with a 6.07 ERA.

“I tried to win too many games in the first inning,’’ Lester said this spring, speaking of a tendency to try to do too much, too soon early in the season.

Pitching coach John Farrell said he and Lester had a number of conversations on the subject this spring, and noted that a power pitcher like Lester doesn’t reach full capacity until later in the season.

Lester really clicked last season with new catcher Victor Martinez, posting a 1.62 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .215 batting average. It will be interesting to see how the battery mates mesh this season.

Lester had his troubles against the Yankees in 2009, going 1-1 with a 4.43 ERA in four starts. He held the Yankees’ left-handed hitters to a .208 average, but hitters from the right side were problematic, especially Alex Rodriguez, who in five at-bats against Lester had three hits, including two home runs. Derek Jeter and switch-hitting Mark Teixeira both hit .364.

In the latest “The Next Round” video clip, ESPN’s Scoop Jackson sits down with Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, who speaks candidly about seeing Pedro Martinez on Opening Night and shares his thoughts on the media. Check it out below: