The Lenny DiNardo Blog

March 2006 in Review

March 2006 was a big month for Lenny, as well as for The Lenny DiNardo Blog:

• Opening Day Roster: Lenny beats out his challengers for the "last spot" in the bullpen on opening day -- even though southpaw-hater INTERIM pitching coach, Al Nipper, doesn't think he's needed. The Globe breaks down expectations of DiNardo and gives some predictions.
• Spring Training Success: Lenny had some great outings against AL East rivals, the O's and the Jays.
• Arroyo Trade: Good buddy Bronson Arroyo was traded to the Cincinnati Reds.  While its always sad to lose the other rocker on the team, it probably opened up the final spot for Lenny. Theo & the SOSH boys thinks Lenny can fill his shoes.
• World Baseball Classic: DiNardo pitched well in the lead-up to the WBC, but got no run support in the official WBC game that he started and suffered the loss. Turns out that he almost was cut from the team, but for the work of local clerk in Italy. Still, he was proud to be an Italian...
• The Lenny DiNardo Blog: We hit the big time with our brief feature in the Boston Herald; the responses to this publicity were enjoyable as well.
• Side Notes: The guys at SupahFans made up a LENNY ROCKS t-shirt (which is for sale); Lenny lets his brother name his gloves.

Lenny Rocks T-shirts

The good people over at SupahFans.com are selling their LENNY ROCKS t-shirt on their site. Kevin, the ultimate SupahFan, tells us:

I made Lenny Rocks t-shirts last summer just before the Hot Stove concert.  I'll post
them on my site- with a discount for his fans...

Kevin also tells us that there's a big throwdown party at the new Baseball Tavern in April.  They'll have a few give-aways and discounts on apparel, and plenty of drinking/mingling with some of New England's Best Sports Fans.

Go for it. Check out the site, buy a t-shirt, and show your Lenny loyalty.

Globe: Breaking Down the BP

The Globe has its pre-season look at the 25-man roster (and a good story about the upcoming "Fab 5" Pawtucket prospects).  They give Lenny some love: "the only trustworthy lefty the Sox have."   They also mention that "DiNardo never seems to get much attention."...which means they're not reading The Lenny DiNardo Blog enough.

Wilbur the Magnificent

Now that the 25-man opening day roster is set, Eric Wilbur (the Boston.com sportwriter/blogger) is predicting how the season will turn out.  I've pulled his predictions re: the bullpen and have reproduced them here (fair use, right?):

Keith Foulke: Last season’s meltdown was the first time Foulke had had an ERA above 2.97 since 1998. With his head seemingly back on his shoulders this spring, and his performance on the mound thus far solid, Foulke’s comeback is off to a good start, which means the Fenway fans will embrace him from the get-go. But Craig Hansen lies waiting in Pawtucket, and if Theo Epstein can get a team to bite on Foulke mid-season, you can bet he won’t hesitate to deal him away.

Prediction: 3.56 ERA, 22 saves

Jonathan Papelbon: Boston’s ace-in-waiting will start the year doing a little setup work, quite possibly closing some ballgames. He should be in the rotation as soon as one of the starting five go down with an injury, or if one of them is dealt.

Prediction: 9-3, 3.07 ERA, 6 saves

Lenny DiNardo: Will shuttle to Pawtucket when Wells comes off the DL, but should be back up with the club sooner than later based on the turbulent state of affairs in the bullpen.

Prediction: 3.65 ERA

Julian Tavarez: The only question is, will he finish the season with more holds or more days suspended?

Prediction: 4.33 ERA

Mike Timlin: Last season was widely considered one of his best, but there’s some smoke and mirrors there. Timlin allowed 18 of 32 inherited runners to score, and his 1.32 WHIP was his worst since 2001. But he was the only reliable arm in the ‘pen for much of the season, and in a more suited middle relief role this season.

Prediction: 3.33 ERA

David Riske: Eric Wedge gave up on him down the stretch last season. The only reason Terry Francona won’t is because he’s got Rudy Seanez to worry about.

Prediction: 4.87 ERA

Rudy Seanez: The sequel is just as bad as the original.

Prediction: 5.04 ERA

It is somewhat shocking to me that three of the last four guys here in the bullpen actually make the team without questions -- they're way more expensive than a Delcarmen, a Hansen, a Lester, a Meredith and -- if Wilbur's predictions prove correct -- way worse in the ERA department.  Remember, these guys pitch for 0.1 - 1.2 innings a game. A 5.xx ERA is not a good sign. I'm sure *veteran leadership* in the pen is always good, but I don't think Francona should hesitate to pull the trigger and give a chance to one of these kids in the system if Riske, Seanez, or Tavarez implodes.  That's why we play the games, right?

Thanks to Wilbur for the positive prediction on Lenny...

Tito: Lenny on 25-man Roster

Well, the pseudo-good-news is that Francona has confirmed that Lenny will be on the opening day roster on April 2d.  The pseudo-bad-news is that he'll likely be shipped back to Pawtucket on April 12 when Wells "recovers" from his injury and rejoins the team.

David Wells has agreed to start the year on the DL, pitch a minor league game Sunday, pitch April 7 for Pawtucket, then join the Sox rotation April 12. His absence will get the team to 26. Lenny DiNardo, Francona said, will be with the club as a seventh reliever until the 12th, when Wells comes off the DL.

''Boomer is all set," Francona said. ''We had a nice visit. I know he was disappointed, but I think it's in his best interests and ours."

For the meantime, Congratulations, Lenny. You beat out everyone you had to to make the club and you've had an excellent spring. Keep it up and you'll find yourself as the #3 Starter in Cincinnati in no time.

Sox Player Specific Blogs

Because we are a Red Sox player-specific blog, we feel obligated to let our Red-Sox-player-specific-blog readers know about new Red Sox player specific blogs that pop up on the internet.  After Julian Tavarez's freakout the other day, some enterprising GIF creator published the following web page:

Julian Tavarez is a Bad Ass

My favorite part about this spring has been the dirty play we've been promoting...and all out of our new guys: Tavarez, Beckett, Riske. ALL Pitchers. Good stuff.

Another Great Outing v. Orioles

Today, Lenny had another great start against an AL East team. He pitched 4 scoreless innings, surrendering 4 hits, no walks, and thankfully no balks.  He was charged with one error (I didn't get to listen to the game, so I'm not sure the cause). He had one strike out.  The money number? His ERA has fallen to 1.86 for the spring...or in other words, he's approximately TEN TIMES better than David Riske, who apparently is a lock to make the team (to be fair - Riske finally pitched a scoreless inning today).

Regardless, we think this outing should cement him on the big league club - and probably even challenge the young Jonathan Papelbon for the next starters job when Schilling or Wells goes down with a bad hip.

DiNardo v. O's: Now

Fire up the XM or the Gamecast. Lenny's on the mound

ProJo: DiNardo Likely on Opening Day Roster

Well, just as I posted the alarming AP story below, I found today's Providence Journal story on how the final roster is shaping up. The positive news is that Lenny will be on the opening day roster; the negative news is that he'll "sacrifice" his spot to Wells after the first week and a half:

For now, it's the Red Sox' intention to open the season with 11 pitchers -- their four starters (minus David Wells) -- Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Josh Beckett and Matt Clement) -- and seven relievers -- Keith Foulke, Jonathan Papelbon, David Riske, Rudy Seanez, Mike Timlin, Julian Tavarez and, likely, Lenny DiNardo.

The Sox will start the season without a lefty specialist in the bullpen. Former Red Sox lefty Rheal Cormier is available, and a Mohr-for-Cormier swap wouldn't be out of the question if Cormier's salary -- $2.5 million this season, with a $3-million option for next season -- weren't so high.

DiNardo will give the Sox a long man for the first 10 days or so, then sacrifice his spot to Wells, who, much to his displeasure, will open the season on the disabled list before being activated in time to pitch either April 12 or April 15, whenever the Sox first determine they need a fifth starter. The schedule gives them two off-days in the first eight of the season.

"Bullpen taking shape"

The AP has a story about the Sox bullpen plans for the upcoming season. In it, they fail to mention Lenny. Not once. Not even a "fighting for the last spot" line that most of the other reports have listed. AND they're quoting Tito.

"Our bullpen looks really good," Francona said.

It was really bad last season.

Red Sox relievers had a 5.17 ERA and the fewest strikeouts in the majors in 2005. Since then, the team restocked its bullpen with right-handers Julian Tavarez, Rudy Seanez and David Riske, and still has Mike Timlin after parting with Chad Bradford and Mike Myers.

This looks bad. Even the AWFUL spring that Riske has had hasn't soured the skipper against bringing him along:

Riske, obtained from Cleveland, is 0-2 with an 11.57 ERA in 9 1-3 innings.

"David's had a tough spring," Francona said. "That doesn't mean he's going to have a tough season.

We've seen very little news on the DiNardo front as of late. He's slated to pitch on Saturday...so another strong performance could push him up on the depth chart.

RedSox.com Q&A

Ian Brown, the sole journalist covering the Red Sox for the last few years for the official MLB-site, RedSox.com, answered some questions from his "mailbag." Here's one dealing with Lenny:

Why hasn't Lenny DiNardo been around for Spring Training? I haven't seen or heard his name mentioned. I figured he'd be in there a lot making a bid to be the only lefty in the 'pen.
-- Harry Q., Plymouth, Mass.

DiNardo was out of camp for a while because of his participation for Italy in the World Baseball Classic. As for DiNardo being a lefty out of the 'pen, he's not a true southpaw reliever in the sense that he actually fares better against right-handed batters. DiNardo's best role for the Red Sox at this point would be as a long man. The question is: With all the depth the Red Sox have from a pitching standpoint, will they have enough roster spots to have a long reliever?

This answer is yes. Of course, I'm guessing this "mailbag" was written before the events below transpired. 

This also makes me think about starting my own "mailbag."  Of course, neither Edes, Brown, Simmons, or any other journalists actually get enough mail to actually require a mailbag to be used.  That said, I'm going to start a Red Sox/DiNardo "eBag" - which, of course, is different from a Red Sox D-Bag...which, of course, I am.

UPDATE: Someone emailed and said I should call it the DiBag. Perhaps, I will. Perhaps I will.

Theo on Lenny, WMP trade

Theo's Comments Post-Arroyo-Trade (thanks to Chris from Westboro for the heads up):

We like Lenny DiNardo, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jon Lester, who may be ready to help us at the end of the season. I still think we have enough pitching depth but don’t hold me to it if we’re scrambling for bodies in June.

The SOSH Boards are buzzing about Lenny's new role as well (you're going to have to go through the threads to find these...):

I think this is an excellent point and I completely agree. I was very impressed with what little I saw of DiNardo last season and I think he would be fine as an emergency/spot 7th starter. I bet every team in the majors would love to have someone of his caliber as their 7th starter.
...
PECOTA projected Arroyo for a 4.47 ERA this year, and DiNardo for a 4.78. That's not a huge gap, especially considering DiNardo's projection probably has a higher variance due to his GB tendencies--the IF defense behind him makes a big difference.
...
As others have mentioned, I also like the idea of opening a spot for Dinardo and adding a versatile lefthander into the bullpen mix. He is an ideal swingman.
...
I also agree that it may leave more room for DiNardo to make the squad if one of the relievers does not cut it. Like most, I would like at least one lefty in the bullben.
...
I also think that Dinardo could be Bronson Arroyo from the left side (he was similarly recovered from the scrap heap). Wells and Dinardo give the Sox needed lefty balance on the pitching staff too.

Goodbye Bronson...

They pitched together. They rocked together. The babysat the World Series Tropy together.

But today, Bronson Arroyo is a Cincinnati Red. On a personal level - most Sox fans are probably a little aghast. The guy took a hometown discount to stay with the team, and their response was thanks, but now we have too many pitchers...

On the Lenny level, he's probably upset that his closest friend on the team is gone. But that said, with Bronson out of the picture (read: bullpen), that opens up another spot...and I would have to think that Lenny takes that spot to start the season. Comments?

On an unrelated level, the Sox will never get another hometown discount. Ever. Turns out that Johnny Damon knew what he was doing after all.

To make Bronson feel better, pick up his CD (Lenny is on backup vocals).

Excellent Outing v. Toronto

Here's the line from Lenny's start today: 3 Innings, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BB, 2 Ks, 3.86 ERA. All on 39 pitches.

Of course, that ERA is for the entire spring. On the spring Lenny is now 1-0. He's gotta make the team. Him, and Adam Stern. What a big game that kid plays...

UPDATE: I hadn't noticed this before, but Lenny had another balk. Also, Holtz got a hold, but walked 2. Big Riske who is so good against lefties that we don't actually need a lefty in the bullpen...gave up 4 runs and 4 hits in 1.1 innings, leaving him with a 10.80 ERA for the spring.

Nipper: No Lefty in Pen...

After we cheered for the demotion of other players, Al Nipper and the Bristol Press kicked us in the junk:

The team may not open the season with a southpaw in the bullpen, since righties like Rudy Seanez and David Riske are effective against lefties.

"Obviously if you have a quality lefthander, a big-name guy, that would help," said interim pitching coach Al Nipper. "But there’s been teams that have been successful that didn’t have a lefty. The fact that we do have guys that can get lefties out, that are quality guys, helps us also."

Frickin' Nipper. Spoken like a true RHP asshole. Let's see how Nipper did against lefties during his career. Ok, I couldn't find any of his stats v. left-handed batters. They probably sucked though.

Pre-Game: Last Spring Lenny Start

As I mentioned below, Lenny gets the start today against the Blue Jays.  RedSox.com has a Lenny blurb on its rotating front page (as of 11:19 AM EST, it's #4 if you wanted to see it):

Lenny DiNardo, who is trying to land a job in Boston's bullpen, makes his second Grapefruit League appearance on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 ET as the Red Sox take on the Blue Jays. You can follow all of the action by listening live on Gameday Audio.

You can listen to Gameday Audio (it is only $15 for the year). For my part, I'm going to be listening on my awesome XM radio (Channel 177).

2d Round of Cuts: Bye-Bye Breslow

Well, Lenny Nation, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Yesterday (St. Patty's Day), the Sox pared their major league camp down to 40 players.  Among those reassigned to Pawtucket? Breslow, Bumatay, and Seibel. Those are three of the non-roster invitee, left-handed relief pitchers we had identified as the major competition for the big league job. The remaining 2 lefties? DiNardo & Holtz.

Edes is high on Holtz and seems to think that Lenny will end up as a Starter in Pawtucket:

There are only two lefthanded relievers still in camp: Lenny DiNardo, who is scheduled to start today against the Blue Jays and could wind up in Pawtucket's starting rotation, and Mike Holtz, the 33-year-old journeyman who pitched in Japan last season. Holtz has made an impression by striking out 12 and walking just one in six innings.

It is true that Lenny has been starting a lot more than I had expected - including today. A strong performance could bump him ahead of Holtz. Then again, who the hell knows. This could just be Edes talking out of his ass. Laytah!

1st Round of Cuts/Wells Factor

Well, the good news out of Fort Myers today is that Lenny survived the first round of cuts which were made today. Lefties Jon Lester and Abe Alvarez were optioned to Pawtucket, along with Edgar Martinez, David Pauley, and Jermaine Van Buren.  This wasn't really surprising -- the real surprise would be if DiNardo actually was sent down this early.

The other big news (from last week) was that David Wells decided that it was in his best interest to act like he enjoys Boston and his huge success at Fenway.  This throws our previous analysis to the wind...and throws a possible wrench into Lenny's prospects for making the team early on this year. (how many other cliches can I *throw* into this paragraph?).

Consider that the Francona may only take 10 pitchers into opening day (due to an open schedule during the first week). If that's the case, Arroyo and Papelbon are likely to end up in the bullpen...which bumps another guy out of the major league club. Here's how it's looking right now:

Starters: (I'm way into this rotation)
Beckett
Wakefield
Schilling
Wells
Clement

Bullpen:
Arroyo
Papelbon
Foulke (possible - could be held out to continue rehab)
Timlin
+1 (and then another 2 after the first weeks of the season)

The Plus-One/Three?:
DiNardo
Riske (shelled this spring - 10.80 ERA in 4 games)
Seanez (shelled - 15.75 ERA in 4 games)
Tavarez (has pitched one inning for the DR, allowed 3 runs on 3 hits)
Meredith
Breslow (not currently on the roster)

The good news (though I'm sure I'm reading way too much into this) is that the RedSox.com depth chart lists Lenny ahead of Tavarez and Seanez, though behind Riske.  However, I really think that you need to come into the season with at least ONE lefty in the bullpen. Now that Alvarez and Lester are serving more time in Pawtucket, Wells is the only other lefty on big league club.

If they go with Lenny, he'll be the only non-closer, non-meant-to-be-starter, not named Timlin in the bullpen.  He'll get a lot of chances in that case.

The Italian Job

So, I'm back from Belize. It. was. way. cool.

To the Lenny Biz:

As you may have heard, Lenny started Team Italy's second game of the WBC Tourney, which was against the Venezuela powerhouse. From all accounts, it was a pretty good outing and if the offense had actually come through when they had the bases loaded, Lenny wouldn't have gotten the loss. Alas, he did.

The good stuff:

• Faced 13 batters, retired 8.
• Got Miggy Cabrera to fly out and Magglio Ordonez to line out.
• Mike Piazza on Lenny:
  

  • "The kid that pitched," Piazza said, looking over at DiNardo, "he's going to inspire some Italian kids to pitch. And maybe some day one of those kids makes it to the major leagues . . . The reason we're playing is we're trying to get some interest to continue to grow baseball in

    Italy."

• Skipper Matt Galante on Lenny:

• "One thing about starting pitching in this series -- it's the first outing of the spring. When you talk about command, you're probably not going to have your best command in the first outing. I thought [DiNardo] kept us in the game. That's all we want from our starters, is to keep us in the game."

The Less-Than-Good Stuff:

• He got the loss (0-1 on the WBC).
• 6.75 ERA
• Wild Pitch.
• Balk (which put a runner in scoring position who then scored).
• 54 pitches, 28 strikes, 26 balls

This Dayton Beach News-Journal article had a really good take on Lenny's time with the Italian team. On his chances with the Red Sox after taking time off from Spring Training to play in the WBC:

"You never know. I feel like I'm getting a great experience out here throwing," DiNardo said. "I wouldn't have come out if I didn't get their blessing.  I talked to (general manager) Theo (Epstein), talked to (manager Terry Francona) during last season when I heard about this.  They thought it was a great opportunity.  I'll still be getting innings.

"They've seen me throw the last couple of years, so they know what I have.  If I was just signing on with the Red Sox this year it might be a different kind of story."

Now that Italy (1-2) didn't advance to Round 2, Lenny has re-joined the Sox.  His next stop, we will see...

UPDATE: The Herald had a short article on Lenny's 2 2/3 for Italy. Also, the pic above comes from the Herald article.

I'm off to Belize for a week - I'll be back on Sunday 3/12.

In the meantime, I'm missing the WBC first-round games. And let's be honest, Italy's got a tough pool and may not make it out of the 1st Round. We'll see what happens. Let's hope Lenny has some stong innings and doesn't hurt himself.

Again, here's Italy upcoming Schedule:

Tues. March 7	8:00 pm	Australia v Italy
Wed. March 8	7:00 pm	Italy v Venezuela
Thurs. March 9	1:00 pm	Italy v Dominican Republic

 

Go Lenny! Talk to you all in a week!

3 up, 3 down...

Today's exhibition game vs. the Detroit SS team:

Italy

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

ERA

Dinardo

1.0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0.00

Yes.

R. Chimps

Ok. So he's got a creative family. He's Italian...I guess that makes sense.

Name Game

    Many players have their names embroidered on their gloves, but Sox pitcher Lenny DiNardo chooses to name his gloves. The lefty’s current glove is called “R. Chimps,” which is sewn on the thumb in red stitches.

    “My brother, Mike, names them for me so I can tell them apart,” DiNardo said. “The other ones are Lance Uppercut, Sparky McTorso and Lance Manley. There’s no significance, really, just names he liked.” . . .

The WSJ has a Sports Writer?

Yes, they do. A guy named Sam Walker. He didn't do any crazy sabermetrics or anything, but he did take a close look at the twisted ancestry rules of the World Baseball Classic:

For the Dutch and Italian teams, this presented the tantalizing possibility that even if they were born in Iowa, some of the top stars in the majors might have just enough native blood to don their national colors. The result was a winter-long scramble to identify U.S. players by their ethnic origins. The journey took team officials through immigration and birth records from Ellis Island to Italian towns like Potenza. Lawyers were brought in and genealogy experts consulted. Some players were forced to rummage through old boxes of family records and photos to document the exact birthplace of a grandfather. The Italian baseball federation alone spent five weeks and more than $20,000 researching the background of American players like Lenny DiNardo and Frank Catalanotto. "It was quite a workload," says the federation's Ricardo Schiroli.

Another interesting part of the article is the revelation that Lenny's time on the Italian roster might have been short-lived if not for the hard work of a local clerk:

Boston pitcher Lenny DiNardo nearly lost his spot because his great-grandfather hadn't been born in Potenza as the family thought, but a small town nearby (a local clerk found him by looking up every "Michele DiNardo" born in 1905 in the entire province).

And you thought this blog was intense...

Pawtucket Times Roundup

Leave it to the PawSox local paper... the Pawtucket Times sat down with Lenny to discuss everything from playing for Team Italy ("Getting the call is an honor") and his Italian heritage ("Every Sunday, growing up, we’d always have pasta"), to being an American ("I’m (also) proud to be American") and his pitching prospects for this spring in the WBC and with the Sox:

DiNardo, who is vying for a spot as a lefthander in the Sox’ bullpen, doesn’t know whether or not he’ll start or relieve in the WBC. All he’s been told is that he’ll throw an inning against Detroit in an exhibition game on Saturday, then another on March 7 against Team Australia. He also knows that a Red Sox representative will be on hand to make sure DiNardo isn’t overworked.

DiNardo’s status on the Red Sox is even less clear. He’s hardly a shoo-in to make the team out of spring training, but he’s not worried about possibly missing close to three weeks of camp.

"If this was my first year, I definitely would not be going. But I feel right now, the Red Sox have an idea of what I can do. I’ll pretty much be doing the same thing as all the other guys."

I like his attitude. Being a veteran has its benefits.

Lefty Toss-up: Wells or Lenny?

Chris from Westboro forwarded this article from the T&G (Worcester Telegram & Gazette) in which Big Bill Ballou suggests that a Wells trade would create a lefty vaccuum, with Lenny as the main beneficiary.

With David Wells iffy due to his recovery from an injury, and his desire to be traded, the Sox don’t have a left-hander on the staff as currently comprised. Boston has to open the regular season with at least one, so if Wells isn’t on the team, DiNardo probably will be.

I hope this would be right. First, it seems like Wells will not be convinced to stick around (even with his gaudy Fenway numbers over the last three years: 2.79era / 9-1 / 100 innings / 13bb / 63so)). But second, having Lenny fill Wells' Wells's shoes seems like a longshot - especially with Jon Lester showing good stuff this spring. Hey, whatever it takes for him to get in there, I'm for. Make it happen.

NOTE: Thanks to Mike from Nashua for the reminder on the singular possessive. Merely an oversight...

Responses

First, this is a blog about Lenny DiNardo, not about me. But I received a number of responses after the Herald article (mostly from friends who hadn't previously known that I had started up The Lenny DiNardo Blog) that I thought I'd share:

"i hate you with every fiber of my being." - J.G. (Yanks fan from Scarsdale, NY)

"Wow. No words." - B.R. (Chitown fan who dresses up like Jim McMahon every halloween)

"you are my hero. take it as a compliment when i start my luis alicea blog and it is covered in the 'shrewsbury plain dealer.'" - G.S.(Sox fan from Brookline)

"hey guy, you evah heard lauren & wally in the mahnin'?  those dudes are wicked funny" - Chris from Westboro, giving ideas for interview questions should we ever get Lenny on the phone.

""Hey guy...I heah the Dunkin Donuts in Florida sucks compared to the D & D in Reveah!!!  Is that true?"" - M.S. from Arlington, giving more ideas for interview questions should we ever get Lenny on the phone.

" Hilarious.  No way Lenny DiNardo's not sending some tickets your way." - P.H. (Tigers fan)

Here's hoping on that last one...

Projo: DiNardo on the Bubble

The Projo's Steve Krasner is clearly no fan of Lenny DiNardo (see exhibits A and B) In today's Providence Journal Red Sox Notebook, Krasner breaks down the question marks remaining in spring training, including the bullpen situation - for that I thank him. As for Lenny, Krasner thinks he's "on the bubble" with a few others. However, he fails to mention the complete lack of lefties in the pen if Lenny is sent to Pawtucket.

The bullpen corps will revolve around Foulke's health, too, but Julian Tavarez and Rudy Seanez are expected to keep Mike Timlin from being overworked, while David Riske, Lenny DiNardo and Manny Delcarmen might be on the bullpen bubble.

Day in the Sun

Well, we've made the big time! Many thanks to Jeff Horrigan from the Boston Herald who featured this blog in his Red Sox Notebook today.  We're proud to be fighting for Lenny...

DiNardo has support

    Only with the Red Sox can a player fighting for the final spot on the pitching staff be the topic of an Internet blog. That’s the case with Lenny DiNardo (http://gnopple.typepad.com/lennydinardo/). The blog was started by Jim Paugh, a Worcester native who is among a group of local Sox fans attending law school in Washington.
    “He’s the type of player you’d like to see succeed: no attitude, hard worker, just wants a shot,” Paugh explained in an e-mail. “We think he has a good shot at making a continuing contribution this year. We hope Tito (Francona) agrees.”

Non-Lenny Lefties to Pitch Tomorrow

Today, Edes reported in the Globe blog that the Sox will be taking a lot of young pitchers to the Twins exhibition tomorrow, including Breslow, Bumatay, and Holtz.

Jonathan Papelbon is still on tap to pitch tomorrow night's exhibition opener against the Twins. The other pitchers Terry Francona intends to take with him are: Rudy Seanez, David Riske, Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen (all roster pitchers).

Francona will also take nonroster lefties Craig Breslow, Mike Bumatay, and Mike Holtz.

I see this as a good sign, actually. Lenny will have his chances soon - but it seems like he's being considered the default guy. It would take a remarkable performance by one of the non-rostered three to get this race going.

UPDATE: I'm an idiot. DiNardo isn't pitching today (3/2) because he's starting practice with Italy. Whatever. I still think it's a good sign somehow.