Among the many questions surrounding this team and the prolonged slow start is whether panic is creeping in. Let's get into them.
Red Sox head to New York this weekend and have changed the rotation. Is panic setting in this early in the season?
–Mike, New Orleans, La.
I don't think so. I think these games have sort of dictated what they want to do. The shuffling of the rotation at times has been out of necessity, due to rest issues and overuse. Having Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester match up against the Yankees is a good thing. I think these games are very important, no matter how much the teams play down their significance. To have the starters who are most likely to succeed lined up to pitch seems to make the most sense. Panic move? Not yet.
When will Terry Francona move Carl Crawford up in the line-up now that he is hitting?
–Brandon, Pensacola, Fla.
I think soon, but the question is where to? I think Terry Francona is reluctant to move Dustin Pedroia out of the two spot, where Carl is probably most comfortable hitting, for many reasons. It is amazing how much time we all spent talking about the Red Sox' lineup all offseason and during spring training, and here we are 30-plus games in and really have not seen a consistent, set lineup. I have said it before: I really think Carl Crawford's best spot moving forward would be fifth. It's hard for Francona to avoid the lefties bunched together, no matter what he does.
Will the Red Sox give up on the Jarrod Saltalamacchhia experiment?
–Marc, Waltham, Mass.
I think in some ways they have already by scaling him back and starting Jason Varitek more often over the past couple of weeks. I think the idea floated of signing Bengie Molina, who is a proven winner, is intriguing, and I think it could be done for an affordable amount. You wonder if Varitek, who is in superb shape, can handle the daily grind of catching every day or more regularly as the season moves along.
What I do know is that the Red Sox need something from the catching tandem and right now are not getting much offensively (combined .185 average, 0 HRs, 10 RBIs in 124 ABs).
Will Jose Iglesis start while with the Sox?
–Lindsey, Piscataway, N.J.
Not on a regular basis. There's no doubt he is viewed as the future at shortstop for the Red Sox, but the future is not now. I really don't think this was the move the Red Sox necessarily wanted to make at this stage of his development. When Marco Scutaro went on the DL, it sounded like Yamaicco Navarro would have been the likely choice, but he is also injured, and that affected the depth chart in Pawtucket. So here he is, much earlier than most imagined. He has incredible defensive skills but is still a work in progress offensively and really has not had the chance to graduate at the Triple-A level in Pawtucket. Francona has said he will find ways to get him into games, and he has defensively and in pinch-running situations.
When Jerry Remy missed time in 2009 how many partners did you work with and how many is it in 2011 so far?
–Katherine, Nashua, N.H.
First, let me send my best wishes to Jerry and hope for his return very soon. I had 26 different partners in 2009. This season, it has been six so far. Dennis Eckersley, Nick Cafardo, Peter Gammons, Gordon Edes, Rick Dempsey and Gregg Zaun. It is interesting to see how each views the game from his own individual vantage point. On Tuesday night, Zaun taught us all a lot about the game within the game when catching, especially in the AL East.
