FORT MYERS, Fla. — Field 1 at JetBlue Park played host to a star-studded batting practice Tuesday.
Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and Rusney Castillo joined David Ortiz, who arrived at camp earlier in the morning, in taking some cuts on one of the back fields at the Boston Red Sox’s spring training complex. There was a distinct buzz among those assembled, as Big Papi joked with his teammates before dusting off the lumber for his first BP session of spring.
All four players figure to be key contributors within a revamped Red Sox offense. There’s no substitute for hard work, though, and with Ortiz arriving Tuesday, all 57 players invited to major league spring training have arrived.
“This will be a lively group and, I think, a fun one to be part of,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said Tuesday with regard to Ortiz, Sandoval and Ramirez. “I think the biggest thing is, they love to play the game. You can see the joy come out of them when they do well, and there’s no question they’ll draw from one another — the confidence they’ll draw from one another to create, I don’t know, more of our core that players around them or younger players will look up to and learn from the way they carry themselves and how they go about their work daily.”
The Red Sox’s first official full-squad workout is scheduled for Wednesday.
Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images
