Spring Training Heaters: Hit (in) The Cage Gents

Finally, something besides pitchers being hit at with fungoes. At least allegedly.

Both Jacoby Ellsbury (yes, he's been in Fort Myers for a few days already) and Big Papi took time to fire off some cuts in the batting cages at City of Palms Park this afternoon. Ellsbury continues to focus on batting cage work while Ortiz made the biggest non-Schilling related media splash of the day, claiming after his hitting session that his knee is close to 100 percent, according to the Globe's Gordon Edes.


Three other positional players have moved beyond the batting cages to hit on the positional players field itself. Two are well-documented workout freaks who spent all winter in Arizona fine-tuning their training: Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia. The third is a bit more of a surprise. Go ahead. You get three guesses. Varitek? No, he was catching sessions. Mirabelli? We love Doug, but he was - presumably - off admiring his golden halo. Dice-K? Clever stab there, but alas, it too is incorrect.

No, J.D. Drew is your third batter out on the live fields. That's right, the man who suffered through the most expensive miserable season in Red Sox history - $14 MM for those still keeping track - then redeemed himself with a monstrous Fenway grand slam, seems to be pretty tuned in early. Maybe it really was his son's illness. Then again, they haven't exactly started playing games yet, either. Hmmmmm.

Papi's hoping MLB doesn't ban hair enhancement.

Before we get to the unavoidable Schilling update - yes, they're coming that often right now - we'd be remiss not to mention this Extra Bases gem from Edes, which ties back to Mike Lowell's Cuban heritage beyond his love of spicy food:

Activity has ceased for the day, but Mike Lowell has swung by to drop off his stuff. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if Mike lights up a big Cuban cigar sometime in the next few days at the news that Fidel Castro is resigning as president of the island on which Lowell's dad was born.

That's right folks, get ready for Lowell to light up a stogie. Or maybe not. Still, odds are he'll smile a bit more with his evening cerveza, knowing that his past campaigning against Castro's brutality and oppression can take a back seat for awhile. Anyone still wondering why this guy fits in so well in Boston?

Alright, and we promise we'll be brief, but here's the latest on Big Schill, via his 38pitches blog:

"At the moment they are out 8 million dollars for a guy that cannot pitch, that can’t be a good thing," Schilling wrote. "I’d bet that I’ll figure out some way to validate this entire thing when it’s all said and done. If you don’t like that, or believe that, then feel free to bet against me, it won’t be the first time."

That's right folks, another stab at valor and validation. WMYM'll try not to throw our shoulder out of socket patting ourselves on the back for the earlier post.

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