4/6

-Frustrating loss today in Texas. Wake pitched really well but we were uncharacteristically impatient at the plate. That shouldn't happen too often this season though. Ortiz is ice cold, which wont last. Coco looks like trash with those tentative swings. Luckily we have Pena as a backup plan for Blowco Crisp or DL Drew. Texas waived Wilkinson home and tested Manny on a single in the 2nd inning. If that was Tek back there, the slide would have got stuffed by his shin pad. Teks the best at that move.

-Damon's leg cramps turned out to be a strain, atleast in the right leg. He should make a trip to the 15 day DL. They'll make a final decision by tomorrow. they could use the roster spot though so its likely. If he gets put on the DL, it would be the first time in his career, pretty amazing.

-Beltran is a stud. I watch a lot of Mets games on mlb.tv because its an exciting lineup to watch, and Beltran just makes baseball look easy. Hes got five tools no doubt. I love that switch hitting swing too. Just imagine that if anyone claimed Manny off waivers back in 2003, we would have probably signed Beltran or Vlad.

-It's early, but McCann might turn out to be the best hitting catcher in the game, not Mauer.

-Watch the Devil Rays. They'll blow your mind with their speed. Upton and Elijah Dukes might be sticking around for awhile. Dukes atleast as a 4th OF.

-Jeff Francouer has a Red Sox credit card. Kid is a die hard fan. Gammons was telling a story about him on Team USA. A-Rod was chewing out some clubhouse kid who brought him the wrong sandwich. I guess Frenchy, a rookie at the time, got in Rodriguez face and told him to lay off. They had some words and then needed to be separated by Chipper and some other muscle. I like that kid.

-The KC announcer on mlb.tv called our shortstop Coolio Lugo on wed. He messed up saying it but I think thats Lugos new nickname. Coolio Lugo.

Daisuke's first start

7ip 6h 1er 10k 1bb. Nice line for Daisuke today against the royals. It was good to see him in a real game situation. Hes so composed and chill out there that its almost scary. He cannot be rattled. He was throwing a lot of breaking balls and then painting corners with the heater. Overall it was very impressive. KC was completely off balance. You need to watch it for yourself to understand how he has a presence out their that really reminds you of Pedro. Call it poise, confidence, whatever, he has "it". This guy is our best pitcher. I am very confident Daisuke is going to be our ace for the next 6 seasons. He isn't throwing 99 like Pedro used to so some balls left up are gonna get hit out, but hes a pitcher not a thrower. Every pitch has a purpose. His repertoire is ridiculous. He has so many variations on every pitch that poor Remy gets lost. Fastball, shuuto, slider, change, fork, curve, splitter, you name it. You need to watch this kid.

Few quicks to open it

Sox split the first two games in KC and DiceK goes today. People in Japan are getting up at 3am to see that.

Some things over the first few days of a long season...

-JD Drew is like a super Trot Nixon. That swing is sweet. If he stays healthy hes clearly the best hitter outside Ortiz/Manny. He also made an awesome play to track a ball down last night. Hopefully he can handle being heckled by Cowgill in the RF stands when hes in a slump. This guy is good.

-Pedroia is swinging it well over the first couple. Hes a grinder. I wouldnt be surprised if he hits .290.

-King Felix spun a gem on opening day. He might have a Cy Young year. That kids stuff is out of this world. 13K's and not one fly ball. 100 mph with sink is too dirty. Other filthy stuff by Peavy, Cole Hamels, Rich Harden in their first starts.

-Grady Sizemore is already putting balls over the fence. He led the league in extra base hits last year and might have an MVP season in him. Scary thing about Sizemore is that he still doesn't hit lefties well. Watch out when he does.

-Tek bat is slow right now but I'm almost as worried about the arm. Tek only threw out 22% of runners last year. Watch what happens when we try to contain Tampa Bay. That lineup runs and runs, its wild. Crawford, Baldelli, Delmon, Upton, Dukes all have the green light.