A Healthy Lackey Is A Happy One

John Lackey, the newest addition to the Boston Red Sox rotation, has had troubles at the beginning of the past two seasons, arm and shoulder problems. This year, pitching for a new team, he is determined to avoid those late starts. It all comes down to spring training preparation. Here's the pitching coach of the Sox. My thanks go out to the Boston Herald's John Tomase for the quotes...

“We’ve become familiar with what his offseason routine has entailed,” said pitching coach John Farrell. “We’ve adjusted it to focus more on incorporating our shoulder program into his arm care. That’s not to say what he was doing before (with the Angels) was wrong. It’s just that as time goes on and careers lengthen, different needs emerge.”

Once Lackey gets going, he's an unstoppable force on the mound. The key for the Red Sox is to enable him to be healthy, 100% ready to pitch starting with the third game of the season and every five days thereafter. That's one of pitching coach John Farrell's skills. To tell you the truth, he could be a manager in either league...he's that good. But he prefers to stay put right here in New England. Lucky for us is all I can say. And now, here's John Lackey himself...

“For sure, I think I’m definitely going to be a little more careful this year,” Lackey said yesterday after his first full workout with the Red Sox. “I definitely want to start on time, get out of the gate strong, and help the team as much as I can."

A healthy John Lackey will make us ALL happy. Now if only Matsuzaka can get his act (and his back) together. Thank goodness for six starting rotation pitchers. I've said it before and I'll say it again right now...YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH PITCHING. Case closed.

Tiger Woods will talk to the world at 11 am EST on most media outlets. I couldn't care less. Sex therapy? What a crock of sh*t.

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