Josh Beckett the ace of Red Sox who was kept in the disabled list from March 19th due to tightness of lower back is all set to come back to the team. He started his work outs at the Minor League Complex of Red Sox from last weekend. His work out was monitored by the Minor league pitching coordinator of Red Sox, Ralph Truel and he is happy with the way Josh is progressing.

Beckett will pitch for an intrasquad game which will have most of the class A players. He played a match in a Minor League and had a scoreless innings. In that match he made 47 pitches, 33 strikes, six strike outs and allowed one hit with no walks. Treuel and the Red Sox fans are expecting more pitches from him in the coming matches. Beckett said that he is now completely out of pain that he was experiencing since March 8th.

Hideki Okajima became the first Japanese player to win the Major League game held in Japan. The Red Sox team in which Okajima is a player defeated the Athletics 6-5 in Japan. The Tokyo dome was actually home to Okajima as he was a part of the Yomiuri Giants for 11 seasons and the Red Sox fans cheered him and supported him throughout the game. Okajima appreciated the encouragement he got from the Japanese audience and dedicated his win to the fans.

Dalsuke Matsuzaka, another Red Sox player from Japan, was expected to shine in the match but unfortunately it was not his day. He couldn’t pitch his balls as expected and was called back after the fifth innings. Later, Dalsuke admitted that he was a bit nervous and excited about playing before the home crowd. But, he is happy that the Red Sox team won the match even though he was not happy with his own performance.

The Red Sox players and families took a ride in the Black Hawk helicopter to Zama, an U.S army base as part of their field trip. The members in the group included Tim Wakefield along with his wife, Mike Timlin with his son Jake, Curt Schilling and Bryan Corey. They were provided with two 12- seat choppers and they flew over Tokyo at an altitude of 1,000 feet. They were able to get a clear vision of the sky scrapers of Tokyo and other sights like the golf courses, baseball fields, mountains etc.

It was Timlin’s second ride in a helicopter and he had a video camera with him. The players attended a public event at a gymnasium in the Camp Zama. They were taken to the venue in a small bus from the helipad. The soldiers were very happy and thrilled to see the Red Sox players. All the players were gifted with coins which are given for the excellence, by the soldiers. The players gave autographed jersey to the army officials.

Bryan Corey entered into the roster spots of Red Sox with patience and perseverance. Corey was able to put his hard luck into past with his determination to be the part of the team. The special ability of Corey is that he can send the left-handed batsmen out easily. This might help his entry into the team roster this year. The 34 year right- hander was struggling to get his play right, from his entry to baseball in 1993. The first two pro seasons were not very rewarding for him, but in 1995 he was able to make a difference as he was asked by Detroit to pitch the ball.

In 1997 expansion draft, he was taken by the Arizona Team and he did his Major League debut in the year 1998. He has played for Tigers, Padres, Cubs, Marlins, Dodgers and Rangers but has made only four entries to the Major League games till 2006. It was in July 30th 2006 that Corey was acquired by Red Sox in exchange of Luis Mendoza. He appeared in nine games in the regular season with Red Sox last year but couldn’t make it to the roster. Corey is optimistic that the opportunity to go out and show his pitching abilities will come to him this season.

The Red Sox Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka will start his second season for his team in his homeland and will be getting the honor of pitching on the Opening day on March 25th against Oakland Athletics at Tokyo Dome. The manager of the Red Sox team had announced that Matsuzaka, the hot favorite Japanese player, will take the field against the A’s in the opening match and the left handed pitcher Lester will have the honors of opening the second game against Oakland.

Dice K said that he was pretty thrilled to pitch on the Opening day and will be stepping into the shoes of the injured Josh Beckett as the ace pitcher for the Red Sox and feels honored to do so. Matsuzaka who became the father to a son last Saturday came back to the practice session and threw 58 pitches. The pitching coach Farrell said that the workout that Dice K had was to reacclimatize him to playing conditions after spending a couple of days with his family. Matsuzaka is to pitch in the Red Sox’s Grapefruit League final slated today against the Blue Jays and will be his final match tune up before the Opening day game. Dice K says that he loves to pitch at the Japan Dome and is waiting to showcase his pitching skills to help his team achieve their goals.

Coco Crisp has not been able to don the Red Sox colors for the past 12 days as he is sidelined by the groin strain that he is feeling in both his legs. The Red Sox team is to board a plane to Japan next Wednesday and Crisp is praying for his groin problems to be sorted out by then. The Red Sox manager Franco feels that it is becoming more and more difficult for Crisp to join the team and will take the right decision at the correct time. Crisp is interested to make his trip to Japan, but he has no clue if his injury will be alright by Wednesday.

Coco Crisp says that he is prepared to wait and not rush things as he had bitter experiences playing with injuries in the past. The center fielder says that he is feeling a bit better and the groin is making slow but solid progress. He has been able to jog for the past three days, take a few in-cage batting practice and has had a full day workout as well. Crisp is aware that even though he can run or jog, sprinting is out of question right now and a batter has to have good sprinting skills along with his batting skills to perform better for the team. So, a wait and watch policy is right now in Crisp’s mind.

Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox faithful for many years, has realized that he is ageing and wants to put up a smarter show in the team in order to maintain his place in the Red Sox team. Manny, who will be 36 years old by the end of May, says that people grow wiser and smarter as they age. The grey bearded Ramirez is an experienced campaigner for the Red Sox team and is the longest serving member of the team at present. Ramirez has altered his dieting and working out habits in order to keep him fit to play the big league and compete with his team mates.

Ramirez says that he is presently doing a lot of cardio and running exercises than what he used to do previously and has said that he has added a lot of greens in his daily diet. He feels that the greens are helping him to feel lighter and faster. Ramirez has said that he has recently taken up on meditation and mastered the art of positive thinking. “The Secret”, a popular book on positive thinking, is the favorite possession of Manny this spring training season. Ramirez is all set for the grueling season ahead which will be the 16th season of his MLB career and he just needs 10 home runs to reach the 500 home run mark.

The injury to key pitchers Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling and the form that Lester showed in the recently concluded match against the Mets is a good sign for Lester as he will probably make it to the starting line up for the Red Sox team on their opening day. Lester said that he does not look at it as a different role, and if it is there to be taken he will try to make best use of this opportunity to show that he is right there among the greats. The first game for the Red Sox is on March 25 against the A’s and Schilling who is nursing a tendon tear and Beckett who is suffering from back spasms in his lower back will not be ready by then.

The other pitcher Matsuzaka’s wife is due to deliver their baby on March 19 and hence in all probability and by default Jon Lester will be ace pitcher for the Red Sox against the A’s. Lester who played in his third start against the Mets in the grapefruit league impressed one and all in that game with his pitching and he hopes to carry on with this form in the next matches as well.

The Boston Red Sox pitcher Jose Beckett felt a pull in his back while practicing his pitches and had to leave the field before the match against a split squad of Florida Marlins due to back spasms. The Red Sox player who is on top of the game this season said that he will have to wait and see the real problem in his back. The Red Sox team eventually lost the match but is happy that their leading pitcher Josh pulled out before the start of the game and had not aggravated the injury by playing in the game.

Beckett is an important player for the Red Sox team this season as they are already without the services of Curt Schilling for at least half of this season. The Red Sox manager said that Beckett will be thoroughly examined again before allowing him to pitch again. Beckett has been having a lower sore back for whole of last week and was seen warming up in the bullpen prior to taking the mound for the game. It was really unfortunate that Beckett landed on a soft spot with his first warm up pitch which put major stress on his lower back. Manny Delcarmen was sent in to play for Beckett and did his bit for the Red Sox team.

The Red Sox has signed Papelbon for one year for an amount worth $775,000 along with an additional benefit of $25,000 for being the part of All-Star team. Papelbon, being given a top position in the team feels that, it is his responsibility to keep the standard of the team. Papelbon is not entitled for arbitration and even then was able to get highest rate as a pitcher. Theo Epstein, the general manager of the Red Sox said that, Papelbon was expecting a much higher rate but was convinced of fairness of the deal after giving all the information about the deal. Epstein added that Papelbon is happy with the deal.

The 27 year old Papelbon made 37 saves in 40 attempts last year. He was paid a salary of $421,500 last year. Many speculated that Papelbon will be only given a small hike in his salary. The deal is projected as an indication of good pay structure available to hardworking and dedicated players from Red Sox. Epstein says that, the players always get a fair and generous deal from Red Sox, whether qualified for arbitration or not. The Red Sox and Jonathan Papelbon share a good relationship and he can expect for a better deal next year when he will be eligible for arbitration.