Friday Links

Photo by Kelly O’Connor of sittingstill.smugmug.net

The Red Sox dropped their second meeting of the spring against the New York Yankees on Thursday night. Clay Buchholz threw 5 innings and was touched up for 3 runs on 5 hits. Newcomer Chris Capuano impressed in relief of Buchholz, throwing 3 no hit inning. Grady Sizemore also managed to collect a single in one of his three at bats.

• Some rookies might crumble under the pressures of a position battle, but Jackie Bradley is a rare breed. The 23 year old center fielder has shown maturity, poise, and confidence in the fight for playing time. (John Farrell raves about how Jackie Bradley Jr. has handled competition with Grady Sizemore)

• While the battle for center field rages on, a slightly less talked about position battle has reached a conclusion. The Red Sox optioned Brock Holt to the minor league camp which means that Jonathan Herrera is the utility man. (Herrera beats out Holt for utility spot)

• David Ortiz has had a quiet spring training, a very quiet spring training. Currently the 38 year old has only collected 2 hits in 32 at bats, while striking out 10 times. But the veteran DH isn’t about to let early struggles concern him. (Red Sox notebook: David Ortiz not worried)

• Every one has room for improvement- even a manager as respected as John Farrell. In his first year at the helm Farrell proved that he was the right man for the job, but also exposed some flaws. This season, there are steps he can take to fixing these flaws. (Three keys for John Farrell in 2014)

• Baseball is always evolving in some capacity. This offseason the evolution of baseball became blatantly obvious with new home plate collision rules and the institution of instant replay. Subsequently, teams are forced to embrace and understand these new additions to the game. (As rules change, Red Sox make adjustments)

• Xander Bogaerts isn’t the first highly touted short stop that Boston has ever had. Some 20 years ago the Red Sox trotted out a Georgia Tech product named Nomar Garciaparra. However, the two have more in common than just their positions. (Ascendance of Xander Bogaerts sparks memories of Nomar Garciaparra in 1997)

• I was never one to call Jacoby Ellsbury “injury prone” seeing as how his biggest injuries with Boston were freak accidents. But to those that chose to play the injury prone card, this will get you all riled up. (Yankees send Ellsbury for MRI of ailing right calf)

• Tweet of the day: Big papi ain’t worried, so you shouldn’t be either.