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| Jonathan Papelbon took the blown save and the loss on Sunday as the Angels came from behind to sweep the Red Sox out of the playoffs with a 7-6 win. Papelbon went one inning and allowed three runs on four hits while walking two. |
Our View: Pap has been a bit of a circus this season, but he usually managed to eventually get the job done. He did not today, as the Angels took advantage of some walks and some hits to finish off the Sox in Boston.
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| Accordin to the Providence Journal, Red Sox's closer Jonathan Papelbon has been fined again by MLB for taking too long to get to the mound in his last outing Tuesday against the Rays. This is the seventh time Papelbon has been fined for this infraction in 2009, and he has paid over $10,000 due to the fines. |
Our View: It's hard to say who is more ridiculous in this situation, the league for fining a guy for going too slow or Papelbon for continuing to do it. It has become obvious that neither side is going to change, so expect the fines to continue to come.
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| Jonathan Papelbon will likely be unavailable to close Wednesday night after throwing two innings and 28 pitches on Tuesday, according to the Boston Globe. |
Our View: Billy Wagner is also unavailable, so we could get a glimpse into Daniel Bard's closing future if the Red Sox are protecting a lead going into the ninth tonight.
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| The Boston Globe reports that closer Jonathan Papelbon likely won't be available for Wednesday's contest against the Tigers. |
Our View: J.P. has thrown 2.1 innings the past two days and Manager Terry Francona doesn't want to overuse his arm unless absolutely necessary. He should be back to closing games within a day or two.
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| Jonathan Papelbon is available to pitch in tonight's game at Texas, according to the Providence Journal. |
Our View: He deemed himself fit to resume his closer's role following his bout with the flu. Papelbon looks to be safe to pencil into fantasy lineups.
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| Jonathan Papelbon may not be able to pitch on Monday, as he's been suffering from the flu and has been vomiting throughout the day, according to the Providence Journal. |
Our View: It looks like we'll just have to wait and see if the Red Sox find themselves in a save opportunity, and how Papelbon is feeling at the time if they do. It appears that Papelbon could be suffering from the same bug that kept Jacoby Ellsbury out of action on Friday and Saturday, though Papelbon has been taking meds and will do his best to pitch if needed. If you have another option at closer for tonight, go with it, but this doesn't seem to be any reason to keep Papelbon out of your weekly lineup, even if you can still make the change.
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| Jonathan Papelbon did not allow any hits or walks over one inning of work in tonight's 4-3 win over the National League in the All-Star Game at Busch Stadium. He fired one strikeout. |
Our View: Boston's closer ended up collecting the win in the game. He has earned a spot on the AL All-Star team for four straight seasons.
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| Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect 11th inning on Wednesday for his 20th save, as the Red Sox rallied to beat the Orioles 6-5. |
Our View: Papelbon has been lights out as usual in 2009, and appears to be a safe bet to earn his fourth straight All-Star appearance.
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| Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 18th saves of the year on Saturday, allowing one hit without any strikeouts to complete Boston's shutout of the Braves. |
Our View: He remains of the the top closers in the game with a sub-2.00 ERA. Keep in mind that he's been used in consecutive days for just the third time this season and has also pitched three times in the past four days, so he may get Sunday off.
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| Jonathan Papelbon said in an interview on SiriusXM radio on Thursday that he would be fine with playing for a different team after his current Red Sox deal is up, even the Yankees, according to WEEI. |
Our View: Papelbon is apparently keeping one eye on the horizon even as he still has two years remaining on his Red Sox deal after 2009. Although it is still two years away, it is hard to see the Sox letting Papelbon don any other uniform, and it was probably a bad idea for Pap to stir up the Sox crazed masses. You could also say it was just "Papelbon being Papelbon."
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| The Boston Globe is reporting that Red Sox' closer Jonathan Papelbon has been fined $1,000 by the league for violating pace-of-game guidelines. The fine stems from Papelbon's slow entrance in between innings. |
Our View: Apparently Papelbon takes too long when entering the game, and the league has reprimanded him for it. This is kind of a strange story, but Pap has been fined for this before so he needs to pick up the pace. The report indicates that it takes him more than a minute over the allotted time to get to the mound. He usually makes up for it by getting out of the inning quickly, but the league doesn't seem to care about that.
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| Jonathan Papelbon was unavailable to throw on Tuesday due to food poisoning, according to the Boston Globe. He feels better today and may be available tonight. |
Our View: Papelbon remains one of the most valuable closers in the game. Feel same to keep him in your lineups.
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| Jonathan Papelbon blew his first save and was tagged with his first loss of the year after giving up a two-run home run to the Mets' Omir Santos in the ninth inning. |
Our View: It was the first time Papelbon allowed a run in his past 10 appearances and he remains one of the game's top closes.
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| Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his 11th save of the season on Tuesday as the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 2-1. Papelbon struck out one while saving the game for starter Tim Wakefield, who went the previous eight innings. |
Our View: Papelbon is money. His WHIP has been a bit high this season, but he looked dominant tonight. He is still a top closing option in all leagues, and should remain so for a long time.
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| Jonathan Papelbon surrendered a hit and a walk, but then struck out the next three Rays' hitters to close the door on a 4-3 Red Sox victory on Sunday. |
Our View: It was not looking good for Papelbon after the first two batters, but he ran into a strikeout-friendly group of hitters after that. While his 1.29 ERA is certainly impressive, his 1.43 WHIP has to be a concern. He's certainly keeping Sox fans on the edge of their seats.
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| Jonathan Papelbon states that he is fine despite a rumor circulating that he is dealing with a shoulder problem, according to the Boston Globe. |
Our View: Papelbon should be safe to target as a top closer for 2009.
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| Jonathan Papelbon is five pounds leaner and is excited about the new season, according to the Boston Globe. He said, "The first thing I said to Theo and Tito was great job with the bullpen. To see the talent we have in here, that is a great thing for our team. We are going to have guys who will pitch rested and will be strong and we have depth if someone should go down. I cannot tell how that makes us all feel in that bullpen. If we all do our jobs, this could be very special this year."
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Our View: The Red Sox have one of the very finest pitching staffs in the majors, and Papelbon ranks as the No. 1 fantasy closer for 2009.
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| Jonathan Papelbon became predictable last season by relying on his fastball too much, and the Sox are going to work on helping him mix it up a bit more with his slider and splitter, according to the Boston Globe. |
Our View: Opposing hitters were able to wait on his fastball last season, but Papelbon still held a 0.95 WHIP while nailing down 41 saves, with 77 strikeouts over 69.1 innings. He could be better in 2009, and is worthy of drafting as the No. 1 closer in fantasy leagues.
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| Jonathan Papelbon isn't anxious for a multi-year deal, according to the Providence Journal. "We did discuss [a multiyear deal], but I don't think we were able to see eye-to-eye on that," Papelbon said. "Which is fine. It's totally fine with me . . . I'm just going focus on this year and focus on earning what I'm worth." |
Our View: Papelbon just signed the largest one-year deal for a relief pitcher in the first year of arbitration eligibility, so he should be fine even if he can't get a multi-year deal done with the Sox.
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| The Boston Globe reports that closer Jonathan Papelbon and the Boston Red Sox are discussing a possible long-term deal. "We did have some discussions along the way," assistant general manager Jed Hoyer said Tuesday evening. "I would say, certainly, those discussions are open and we may pick them up." |
Our View: Papelbon signed a one-year contract earlier today, and now that the concerns involving arbitration are over, both parties seem determined to lock up the elite closer in Boston for a very long time.
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| The Red Sox have avoided salary arbitration with Jonathan Papelbon by inking the closer to a one-year deal worth $6.25 million, according to the LA Times. |
Our View: Papelbon's deal trumps Bobby Jenks' first-year arbitration deal of $5.6 million among closers, signed one day earlier.
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| The Providence Journal reports that Jonathan Papelbon pitched 1.0 scoreless inning in Game Six to extend his postseason record for most career scoreless innings to 25.0 over 16 outings. Papelbon has two wins and seven saves in postseason play, and of the 85 batters he has faced, only 16 have reached base via hit or walk. |
Our View: Papelbon is as clutch as they come in the postseason. His postseason play has been as critical as just about any other Boston player.
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| With his three-out save Friday, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon set a new postseason record for consecutive scoreless inning with 20.2, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: Joe Niekro had the old record at 20 innings. Papelbon is dominant and should continue to be a fantastic option for fantasy owners for years to come.
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| Jonathan Papelbon will be available to pitch in Game 4 despite throwing 31 pitches in Game 3, according to the Red Sox Official Website. |
Our View: Papelbon is clearly the best arm in the Sox pen, and with the season on the line who else should be on the mound at the end of the game?
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| Jonathan Papelbon got six outs for the win in Friday's 7-5 win over the Angels in Game 2 of the ALDS. He struck out one and allowed no hits. |
Our View: Papelbon did allow a Mark Teixeira sac fly that scored his inherited runner, Chone Figgins, from third. Regardless, he was mostly dominant in his two inning appearance.
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| Jonathan Papelbon went 1.1 innings and struck out two to pick up his 41st save of the season in the Red Sox victory over the Indians. |
Our View: After allowing four earned runs in his first six outings this month, he has now shut down the opposition three times in a row.
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| Jonathan Papelbon became the fifth player in Red Sox history to record 40-saves in a season, according to The Providence Journal. The others were Jeff Reardon (1991), Tom Gordon (1998), Derek Lowe (2000) and Ugueth Urbina (2002). |
Our View: Papelbon has recorded 35, 37 and now 40 saves in his first three seasons as the closer to clearly establish himself as one of the top-5 options in the game in the ninth inning as he attacks hitters with a ferocity rarely seen in major league hurlers.
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| Jonathan Papelbon worked out of a jam on Friday to help the Red Sox defeat the Blue Jays 4-3. He struck out the last batter of the game with a man on third base. |
Our View: Papelbon had given up four runs in his last three appearances. Lately he has developed a trend of pitching poorly on the second of consecutive nights. Frisay's appearance was his first since Sunday.
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| Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has not been as effective recently as he had been because he is struggling with locating his fastball, according to the Boston Globe. "For the past month, I've thrown 20 scoreless innings basically just going out there and throwing my heater and locating it. Well now, the same teams I did that against, they're making their adjustments on me," Papelbon said. |
Our View: Papelbon was also critical of Red Sox television announcers Tom Caron and Dennis Eckersley, saying they were more worried about it than he was and that, "I'm a human. You know? I'm not a machine." Fantasy owners should not be overly concerned with Papelbon, who should continue to dominate when his location returns.
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| Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon might not be available for tonight's game against the Rays. Papelbon pitched on Saturday and Sunday and has only pitched on three consecutive days three times this season. The last time was last week, and on the third day, he blew a save opportunity to the Rays, according to the Boston Globe. |
Our View: Recently, Papelbon has struggled on the hill. Dating back to August 28th, Papelbon is 0-1, with an ERA of 6.00. Those numbers might scare fantasy owners but he should be forgiven due to his 38 saves and overall ERA of 2.11.
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| Jonathan Papelbon served up three hits and two runs to the Rays on Tuesday night and blew his fifth save of the season. The Rays won 5-4. Papelbon hadn't given up an earned run since July 13, a span of 18 outings. |
Our View: He can't always be perfect. Papelbon picked a bad time to blow his first save since June 22, but fantasy owners should be able to forgive him.
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| Jonathan Papelbon collected his 36th save of the season Monday night as the Sox beat the Rays 3-0. |
Our View: Papelbon collected three strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work. He is a close to a guarantee that you can get in fantasy.
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| With his 33rd save of the season Monday, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon moved into second place in franchise history with 105, according to the Boston Globe. |
Our View: Papelbon has been astounding as the team's closer, and continued that trend this season. Fantasy owners will continue to depend on him for years to come barring injury.
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| Jonathan Papelbon will be available on Saturday night despite suffering from migraines over the past two days, the Boston Globe reports. "I've had them pretty bad the last couple of days. When I get them it affects my whole body. But I should be OK. I take the medication. I should be OK," he explains. |
Our View: Fantasy owners can safely use the dominant closer.
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| Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 31st home run of the year for the Red Sox on Sunday and is just four saves from his third straight 35 save effort. |
Our View: Papelbon is as consistently dominating as almost any reliever in baseball, and there is no reason not to expect him to challenge the 40-save mark for the first time this season.
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| Fans in New York threatened the pregnant wife of Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon as the two were riding in open cars during the All-Star Game's red carpet parade, according to RedSox.com "I feel like I needed to be in a bullet-proof car. My wife is pregnant and she's getting her life threatened. It's stupid," said Papelbon. |
Our View: Some people take sports a tad too seriously. Threatening to kill a pregnant woman because her husband plays for a rival team goes beyond stupid.
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| Jonathan Papelbon recorded the 100th save of his career on Sunday, in a close 2-1 win over the Orioles, according to the Boston Globe. He remarked, "One hundred down, I guess three or four hundred left to go."
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Our View: Papelbon became just the third member of the Red Sox to reach 100 saves, joining Dick Radatz and Bob Stanley. He is also the second fastest ever to reach the milestone, doing it in 176 games (Seattle's Kazuhiro Sasaki accomplished it in 160 games).
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| Jonathan Papelbon allowed one run on three hits, walked none and struck out one earning his 28th save of the season. |
Our View: Papelbon made the Red Sox ninth inning two-run lead interesting, but in the end recorded his 28th save in his 41 appearance.
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| Jonathan Papelbon earned his second save in as many nights against the Twins on Tuesday. He gave up one hit and struck out one in a three-out appearance. |
Our View: It looks like Papelbon has no recollection of the loss he suffered in Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Another good sign that he will be a dominant closer for years.
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| Jonathan Papelbon recorded the final three outs in Monday's 1-0 win over Minnesota for his 26th save of the season. |
Our View: Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth striking out one. Paps has a 2.33 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP just past the midway point of the season.
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| Jonathan Papelbon has not stepped on the mound in exactly one week, according to RedSox.com. "It's good, because you know there will be that period where I throw a bunch of days in a row," said Papelbon. |
Our View: Fantasy players with Papelbon on their squad would sure like to see the streak end at some point, but it should be nothing to worry about. These things happen with closers from time to time.
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| Boston reliever Jonathan Papelbon earned his 22nd save of the season this evening, working the ninth to close a tight 5-4 win over Arizona. Papelbon faced four batters, throwing 19 pitches to walk one, influence one ground out, and striking out two. |
Our View: Through nine June appearances, Papelbon has allowed just two hits with three walks and 13 strikeouts.
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| Jonathan Papelbon made his 23rd appearance of the season on Monday night at Safeco Field, but it wasn't routine. After throwing three straight balls to begin the inning, Papelbon was able to battle back and strike out Jeremy Reed for the first out. The right-hander then committed a throwing error on a swinging bunt by Miguel Cairo. Kenji Johjima followed with a base hit putting runners at first and third. After rookie Yuniesky Betancourt struck out swinging, Ichiro Suzuki hit a run-scoring single that made the score 5-2. Papelbon then followed with a wild pitch allowing Johjima to score from third making the talley 5-3. Jose Lopez then grounded out to Dustin Pedroia to end the game.
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Our View: A game that saw little scoring for the first seven innings, became an exciting event over the final two. Papelbon entered the game in a non-save situation.
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| Jonathan Papelbon recorded four outs for his 13 save of the year in a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night. |
Our View: Papelbon has been less than stellar in May, this after a near perfect April. However, he looked like himself tonight striking out three of the four batters he faced.
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| Jonathan Papelbon got the final three outs to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Brewers 5-3 on Saturday. The right-hander recorded his 12th save, despite giving up a solo homer to Ryan Braun with two out. |
Our View: Papelbon has actually been mortal in May, but continues to get the job done.
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| It's obviously not April, a month when Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon has been perfect during his career. Papelbon put runners at second and third in the ninth inning of Friday's loss to the Twins, and let Lamb lace an opposite-field liner to left that ended the game. |
Our View: It is the second straight blown save for the Boston right-hander and his second loss of the season.
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| Jonathan Papelbon allowed a broken bat single to Placido Polanco to allow two runs to score as he picked up his first loss and blown save of the season to the Tigers. |
Our View: Both runs were unearned thanks to Julio Lugo, but no one is perfect including Papelbon now. Of course, this does nothing to diminish the value of Papelbon, it's just one of those things that happens.
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| Jonathan Papelbon registered his tenth save of the season as the Red Sox defeated the the Tigers 6-3 on Monday night. |
Our View: Papelbon has been near perfect this season. His 1.76 ERA and 0.72 WHIP are shadows next to his 21 strikeouts to only one walk.
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| Jonathan Papelbon recorded his eighth save on Tuesday night. He worked a spotless ninth inning against the Angels. |
Our View: Few, if any, do it better than Papelbon in the ninth inning. He has struck out 18 batters over 11 innings, and fantasy owners should be pleased that they paid the premium price for this stopper.
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| Jonathan Papelbon worked a perfect ninth inning for his seventh save as the Red Sox scored six runs in the seventh and eighth innings to beat the Rangers 6-5 on Sunday. |
Our View: Papelbon is without doubt the most dominate closer in the game, and his April record during his career is over-the-top good. In Papelbon's big league career, he is 26-for-26 in save opportunities in April, has recorded over 40 strike outs in 23 plus innings, and given up 12 hits without surrendering a single run.
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| Jonathan Papelbon tossed a scoreless inning and picked up his fifth save on Monday. The Red Sox gave the elite closer the night off on Sunday. |
Our View: There was never any worry of Papelbon being injured, but he proved it anyway on Monday.
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| Jonathan Papelbon won't be available to pitch on Sunday night, MLB.com confirms. He had to wait through a long rain delay to close the game on Saturday and is simply getting the day off. |
Our View: Fantasy owners shouldn't panic if they see someone else work the ninth (if necessary) on Sunday.
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| Jonathan Papelbon worked around a lengthy rain delay to pick up his fourth save of the season on Saturday against the Yankees. |
Our View: Pablebon has now picked up an amazing 12 K in six innings on the season as he continues to be the most dominating closer in the business.
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| Jonathan Papelbon notched his first save of the new season against Oakland, but it wasn't pretty as he allowed one run on three hits over his one inning, with one walk and one strikeout. Boston held on to win 6-5 and the elite closer was let off the hook. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon is enjoying success with the slider that he's added to his repertoire, according to the AP. "I used to throw it when I was starting so it’s not like a new pitch, really," Papelbon said. "It’s a natural arm slot for me to throw this pitch. It’s not like I’m going out of my delivery to execute this pitch. To me, it’s just a matter of staying one step ahead of the competition." It's scary to think of a guy who had 37 saves, a 1.85 ERA and 0.77 WHIP with 84 strikeouts in 58.1 innings last year improving his stuff. On Tuesday, he worked two perfect innings, while striking out two batters. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon signed a one-year deal for $775,000 on Thursday avoiding the arbitrary figure the team could have issued. The number is nearly twice what the team could have given him had they chose to renew his deal. According to the Boston Globe, Papelbon's new salary beats Mariano Rivera's two-year closer service time record of $750,000.
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| The Boston Globe reports that the Red Sox are expected to continue negotiations Wednesday night with the agents for closer Jonathan Papelbon on a new contract.
If they can't reach an agreement the Sox are expected to renew his deal for an arbitrary figure that would likely be near the $425,000 he made last season. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon is the latest young player not happy about his contract situation. "It's a tough situation for me right now because basically I'm at a point to where I feel like the position I'm in, there's a certain standard that needs to be put in place here," he tells the Boston Globe. "I feel like with me being at the top of my position, I feel like that standard needs to be set and I'm the one to set that standard. And I don't think that the Red Sox are really necessarily seeing eye to eye with me on that subject right now." The Red Sox will likely renew Papelbon's contract soon, and he'll make something short of $1 million. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon confirmed Tuesday that his agents and the Red Sox have gotten to the point where they won't be able to even get close to working out a long-term deal before the March 11 deadline, according to the Boston Globe. Papelbon won't be eligible for arbitration until next offseason, so he doesn't have any real pull in negotations, as the Red Sox can simply renew his current deal. On the other hand, if he can keep pitching like the past two seasons, he's going to get crazy paid once abritration is an option next winter. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon had migraines bad enough last year that he had to ask manager Terry Francona for the night off on a couple of occasions, according to the Boston Herald. "When I get them, they shut me down - I can’t open my eyes," Papelbon said. "I don’t know, maybe we can get to the bottom of it this year. It’s something I have to deal with and hopefully it’s something we can find a cure for sooner than later." What he's doing this year is using a new mouthpiece that helps him deal with intense teeth-grinding while sleeping and when pitching. With any luck that will do the trick and allow the stud closer to be available every game. |
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| Despite being Boston's closer, Jonathan Papelbon continues to follow the same throwing program in the first half of spring training that he was on as a starter, according to the Boston Herald. "We like it, but I don’t think it’s typical," Papelbon said. "It’s just more throwing in the beginning to build arm strength. I’m going to go out there and throw two innings, and maybe another one and then back down from that. Halfway through (spring training) I will back down." Pitching coach John Farrell said the priority is to build up Papelbon's arm, and that working as a reliever early on just won't get the job done. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon was held out of a save situation for the second straight night Thursday, apparently because the Red Sox wanted to give him extra recovery time after a 35-pitch blown save Tuesday. Terry Francona denied after the game that anything was physically wrong with Papelbon. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon blew his first save of the season on Tuesday, allowing a game-tying two-run homer by Oakland's Travis Buck. Papelbon had converted all eight of his save opportunities this season prior to Tuesday and was 18-for-18 in saves during the month of April in 2006 and 2007. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon picked up his seventh save in as many chances Thursday, working a scoreless ninth at Baltimore. He's yet to allow a run over 8 1/3 innings of work this month, allowing six baserunners (one hit, five walk) and striking out 14. |
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| Jonathan Papelbon says his right ankle is not a problem as the season begins, the Boston Globe reports. "It feels fine," Papelbon said Sunday. "When it happened, I thought it might be worse, but I rebounded from it with no problem." |
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| Jonathan Papelbon rested a sore ankle Saturday and didn't throw in the game or on the side, the Boston Herald reports. Papelbon will attempt to throw on flat ground Sunday, and he's expected to be available for Monday's opener with the Royals. "It still feels like there's a strain there, or a sprain, or whatever they're calling it," said Papelbon, who's never had an injury of this type before. "I'll be ready (Monday) - that's the plan, hopefully." |
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| Jon Papelbon has elevated his arm slot this spring, according to the Boston Herald. "It’s a lot better," Papelbon said about work on the side with his mechanics under the guidance of pitching coach John Farrell. "Mechanically, I’m getting there. It’s a little bit different, not much - enough to get it done." |
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| The Red Sox have decided to move Jon Papelbon back to the closer role, according to ESPN.com. The news comes after the team announced that Mike Timlin, who was one of many candidates to close, would begin the season on the DL. Papelbon won't thrown when he's tired and won't pitch three days in a row. With Papelbon going back to the bullpen, Julian Taverez will move to the rotation. |
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| Jon Papelbon will throw roughly 50 pitches in a simulated game Monday, the Red Sox official site reports. The other starters have jumped to about 60 pitches in their third outing, while Papelbon is staying around the same number he threw last time out.
"The reason he went into this rotation is because we're trying to protect him to an extent," said manager Terry Francona. "We will come along with him a little slower."
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| Jon Papelbon retired all six batters he faced on Saturday on 26 pitches, 18 of them strikes. "He looked like his arm felt pretty good," Boston manager Terry Francona told the AP. "That was very exciting. He threw the fastball that we've come to know and appreciate. He threw some very good splits and a couple breaking balls. He was outstanding." |
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| It's very unlikely, but manager Terry Francona admitted that there's at least a slight possibility that Jon Papelbon could return to the closer role in 2007, according to the Boston Herald. “The possibility exists (that Papelbon could return to closer) but I think it’s a long shot,” Francona said. “A lot of things have to happen for that to eventually happen and I don’t see that happening. First thing is he would have to be medically cleared to do it. That’s the reason he’s in the starting rotation. It’s not because we don’t think he can’t close." The decision on who will be the team's closer will come in spring training, with Joel Pineiro, Mike Timlin and Brendan Donnelly being among the possible candidates. |
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| Jon Papelbon's shoulder has repeatedly passed all physical examinations, indicating that a prescribed exercise regimen to strengthen the muscles surrounding the joint will prevent a recurrence of the subluxation he had last year, the Boston Herald reports. "My arm is stronger than it's ever felt," said Papelbon. "I've been doing exercises I never did before and with such dedication. I'm ready to go." Papelbon also said he'd be winning to consider shifting back to the bullpen if the Red Sox got in a pinch, but he's not expecting that to happen and he's fully committed to making it as a starter in 2007. |
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| Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has announced that Jon Papelbon will move to the starting rotation in 2007, according to the AP. "Jonathan Papelbon is going to enter next spring training as a starting pitcher," Epstein said. Papelbon, who tallied 35 saves and held a 0.92 ERA in his rookie season, missed the last month of the season due to a sore right shoulder. |
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| Jon Papelbon threw batting practice off the mound before Saturday's game, according to the AP. Manager Terry Francona said Papelbon should be 100 percent by spring training. "The biggest thing we wanted him to do is exit the season feeling really good about himself," Francona said. "And at the least we accomplished that." |
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| Jon Papelbon will throw to live hitters Saturday, the Boston Herald reports. He's coming back from a sore shoulder. It will be interesting to see how the Red Sox choose to deploy Papelbon next year; he was lights-out as a closer in 2006, but throwing more innings as a starter ultimately should be a bigger help to the club. |
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| Red Sox manager Terry Francona said that Jon Papelbon passed a strength test "with flying colors." Papelbon is not expected to pitch again this season, but the Sox are hoping he can get healthy enough to have a normal offseason, according to the AP. |
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| Sidelined by a sore shoulder since Sept. 1, Jon Papelbon said Friday he doesn't expect to pitch again this season, and he's already planning a switch to the starting rotation next year, according to the AP. "I'm probably going to be done for the year right now, unless something crazy happens," Papelbon said. Papelbon said the plan to become a starter next year is not definite. "Nothing's set in stone, believe me. If we could go out and make a big acquisition, I'd be happy." |
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| Jon Papelbon is expected to play catch at some point this weekend, though it's not clear if he'll pitch again this year, according to the Red Sox official site. Papelbon is resting a shoulder injury and hasn't pitched since Sept. 1. |
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| The Boston Herald reports that there's still no timetable for the return of Jon Papelbon. Papelbon is recovering from a right shoulder injury, and it's possible that he won't return at all this season. |
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| Manager Terry Francona will still not say whether or not Jon Papelbon, who is dealing with a right shoulder injury, will pitch again this season, according to the Boston Herald. He stated that the hurler needs to rest and rehab before any decisions are made. When asked whether Papelbon's future was as a closer or a starter, Francona stated: "Whatever we’re going to do will be in his best interest." |
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| The Boston Globe reports that Jon Papelbon apparently doesn't have a major injury to his right shoulder. However, it remains uncertain whether he will return to play again this season. Sox medical director Thomas Gill said the ball of the shoulder joint had slipped slightly forward, but not completely out of the joint to the point where it would be considered a dislocation. "Classically, it's described as a `dead arm' syndrome," Gill added. "If you remember when Papelbon came off the mound, he came and dropped his arm and kind of shook it. That's a classic symptom of someone who's had it." |
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| Jon Papelbon said Sunday that his shoulder still felt tight and weak, and he expects to have an MRI tomorrow, according to the Boston Globe. The best-case scenario would have Papelbon returning in 5-7 days. |
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| Despite leaving the mound because of a muscle strain in his shoulder Friday night, Jon Papelbon hopes to return in a week, according to the AP. "Best case scenario, I'll be back in five, six or seven days," he said before Saturday's game. "It just feels weak and fatigued. I'm going to try and stay positive, hopefully I can pitch in a week or so." Papelbon expects to have an MRI on Monday. |
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