Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 4:24 PM     Updated: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 6:24 PM

Jon Lester says he thinks spring training lasts two weeks too long. Other players say they’ll get their work in, but they are ready to go.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia looks at it a little differently.

“Spring training is just flying by. I’m just going day to day,” the Boston Red Sox catcher siad.

He is getting ready for the season, getting acquainted with his pitchers, and getting comfortable as he takes on the biggest opportunity in his life.

“I’m not looking forward or behind. I think that’s what happened before, that I pushed myself too much” the man called “Salty” said Tuesday.

“I want to stay healthy and be ready for the season,” he said.

To Red Sox fans, Saltalamacchia is the mystery meat of this lineup. Injuries have held back one of baseball’s prized prospects of the mid-2000s, which makes it easy to think Salty is older has been around longer than he has been.

At 25, he is entering the point where most catchers establish themselves. Red Sox backup catcher Jason Varitek, for instance, didn’t become a proven major leaguer until his mid-20s.

Saltalamacchia, who turns 26 on May 2, did not play Tuesday night against Tampa Bay. He caught Jon Lester Monday in Clearwater against the Phillies.

“Jon pitched a great game. He got a little tired in the sixth (when the Phillies scored three runs in a 4-1 win), and gave up a couple of broken-bat singles, but he’ll be fine.”

Saltalamacchia has never caught more than 93 games in a season. That came in 2007, his rookie year that was split between Atlanta and Texas.

He caught 61 in 2008, 84 in 2009 and only 12 in an injury-plagued 2010 season that saw him traded to Boston at the July 31 trade deadlne. If he stays healthy, he is expected to play more than 100 games for the first time in his career.

The meaning of this season is not lost on him. Saltalamacchia seemed on the verge of becoming the latest hot prospect to morph into journeyman status.

With the departure of free agent Victor Martinez to Detroit, and the absence of other star-quality catchers available by trade or free agency, Salty has the No. 1 job on one of baseball’s premier teams. It is not by default, but the opportunity has been helped by circumstance, giving him a chance to work with a seasoned staff with a chance to play in the World Series.

The pitchers have spoken well of him, even while describing their relationship as a work in progress.

“He’s fine. He calls a good game back there,” Lester said.

There is no plan on manager Terry Francona’s part to match certain pitchers with particular catchers. Saltalamacchia has caught Daisuke Matsuzaka only once this spring, but forsees no issue with communication or strategy.

“No problem. We all communicate well together,” he said.

Saltalamacchia said batting against the Phillies’ Roy Halladay on Monday, and other good pitchers the Red Sox have faced, has helped him prepare for the season offensively.

“It’s great to face a guy like that. The season is approaching, and it’s a great challenge,” Saltalamacchia said.

The catcher has been hampered not only by injury, but by a throwing problem often described as the “yips.” He had difficulty throwing the ball back to the pitcher, which landed him in the minor leagues and probably made some teams leery of acquiring him.

The subject is almost never brought up now – not because it’s taboo so much as because player and team consider it old news that no longer applies. Saltalamacchia’st hrowing is back to normal, as general manager Theo Epstein said last year when he acquired him from Texas.

Largely overlooked at the time, amid questions of why the Red Sox did not trade more boldly in late July, the deal carries added importance now that Salty is No. 1, with soon-to-be-39-year-old Jason Varitek his backup and to some degree his mentor.

Even with the throwing issue over, Saltalamacchia has a chance this season to establish defensive credentials that remain a somewhat open question. It is believed he can hit, at least by the standards of his position.

A .248 hitter in 250 career games, Salty is hitting .250 this spring. Three of his six hits have been doubles.

When he has played an adequate amount of time, he has shown some power, hitting 11 home runs in 2007 and nine in 84 games (310 at-bats) with Texas in 2009.

Between now and Opening Day, HBT will take a look at each of the 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2011 season. Next up: The Sawx.

The Big Question: Are the Red Sox the best team in baseball?

Man, it’s hard to pick a better one. Offensively they’ve traded Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre for Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. I think 2011 wins that battle, and I think Gonzalez might be a nice MVP candidate in his new ballpark.  Add a healthy Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia to the mix and you’re talking about a better overall offense this year than last, and last year the Sox finished behind only the Yankees in runs scored in the American League.

The rotation is less formidable though, like the Yankees’ rotation, it certainly looks nice at the top with Jon Lester figuring to, once again, be among the elite in the league and with Clay Buchholz poised to build on an impressive 2010. Beyond that are three guys looking to regain past form in Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Diasuke Matsuzaka. I’m less optimistic about Dice-K than I am Lackey and Beckett, but it seems silly to me to assume that all three of these guys are toast. Figure at least one and probably two of them bouncing back. Also figure that if the back end of the Red Sox’ rotation does come through, its upside is considerably higher than the potential upside of the back end of the Yankees’ rotation.

Finally, the bullpen, where the addition of Bobby Jenks and the maturation of Daniel Bard will complement the maligned yet still highly effective Jonathan Papelbon to make the final three innings of any game fairly miserable for Red Sox opponents most nights. And don’t sleep on Dan Wheeler who — at least judging by superficial bullpen depth charts — is one of the better fourth options out of the pen in all of baseball.

Where does that leave us? I’ll get a little more reflective about their chances below in the “So how are the going to do” section, but for now I’m going to give a guarded “yes” in response to that question. I think the Red Sox are the best team in baseball in 2011.

So what else is going on?

• Jacoby Ellsbury has been raking this spring. I don’t spend too much time mucking about the Boston press, but the fact that he could add something major to the Red Sox lineup seems like one of the more underreported stories of the spring. If Ellsbury shines this year, that guarded “yes” above turns much more emphatic. Same goes for J.D. Drew who, unlike the vast majority of baseball fans, I am not inclined to sleep on. He’s good. He’s always been good and at times he’s been great. He could still turn in an All-Star caliber season, even if no one is all too eager to acknowledge it as such when it goes down.
• How much rope does Marco Scutaro have? He toughed his way through injuries and ineffectiveness last year to play in 150 games, but how much of Terry Francona’s loyalty was based on true confidence in Scutaro’s skills and how much was based on the fact that, with Dustin Pedroia gone, he could use both Scutaro and Jed Lowrie in the lineup? If Scutaro struggles again out of the gate, will Lowrie get a chance to build on a promising 2010?
• I have yet to talk to anyone — not a single person — who knows a thing about about baseball who believes that Jarrod Saltalamacchia is going to last the whole year as the Red Sox’ starting catcher. It’s his age-26 season now, and no, he hasn’t managed to put it together anywhere he’s been. At least not compared to his promise as a Braves’ farm hand. Of course, that promise was based mostly on one great year in high-A ball in 2005 and his second go-around at AA in 2007. If Saltalamacchia fails he won’t be the first former Braves prospect to bite the dust once he reached the majors. I’m kind of rooting for him because of where he came from, but this is probably his last shot at being a starting catcher in the majors, wouldn’t you agree?
• I have no personal interest in David Ortiz‘ performance, but I really would like to see him hit well in April and May just so we can avoid a third straight year of questions about the guy and testy responses from Ortiz himself. There’s nothing more tiring than “Is Big Papi done?” talk.

So how are they going to do?

It’s easy to look at Gonzalez and Crawford, add in the Fenway Park effect that people tend to overstate when a big new bat comes to town and to crown the Red Sox AL East champs right now, But let’s not get too crazy. I think that yes, on paper, the Red Sox are the best team in the division. Which, by definition, makes them the best team in baseball. But they’re not invincible. They face a substantially similar rotation problem as the Yankees do and their offenses profile pretty similarly as well.  The Red Sox are not kings only temporarily lacking a crown. They are not an inevitability.

But I do think they’re a bit better as we kick off the season. That may mean diddly squat once the games actually start, but for now I’m tasked with picking the winners. And in the AL East I pick Boston.

Published: Friday, March 18, 2011, 3:02 PM     Updated: Friday, March 18, 2011, 3:34 PM

It was a struggle from the start, but Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz saw some good in that.

“You like to go through games where nobody gets past second base, but in the regular season, you’ll be seeing situations with second and third, less than two out. It’s good to go through those now,” Buchholz said after leaving in the fifth inning Friday against Detroit.

“I struggled with just about everything. I tried to make adjustments at the release point.

“Definitely not one of my best, but facing adversity with runners on, that’s always good (experience).”

For all his command issues, Buchholz allowed only one run in four-plus innings. He was also charged with two unearned runs in the fifth, when the Tigers scofed four unearned runs for a 5-1 lead.

They were the firsr runs allowed this spring by Buchholz, who has made four appearances with three starts for a total of 13 innings.

He threw 41 of his 76 pitches for strikes, walking two with one strikeout.

He would like to get up to about 90 pitches by the end of spring.

“Getting the release point down, and commanding your pitches, that’s number one in spring training. I have a couple of starts left to fix those things,” Buchholz said.

“I was jumping (in his delivery) a bit. Certain games, you’ll go through that.”

Buchholz was a bit wild in his bullpen warmup.

“Some of my best games came after I’d bee wild in the warmup, so you can’t take anything from that. I’s usually better by the second or third inning.”

That never really happened this time. Still, Buchholz was not that bad, only not up to the dazzling status that has become his expectation.

He will enter the season as the No. 3 starter. Last year, he was a conditional No. 5, fighting for a spot that seemed open only because Daisuke Matsuzaka was rehabbing from an injury.

He certainly does not look at his spot with disapproval, even though he has been widely considered Boston’s second best pitcher behind Jon Lester.

“Last year, I was No. 5 and I wound up facing CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander. It doesn’t really matter,” Buchholz said.

Buchholz was visited by pitching coach Curt Young at one point to see if he had a blister. He did not.

The Tigers lineup did not include former Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez, who played against Boston when the teams met at Lakeland Tuesday.

Down the road from City of Palms Park Friday, reliever Bobby Jenks also got in some work at the Red Sox minor league complex. Jenks pitched two scoreless innings against Tampa Bay’s Double A prospects, allowing two hits with two strikeouts and no walks..

Unscored upon this spring, Jenks threw 20 of his 26 pitches for strikes.

Published: Friday, March 18, 2011, 3:02 PM     Updated: Friday, March 18, 2011, 3:34 PM

It was a struggle from the start, but Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz saw some good in that.

“You like to go through games where nobody gets past second base, but in the regular season, you’ll be seeing situations with second and third, less than two out. It’s good to go through those now,” Buchholz said after leaving in the fifth inning Friday against Detroit.

“I struggled with just about everything. I tried to make adjustments at the release point.

“Definitely not one of my best, but facing adversity with runners on, that’s always good (experience).”

For all his command issues, Buchholz allowed only one run in four-plus innings. He was also charged with two unearned runs in the fifth, when the Tigers scofed four unearned runs for a 5-1 lead.

They were the firsr runs allowed this spring by Buchholz, who has made four appearances with three starts for a total of 13 innings.

He threw 41 of his 76 pitches for strikes, walking two with one strikeout.

He would like to get up to about 90 pitches by the end of spring.

“Getting the release point down, and commanding your pitches, that’s number one in spring training. I have a couple of starts left to fix those things,” Buchholz said.

“I was jumping (in his delivery) a bit. Certain games, you’ll go through that.”

Buchholz was a bit wild in his bullpen warmup.

“Some of my best games came after I’d bee wild in the warmup, so you can’t take anything from that. I’s usually better by the second or third inning.”

That never really happened this time. Still, Buchholz was not that bad, only not up to the dazzling status that has become his expectation.

He will enter the season as the No. 3 starter. Last year, he was a conditional No. 5, fighting for a spot that seemed open only because Daisuke Matsuzaka was rehabbing from an injury.

He certainly does not look at his spot with disapproval, even though he has been widely considered Boston’s second best pitcher behind Jon Lester.

“Last year, I was No. 5 and I wound up facing CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander. It doesn’t really matter,” Buchholz said.

Buchholz was visited by pitching coach Curt Young at one point to see if he had a blister. He did not.

The Tigers lineup did not include former Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez, who played against Boston when the teams met at Lakeland Tuesday.

Down the road from City of Palms Park Friday, reliever Bobby Jenks also got in some work at the Red Sox minor league complex. Jenks pitched two scoreless innings against Tampa Bay’s Double A prospects, allowing two hits with two strikeouts and no walks..

Unscored upon this spring, Jenks threw 20 of his 26 pitches for strikes.

LAKELAND, Fla. — Daisuke Matsuzaka said his pitching coach, Curt Young, “advised” him to throw more strikes Tuesday. Well, he got the memo.

Dice-K rescued his spring from the Grapefruit League crisis watch with five two-hit, five-whiff, one-walk shutout innings Tuesday, against the Tigers’ “A” lineup. And afterward, his catcher, Jason Varitek, said it all started with the fact that he was able to locate home plate on his radar screen.

“He was able to establish himself today,” Varitek said after the Red Sox’s 2-1 win over Detroit in 10 innings. “He had a good mix. And it started with location first. And we were able to do different things after that. He was good today.”

This was Dice-K’s first start since adjusting his between-starts routine so that he wasn’t throwing long-toss and bullpen sessions on the same day. And he said afterward that this game went so well, “I want to continue with this [before] my next outing.”

But manager Terry Francona downplayed suggestions that the change in routine had a big impact in this start.

“I just think he pitched real well,” Francona said. “I think long-term, the change in routine will really help, as far as just keeping arm strength. I don’t know that that’s going to help him throw strikes. I just think it was a mindset of pounding the strike zone. And he did a really good job today.”

Matsuzaka entered this game with an 11.42 ERA and 17 baserunners allowed (12 hits, 5 walks) in 8 2/3 innings over three starts. But he was sharp enough to zip through 1-2-3 innings in three of his five innings Tuesday.

He allowed a ground-ball single to Victor Martinez in the second but escaped that inning easily. And his only trouble came in the fourth, when Magglio Ordonez singled with one out. Martinez then worked a tough two-out walk and a potential three-run Jhonny Peralta homer curled just foul. Jacoby Ellsbury also helped Matsuzaka out by running down a rocket to deep center by Miguel Cabrera. But Dice-K bounced back to get Peralta to tap an inning-ending ground ball to second. And after that, he never allowed another baserunner.

He threw nearly all fastballs over the first three innings, touching 93 mph on the gun, then mixed in the rest of his repertoire in his last turn through the order.

“He didn’t throw a breaking ball ’til like the third or fourth inning,” Varitek said. “But as that game went on, he got a good feel for his breaking ball, better feel of his cutter, started locating his fastball, threw a couple of good changeups in that last inning. I think it was probably a feel-good [day] for him. You’ve got to feel good when the ball comes out of your hand like that.”

In fact, though, it wasn’t just Dice-K who needed that feel-good day. It was all the people around him who badly needed to see a game like this.

“He’s one of our pitchers,” Varitek said. “And we want him to succeed. To see him go out there and the game’s clean, the game’s moving along, I mean, everybody needs nuggets once in a while. And that was a good nugget for him today.”

Jayson Stark is a senior baseball writer for ESPN.com.

Published: Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 5:33 PM     Updated: Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 7:11 PM

LAKELAND, Fla. – The captain still gets huge cheers from the fans, but Jason Varitek is more than living history for the Red Sox.

“Stamina-wise, I’m not there yet. But I’ll get there,” the Boston catcher said Tuesday after playing six innings in a 2-1, 10-inning victory over the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium.

“Game-wise, I’m adjusting to the changes that come with age. That takes a little time.”

Varitek is hitting .222 in 18 at-bats after going 0 for 3 Tuesday. It is his handling of the pitchers as a backup to Jarrod Saltalamacchia that will define Varitek’s role in his 14th season.

He helped Daisuke Matsuzaka get back on track Tuesday. He also caught reliever Matt Albers for a scoreless inning.

Albers gave up a home run to Miguel Cabrera, the leadoff man in the seventh, when Paul Hoover was catching. It was telling that Varitek would not analyze Albers’ work yet.

“It’s the first time I’ve caught him. You have to get to know the pitchers, and more importantly, how the hitters react to the pitchers,” he said.

Varitek turns 39 in April. A backup for the first time last year, he formed a bond with starter Victor Martinez, who signed with Detroit in the offseason.

Martinez praised Varitek Tuesday for the veteran’s help and wisdom.

“That means a lot to me. Victor was not just a teammate, he became a friend,” Varitek said.

“Those are the things you take with you when you’re done with this game.”