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Red Sox in Japan: Crisp available . . . sort of »
March 20, 2008
By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jon Lester just completed his last spring training start here at the Sox minor league complex. The left-hander worked five hitless innings in a intrasquad game against Double-A players and struck out eight. He threw 58 pitches during the game before finishing his work in the bullpen. He threw a total of 80 pitches, his highest this spring.
He will fly from here to Dallas to Japan on Friday and is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“I guess it served it purpose, more or less,” said Lester. “I was able to get my pitch count up, got the innings and got my work. I would have liked to have been on the plane with the team, but it’s alright. Now that I’ve got my pitch count up I don’t have to worry about anything. There are no limitations going into the season and I’m ready to go.”
As he leaves for Japan he’s right where he needs to be.
“As far as I know,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a normal spring training. . . I feel good, healthy and strong. Everything went without a hitch this spring.”
During Lester’s final spring tune up today, another left-hander showed some impressive stuff.
Red Sox first-round selection in last June’s draft, Nicholas Hagadone, was outstanding in the intrasquad game. The powerful southpaw reached 95 MPH on the radar gun and showed a nasty slider, complement by a devastating change-up.
“He looked good,” said Lester. “That’s the first time I’ve seen him. He’s young and still learning. He threw a lot of strikes, and whatever his out pitch was, it was effective and he got a lot of guys out on bad swings. He throws the ball hard and he’s left-handed, which always helps. He looked smooth, like he wasn’t trying to throw 100.”
If today's performance was any indication, Hagadone will be a phenomenal pitcher for the Red Sox.
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 3:41 PM | Permalink
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