Papelbon begins painting -- with broader strokes

You think perhaps the manager, the pitching coach, the owner, the general manager, the rest of the team, and the fans weren't just a little bit curious to see what Papelbon would have to offer against Howard, who had smashed a long double off starter Tim Wakefield in the first?

So let the record show that Papelbon won the battle, fanning Howard with a proverbial high hard one, a pitch that had all kinds of life. Early, middle, and, yes, as they say around the batting cages, late life.

That's the Jonathan Papelbon everyone hopes to see.

"Actually, that was very exciting," said Sox manager Terry Francona, referring more to the totality of Papelbon's two-inning, four-strikeout stint than the Howard at-bat. "That's the fastball we've come to know and appreciate."

"He's a great guy," Papelbon said of Howard, his vanquished foe. "We've been friends for the last couple of years. He's great for baseball. It's always fun to have a battle like that."

Absent Daisuke Matsuzaka, this would have been the No. 1 story of any normal training camp. A sensational rookie closer is making the switch to starter on a team that is now holding daily auditions to replace him in the pen. There is no way to exaggerate just how good Papelbon was in his first full season in the bigs. He gave up 40 hits in 68 1/3 innings. He had an ERA of 0.92. He converted his first 20 save opportunities, a rookie record. He was named to the American League All-Star team.

And he was shut down with a shoulder problem on Sept. 1.

Over the winter, the decree came down from on high. According to general manager Theo Epstein, the Red Sox' medical people determined that the best way to ensure the long-term health of Papelbon's valuable right shoulder is for him to have the regular routine of a starter rather than the more unstructured one of a closer.

Is this going to bother Papelbon? No.

"I just feel I'm better as a starter," he said. "The reason why this team drafted me in '04 was to be a starter. I'm going to take this opportunity and run with it."