By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff
FORT MYERS, Fla. —Let's empty out the notebook for you . . .
ߦ Vicente Padilla likes to throw a big looping curveball — an eephus pitch in baseball parlance — on occasion. He was working on it in the bullpen and Bobby Valentine asked him about it.
“He’s got a plan and he’s a pretty veteran guy,” the manager said. “He says it’s going to be part of his arsenal. Possibly when men on base, too, which is my concern. But he says he can work it in.”
Bill Lee sometimes threw an eephus pitch and did so in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series to Tony Perez. The Reds slugger hit a towering two-run home in the game the Sox lost, 4-3.
Somebody might want to run that by Padilla, who is one of the many candidates to become the fifth starter. Nick tried to talk to the notoriously surly Padilla and he refused to answer any questions.
ߦ Righthander Stolmy Pimentel, who was 6-13 with a 6.79 earned run average in the minors last season, strained a lat muscle on Monday and will be “out of action for a while” according to Valentine. … Righthander Aaron Cook, who is coming back from a shoulder injury, convinced the coaches and trainers he does not need to be brought along slowly.
ߦ Clay Buchholz, who once tried mightily to gain weight, actually trimmed down to 185 pounds this winter. That’s fine with Valentine. “He looks like a lean, mean, fighting machine," the manager said.
Yes, Valentine quoted Dewey Oxberger from "Stripes."
ߦ The Sox made a few roster moves. Righthanders John Lackey and Bobby Jenks were placed on the 60-day disabled list. That allowed newly acquired Chris Carpenter and lefthander Rich Hill to be added to the 40-man roster. Hill is recovering from Tommy John surgery and came to camp on a minor-league contract. He had the option of becoming a free agent if not placed on the major league roster during spring training.
That's it for today.