If only Lewis had shown bunt, then swung away, perhaps he might have advanced the runners. Or, at worst, caused Freese to back up a few steps.
Which explains why, on a sunny February morning during their first official workout of the new season, Red Sox pitchers were working on slashing at pitches in bunt situations.
Unconventional? You bet. But that’s the kind of thinking Valentine brings to the Red Sox.
“I think these guys want to be the world champions,’’ he said. “I just thought if they can work on a fundamental, a technique, now, of bunting and slashing, they can already have a foundation of what they might be asked to do.’’
The Red Sox pitchers will pick up a bat only a few times this spring. The larger point Valentine wanted to make was the need to be sound in all aspects of the game.
“He cares about the little things that can help you win the game,’’ righthander Clay Buchholz said. “We were pretty busy out there.’’
Valentine broke up the pitchers into groups, which meant less standing around and more repetitions. The groups also moved quickly from field to field, not quite at a full sprint but at a brisk pace.
Valentine was on the move himself, jogging from field to field to monitor the drills and occasionally offer advice. He seemed to take notice of everything.
“Just getting to know people,’’ he said. “There’s something different going on at every field, it’s a different fundamental. So we’re jotting down strengths and weakness, figuring out how we have to continue the workouts. I like to see guys.’’
In previous seasons, the Red Sox limited the number of throws the pitchers made during defensive drills out of fear of injury. Instead of throwing the ball, the pitchers would pretend to. Pitchers who were throwing in the bullpen that day also did fewer drills than the others.
Those ideas have been scrapped. All of the pitchers were throwing the ball during the drills as coaches recorded them with small digital video cameras. The idea behind that, Valentine explained, is to get a better sense of timing.
