Foulke Receiving "Injections" In His Knees

The Globe's Nick Cafardo reports that Keith Foulke has been getting "injections" in his knees for the past two weeks.

According to Foulke's agent, Dan Horwitz, they are not cortisone shots. Cafardo reports that Foulke threw off flat ground for about 10 minutes today and showed decent velocity. (There has been no word when Foulke will face live hitters, either in batting practice or a game.)

Curt Schilling threw 22 pitches this afternoon to three minor league hitters. Schilling will throw 30-35 pitches in his first spring start on Friday against Boston College.

Rookie Dustin Pedroia said Josh Beckett showed some "pretty filthy" stuff on Sunday. "He's telling us where it's going and it was still tough to hit. He looks like he's in midseason form." ... Terry Francona: "It's very obvious [Beckett] really worked hard this winter. He came into camp very well prepared and ready to go. He's not playing catch-up."

Gordon Edes has a nice piece on Willie Harris, who is determined to stick as an extra infielder:

I'm going to make the club -- I'm on a mission. ... We really don't have any spots open. Coco is in center, Loretta's at second, so there's nowhere to play every day. I just want to come in and show these guys if you need me, I'm here. ... I want to be recognized as an old-school ballplayer. I know we're in a new era, but go hard all the time, run the bases regardless of where the ball is, that's old-school baseball.

Another player fighting for a bench spot is outfielder Dustan Mohr. ... Two articles on Manny Delcarmen. ... Tony Massarotti went to the Yankees' camp and talked with Mike Myers and Johnny Damon. ... Having lost starter Brian Lawrence until August, Jeff Horrigan writes that the Nationals might be willing to trade for either Matt Clement or Bronson Arroyo (first baseman Nick Johnson and outfielder Ryan Church are mentioned).

Tony Graffanino has been told that the Red Sox will make a strong effort to trade him to a team that will allow him to play every day. "They have to do what's best for the ballclub, but [Theo] also said if he could get me into a situation where I could play second base, he'd try to do that for me. He said that there were teams that were interested. It's going to be sad if I leave because I've loved every second of this ..."

Chris Snow notes that Dustin Pedroia is #77 on Baseball America's list of Top 100 prospects for 2006, while Baseball Prospectus ranks him at #11.

Why the difference? Will Carroll of BP:

Pedroia's long been a favorite of ours. ... We had him at 49 last year, and he exceeded our expectations. Since we focus more on who we think will have a valuable major league career, someone like Pedroia, who has a higher likelihood of getting and holding a starting job, has an advantage over someone like [Lastings] Milledge, who may have a higher upside but also has a riskier profile. Pedroia combines great baseball skills with a great projection. As for Papelbon [#37], we view pitchers as so risky that only the most elite make our list.

Baseball America also has Jon Lester at #22 and Craig Hansen at #54.