February 25, 2006

Schilling Faces Live Hitters

Curt Schilling faced live hitters -- Tony Graffanino, Kevin Youkilis and Willie Harris -- on Saturday afternoon, and threw 63 pitches.

Gordon Edes reports: "The good news is that Schill, unlike last spring, wasn't stopping to check his ankle or fuss with his delivery, no stopping and starting. He worked a very efficient 16 minutes." ... Schilling: "It feels good. I felt strong. ... You get that first batting practice out of the way and you start answering questions."

Judging from Terry Francona's comments, Schilling will pitch Opening Day in Texas, and Tim Wakefield may be slotted as the #2 starter and Josh Beckett as #3, which will hopefully keep hitters a little off balance (if they happen to pitch in the same series, that is). Tito: "I have a pretty good idea of how I would like to see this end up. ... We've given it a lot of thought."

Mark Loretta will wear #3, in homage to Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who he called "one of the most underrated players in history".

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