How will Jonathan Papelbon come back from the ALDS Game 3 meltdown?
Perhaps the pain of that moment will drive Papelbon back to the level he was at in 2007 and large portions of ’08, when he was nearly untouchable. Sure, Papelbon’s overall numbers were impressive last season, but it was far more of a labor than in other years. His control wasn’t the same and he had to get out of sticky rallies far too often. It finally bit him in that Game 3 against the Angels, when he couldn’t escape trouble. For whatever reason, Papelbon lost the feel for his splitter in 2009. If he can get that back, that would be key. He threw nothing but fastballs in the infamous Division Series outing. What will Lackey’s biggest challenge be in his first season? To block out the temptation to live up to his contract with every pitch. This type of mentality has caused free agents in big markets to struggle out of the gate many times before. If Lackey can somehow convince himself to just stay within himself and take a tunnel-vision approach, he should be fine. Mental toughness has
