report date for red sox pitchers and catchers is today ... first scheduled workout is saturday ... "scheduled" only because a bunch of the guys who will make up what is expected to be a very talented and deep pitching staff have been in fort meyers for up to 2 weeks now ... early reporters include

tim wakefield <> at 43 years old, the ageless knuckleballer is old enough to be the father of most of these pitchers ... what will wake's role be on a staff stacked with young armed starting pitchers

josh beckett <> can josh avoid the injuries that have hampered him the last 2 years ... will he pitch like he's in a contract year ... or will he pitch like the contract year is in his head

jon lester <> the stud of this staff ... now that roy halliday has gone to the phillies to challenge "the freak" for nl cy ... this should be the year lester pitches like a cy young contender

clay buchholz <> reported to have added 15 lbs to his wiry frame ... marriage and texas home cooking will do that ... what will buck's role be if wakefield is the 5th starter ... will he even be on the red sox roster ... come opening day, most likely ... at the trading deadline, oh so many things can happen between now and then

daisuke matsuzaka <> after a winter of working out at "athletes performance institute" ... dice-k arrived in florida with a strained back from overwork ... after the conditioning and injury fail that was matsuzaka's 2009 season ... 2010 has the feel of a breakout year for the former doughboy

jonathan papelbon <> paps needs to rediscover his splitter and/or change-up ... pitches that helped make him unhitable in '06 and '07 ... he will not survive another season in the al east as a fastball only closer

daniel bard <> the north carolina kid with 100+ mph heat ... on opening day, bard's responsibility will be the 8th inning ... but if papelbon falters, daniel's already got a big chunk of red sox nation behind him

hideki okajima, manny delcarmen and boof bonser are other early arrivals in fort meyers ... welcome back to our boys of summer