With just over a week to go in spring training, manager Terry Francona and Jonathan Papelbon came together following Boston’s 4-4 tie with Philadelphia Thursday afternoon, in which he threw three innings of relief and allowed one run on two hits while striking out three, and announced that the third-year player will return to close games for the Red Sox this season, the second year in a row that the young right-hander will be expected to take the ball with a late-inning lead. The announcement came as a surprise for many who had expected him to join the starting rotation this season due to concerns after a late-season injury forced the Red Sox to shut him down in early September of last year. However, with no clear choice among the candidates that were in contention for the job this spring, including Joel Pineiro, Brendan Donnelly, and Julian Tavarez, among others, Papelbon apparently approached Francona earlier this week and told him that he willing to take on the role again this season, and the sudden move appears to have finally answered a burning question that has haunted the team all winter and for much of the spring.

Drafted by Boston in 2003, Papelbon drew comparisons to a young Roger Clemens and the team eyed him as the future of the club’s rotation. However, when former closer Keith Foukle failed to impress Red Sox coaches last spring as he attempted to make a comeback from an injury-plagued 2005 campaign, Papelbon was named the team’s closer to begin his first full season in the majors and recorded his first save on 05 April at Texas. By the end of the first month of the season, he had set a major league record for April with ten saves in ten chances and saved his first 20 games while posting an ERA of just 0.21. With 26 saves in 29 chances before the All-Star break, he was selected to represent the American League at the 2006 All-Star game in Pittsburgh, and recorded another nine saves before a shoulder subluxation sidelined him from early September until the end of the season. Even so, his 2006 season was one of the most dominant ever for a rookie pitcher. He posted a WHIP of 0.84, struck out 75 batters in 68 innings, and held opposing batters to a measly .167 batting average.

As had been the case before last season, Boston had every intention to insert him into the starting rotation this year, and the biggest reason in the early going was that the team wanted to avoid putting too much stress on Papelbon’s young shoulder, wanting instead to give him the knowledge that he would be in a set routine of pitching every fifth game. With that changed, the door has now opened for Tavarez, who had openly made his case for a starting job in February after pitchers and catchers reported to Fort Myers, to become the fifth starter behind a rotation that includes veterans Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, and Josh Beckett, as well as newcomer Daisuke Matsuzaka. Tavarez, who spent most of last season as a middle reliever, made six starts in September and went 3-0 with a 4.01 ERA, including a complete-game effort against the Toronto Blue Jays on 22 September in which he threw 99 pitchers and allowed just one run on seven hits and a walk.