Pre-season baseball writing is a funny thing. It is about what was as a means to gauge what will be. And there is essentially six weeks of the stuff. Stuff like this from the Boston Herald:

After going 9-1 with a 3.33 ERA during the first three months, Clement went a dismal 4-5 with a 6.05 ERA the rest of the season. He then set the Sox on their way to a stunning sweep out of the first round of the playoffs by turning in one of the franchise’s worst postseason starts in Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox. The right-hander surrendered eight runs in 3 1/3 innings in a humbling, 14-2 thrashing at U.S. Cellular Field. Clement became the first Sox pitcher to surrender at least five runs in the first inning since Smoky Joe Wood in Game 7 (of eight) of the 1912 World Series. It was hardly the lasting impression Clement wanted to leave with a team seemingly losing confidence in him.

Don't get me wrong. I hope Clement pulls it out, especially as that turn in fortunes was due to him getting hit with a ball back to the head. But the Smokey Joe Wood reference is both gold and not depending on your tolerance for being that wee bit jaded/cynical/ironic. The sort of things people reach for when the league doesn't even start up next month.