Following a last place finish in 2014 and an offseason overhaul, the Boston Red Sox are in a rush to get the 2015 campaign underway.
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According to the Boston Globe, 22 Red Sox players were on the field around 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday at the teams' spring training facility in Florida, a whole 10 days before the official report date.
"The thing that stands out are the number of guys who reported so early," Red Sox manager John Farrell told the publication. "In the many conversations with guys in the offseason, that's been in the language used. There's a strong anticipation for getting started."
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The Red Sox expected more players to join them on Thursday and the workouts on Wednesday were described as anything but casual.
It makes sense after Boston came into the 2014 campaign as the defending World Series champions, but then finished with a ghastly 71-91 record, putting them in last place in the AL East.
"We have guys coming from years in which they were overall frustrated or disappointed. The changes that [general manager Ben Cherington] has made to the roster are substantial," Farrell said. "We're looking forward to this team coming together."
Some of the changes include bringing in free agents such as third baseman Pablo Sandoval and shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who the team is expected to play in the outfield.
The team also added to its rotation by bringing in Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson.
For the Red Sox, the clear goal is to get back to the postseason after last year's lost season, and to show how serious they are about achieving it, they've shown up 10 days before they had to.
"We come into this camp with a lot of work to get done before Opening Day," Farrell said. "To be aggressive in our preparation and set an expectation that this is a team that is going to compete and contend deep into October."
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