Today, the Boston Red Sox return to Fenway Park as defending World Series champions, opening the home portion of their schedule against the Detroit Tigers. With this impending clash of presumed American League titans (though both teams come into this series limping a bit), we needed some thoughts from the opposing side.

The latest edition of "Blogging With the Enemy" thus features a brief chat with Dan Lamothe, who writes Red Sox Monster for MassLive.com.  I also answered five of his questions about the Tigers, which you can read here.

BYB:  Has the trip to Japan had a major effect on the Red Sox so far, in your opinion?  Are they still trying to get their bearings or have they adjusted back to their regular routine now?  (And at what point does that stop becoming a topic of discussion?)

RSM:  Detroit fans will probably roll their eyes, but you can't argue that the circus that was the Red Sox' trip to Japan had no effect.  In fact, I'm like many other Sox fans in that I have already given them a free pass for the weekend debacle in Toronto, since two of the games were close and there's way more to that series than a simple, "Oh, they were tired."  (Like Frank Thomas all of sudden looking 25 again... did that really happen?)

With that said, I think the point for excuses has pretty much run its course.  Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester both had great starts last week, and since they were the two Sox to get starts in Tokyo, they'd figure to be the pitchers the most directly affected.  A return to Boston is well overdue, though, and if reliving the 2007 championship run doesn't help situational hitting and some of the other things that have hurt Boston so far... well, pass the salt, please.  I'll eat my oldest, gnarliest Red Sox hat.

BYB:  How do you see the Coco Crisp-Jacoby Ellsbury center field logjam eventually resolving itself?  Will the Red Sox eventually go with Ellsbury, regardless of how Crisp plays?  Or is trading Crisp just too much of an inevitability?

RSM:  The logjam isn't looking like much of a logjam at all, actually.  Barring a slump of bang-your-head-on-the-desk proportions, the job is Ellsbury's -- now, and hopefully for 10 more seasons.  Now, if only he can keep cooking with the same mojo he had over the weekend, when he hit his first home run of the season off Roy Halladay.

As for Crisp, he's already had a shot to make things difficult, since J.D. Drew already missed a handful of starts.  He's hitting .235, and he only has one good game to speak of with the bat (2 for 5 on April 2).  That's hardly making things difficult on Terry Francona.

BYB:  Coming into the season or looking at the games that have been played so far, what is your biggest concern about Boston's roster?  Could middle relief be a problem, or am I projecting my issues with the Tigers onto this question?

Coming into the season, my biggest worry was how the young starters, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, would fare.  That still holds true, although Lester has been somewhere between good and excellent so far.  The Sox also need Josh Beckett to be his usual filthy, ornery self on the mound.  Obviously, he's our Justin Verlander -- just a bit better and without the cartoony facial hair.

BYB:  What's the estimated time of arrival for Bartolo Colon to get the call up from Pawtucket?  Are there big hopes from Red Sox Nation or is any contribution from Colon going to be considered gravy?

Did you just use Bartolo Colon and gravy in the same breath?  If so, good job by you, sir.

In all seriousness, though, there are very few Sox fans who aren't somewhat excited about the possibilities, especially considering Colon's progress had been really good until yesterday.

Since the Sox can't count on Curt Schilling anymore and Lester and Buchholz are young enough where they will have restrictions imposed on their innings pitched this season, having a veteran on the cheap in camp with a huge upside can't be a bad thing.  Much like biscuits and gravy, actually.

BYB:  Since I mentioned middle relief earlier, what are the chances of sending that schoolgirl-attacking hawk after Jason Grilli while the Tigers visit Fenway Park this week?  Or do his age and lack of a Yankee-soundalike name protect him from this particular bird of prey?

RSM:  The Fenway Hawk cannot be stopped; you can only hope to contain him.  Jason Grilli, say your prayers.

Thanks to Dan for getting back to me on relatively short notice (due to my procrastination).  Much as we hope the Tigers pound the Red Sox over the next three games, I aspire to crush Dan in the Babes Love Baseball AAA fantasy league we're both competing in.  As with the Tigers so far, however, it's not looking good for me.