According to a report on ESPN.com, Red Sox minor leaguer and top prospect Ryan Westmoreland faces the possibility that his upcoming brain surgery could cause neurological damage and even be life-threatening.

According to the report, the cavernous malformation that the team announced on Saturday night is located on Westmoreland’s brain stem and has begun bleeding. The malformations — which are not cancers or tumors, but a cluster of abnormal blood vessels — can cause headaches, dizziness, seizures and hemorrhages. According to ESPN, Westmoreland was suffering from headaches and numbness when he left camp on March 4 before being diagnosed on March 5.

He will underdog surgery on Tuesday in Arizona with one of the leading doctors in the field, and his prognosis remains unknown.

The Red Sox released a comment from right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, who was scratched from a bullpen session yesterday with a stiff neck.

“I feel a little bit better than yesterday, but I discussed things with the coaches and trainers and the decision was to give it one more day,” he said. “Beyond tomorrow, we are going to see, based on how I feel tomorrow.”

Red Sox starter Josh Beckett has been scratched today because of illness. The team has no further information at this time.

Minor league right-hander Ryne Miller will start in his place.

Beckett was in the clubhouse this morning and ate breakfast with teammates.

A group of farmhands packed their bags for the player development complex this morning after being sent to the minor league camp. Among them were top prospect Casey Kelly, who did nothing to disappoint during his stint with the big league team, shortstop Jose Iglesias (ditto) and catcher Luis Exposito, who demonstrated some tremendous raw power.

Others shipping out for the trip up Edison Avenue were pitchers Robert Manuel, Kyle Weiland, Randor Bierd, Kris Johnson, and Adam Mills, and position players Lars Anderson, Ryan Kalish, Yamaico Navarro, and Che-Hsuan Lin.

The Red Sox clubhouse was surprisingly spry, considering the lost hour of sleep to daylight savings. Here on the west coast of Florida, it was still pretty much pitch black at 7 a.m., which was a touch disconcerting.

The Red Sox visit the Twins at Lee County this afternoon at 1:05. Josh Beckett will start for the Sox, opposed by Kevin Slowey. Catcher Jason Varitek is in the lineup for the first time in over a week. He has been tending to his ill father.

UPDATE (10:32 a.m.): Francona said that Iglesias was disappointed in the news, even though it was a foregone conclusion that he’d be opening the year in the minors. Francona was asked if Iglesias thought he had a chance to make the team.

“I think that’s his mentality,” he said. “He knew he wasn’t going to make the team, but I think there’s a way guys get good. I understand it. I remember when I was a No. 1 pick with the Expos. I went and pinch hit and when I came back to the dugout Dick Williams told me thanks and go to Daytona. It kind of knocks the wind out of you.”

Outfielder Ryan Westmoreland, the Red Sox’ No.1 prospect, will undergo brain surgery in Phoenix on Tuesday and has been placed on medical leave.

He has been diagnosed with a cavernous malformation in his brain and has taken medical leave from minor league camp to seek treatment., general manager Theo Epstein announced.

“The entire Red Sox organization stands in support of Ryan as he courageously deals with this issue,” Epstein said in a statement released by the team.  “Ryan is a remarkable kid and a talented player, and we understand that many will be concerned about his health.  He is getting the best medical attention the world has to offer, and we will have more information soon.  Until then — out of respect for Ryan’s privacy and at the request of the Westmoreland family — we will not have any further comment.”

Westmoreland, 19, left minor league camp on Thursday, March 4th.   He was diagnosed on Friday, March 5th at Massachusetts General Hospital, had consultations with three leading experts in the field, and on Tuesday will have surgery with Dr. Robert Spetzler of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, according to the team.

According to the Toronto Brain Vascular Malformation Study Group, cavernous malformations are not a cancer, so they do not spread. They are a cluster of abnormally dilated blood vessels. They resemble raspberries and are typically less than three centimeters in size.

Symptoms often include headaches and sometimes seizures, with the most serious resulting in a hemorrhage. It’s unclear what symptoms, if any, Westmoreland was experiencing.

Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka did not speak to reporters before leaving the park today, but he did issue the following statement about his sore neck.

“I didn’t throw live BP today due to stiffness in my neck. As for my schedule going forward, I’m going to see how I feel tomorrow, meet with the coaching staff and decide at that point.”

Matsuzka was already a longshot to make the opening day roster, but now the chances of him taking the hill the first time the Red Sox need a fifth starter in mid-April could be in doubt, too. Red Sox manager Terry Francona didn’t sound terribly concerned about either development this afternoon, saying the focus right now is getting Matsuzaka healthy enough to throw.

“We’ll kind of go day to day on it,” Francona said. “I don’t think it’s anything besides a stiff neck.”

Red Sox slugger David Ortiz went 0 for 2 with a strikeout yesterday, dropping his spring average to .063. Normally one hit in 16 at-bats wouldn’t be much cause for concern in spring training, but Ortiz is under a microscope after his uncharacteristically tough 2009 season.

He struck out feebly against former teammate Javier Lopez and was asked by WBZ’s Jonny Miller if he’s worried at all about his spring thus far.

“Why should I?” Ortiz said.

“One-for-sixteen, one-for-seventeen, something like that,” Miller replied.

“You know what, Jonny?” Ortiz said.
“This is my 14th spring training. I’ve never seen my spring training numbers on the back of my baseball card. Have you? Then I don’t have to worry about this (expletive). I’m getting ready for the season and that’s it.”

FORT MYERS — Just five pitches into warm-ups, Daisuke Matsuzaka walked off the mound here behind the main stadium complaining of neck stiffness. Matsuzaka had been scheduled to throw his first mound session against live hitters of the spring. The right-hander’s progress this spring had already been delayed because of a back strain but with this morning’s scratch, he will be pushed back even more. Matsuzaka’s availability to be ready by the start of the season was already suspect due to the back problem. With no timetable available yet on when Matsuzaka will be able to resume throwing, the odds of him being ready by the season’s start grew considerably longer.

Manager Terry Francona said this morning, before Matsuzaka’s neck got stiff, that he was tentatively scheduled to appear in his first spring training game this Wednesday here against the Mets.

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FORT MYERS — This will get your pulse racing: The Pirates boast two ex-Red Sox in their lineup today, SS Argenis Diaz and OF Brandon Moss and INF Adam LaRoche. Ex-Red Sox 1B Adam LaRoche’s brother, Andy, will play third base.

Pirates:

Young 2b

LaRoche  3B

Jones DH

Clement 1B

Milledge LF

Moss RF

Tabata CF

Jaramillo C

Diaz SS

Maholm starting

FORT MYERS — If you want to experience method-acting at its finest, check out Clay Buchholz’ Comedy Central bit from the “Tosh.0″ show. Somewhere, Lee Strasberg is smiling. And Robert DeNiro is feeling threatened.

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FORT MYERS — No rainouts today, the Florida weather is exactly as it should be: sunny and in the 70’s.

The media left the clubhouse a half hour earlier than usual so the players could be educated about the dangers that lurk around the periphery of their high-profile lifestyles: gambling, drugs, crime and other assorted vices, threats and temptations that should be avoided.

The lineup for this afternoon’s tilt against the Pirates could be a preview of the Opening Day lineup

Ellsbury LF

Pedroia 2B

Martinez C

Youkilis 1B

Ortiz DH

Drew RF

Beltre 3B

Cameron CF

Scutaro SS

Buchholz starting (around three innings)

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JUPITER, Fla. — About 20 minutes after the Red Sox’ bus completed its three-hour ride from Fort Myers, this afternoon’s game was called. Good grief. The Red Sox did use the Marlins’ batting cages to get some hitting in, with a few pitchers getting some throwing in as well.

“It’s better than doing nothing,” said manager Terry Francona.

Today’s scheduled starter, Clay Buchholz, will start tomorrow’s game at City of Palms, with a few relievers getting innings in a short “B” game to take place shortly after the game.

This game, sold-out by the Cardinals, will be made up here as a split-squad game on March 22.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will throw to live hitters for the first time tomorrow morning. Jason Varitek will likely make his first game appearance on Sunday, with Mike Lowell debuting on Monday.

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PORT ST. LUCIE — Tarp’s coming off. Next challenge: drain the lakes in not so shallow left, center and right.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Pouring. Tarp coming out after four full innings, Sox leading 3-0. Lackey went three innings, gave up three hits, the rest zeroes. 30 pitches, 17 strikes. Joe Nelson had a hitless fourth.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Marco Scutaro’s leadoff double set the tone, with the Red Sox jumping out to a 3-0 lead over the Mets and starter Mike Pelfrey in the top of the first inning.

John Lackey retired the side in order in the bottom of the first.

After Dustin Pedroia walked, Victor Martinez singled to load the bases. With no outs, David Ortiz whiffed on some inside cheese but J.D. Drew’s single up the middle knocked in the first run. Mike Cameron then hit a fly ball deep enough to center field for run No. 2, then Jeremy Hermida singled in Martinez for the third run. Drew might have done the Red Sox a favor by getting himself thrown out at third base on Hermida’s ball — although the skies have lightened a bit, the weather still looks iffy.

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Mike Cameron grimaced a little bit when he was asked if he had heard about Torii Hunter’s use of the word “impostors” to describe dark-skinned Hispanic players. Hunter has since clarified on his blog that he used the wrong word and that all he meant to say was that they are Latin American,  not Africa-American.Cameron, an African-American, said he knew Hunter and that he was going to chalk up the incident as a matter of choosing the wrong word.

“I don’t think he meant exactly in that capacity, he was probably being a little jovial with it but it’s serious when you do something like that,” said Cameron. “When it’s printed, it doesn’t look good and you kind of deal with a little bit a bad situation, like it is now.”

Still, said Cameron, the topic of the lack of African-American representation in the game is an important subject. It just needs to be handled delicately.

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