Sidelined for now...In the less happy news, Coco Crisp will have the opportunity to plan out his new reality show a bit more over the next week or so: the centerfielder, who’s started to win the hearts and minds of RSN with his bat, speed and a few excellent catches gave himself a non-displaced fracture in his left index finger in a botched slide into third while caught stealing against the Orioles on Saturday. He’ll be out for ten days with a splint on his finger and then reevaluated to see if he’s ready to play. Another point in Crisp’s favor: he didn’t want medical attention for the sore finger and said he could have played yesterday, pain and all. Perhaps we have another Dirt Dog in the making?
Losing Crisp for ten days or more is bad because he’s been hot with the bat and in the field, but it’s a lot better than it could be: we have the hero of Canada/US WBC game, Adam Stern, to take his place. Stern, who’s plenty speedy and went two for five with two RBI yesterday will hopefully continue to solidify his place on Sox teams of the future before heading back to Pawtucket when Crisp comes back.
Speaking of the future, if this rumor pans out in favor of Boston, we might finally be able to declare the AL East – if not the whole post-season – a lock for the first time in eleven years. A rotation sporting a healthy Schilling, Beckett and Dontrelle Willis with Wakefield and either Wells or Clement to mix it up would be disgustingly good – certainly worth the price of dealing Jon Lester to Florida (see The Hanley Ramirez Corollary) – and a great challenge to the pitching juggernaut the Other Sox have set up in Chicago. I have a feeling that the D-Train action won’t go down until closer to the trading deadline, but with the Marlins continuing to dump salary to afford a move, I think it’s only a matter of time.
Tomorrow afternoon, Beckett opens up the first home stand of the year against Josh Towers and the Blue Jays. So far, the Oracle has been right about both Beckett and Papelbon; let’s see if the magic continues. GO SOX!!!
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