Friday: Pedroia fouls a Jonathan Sanchez pitch off a bone of his foot and lands on the 15-day DL. Despite whatever positive spin you might be hearing, Lil' Shit is on crutches and cannot put pressure on his left foot. Don't expect him back until mid-August. Maybe even September. By then, Sox could very much be out of the playoff picture. Sox brass are going to rightfully baby this injury.
Saturday: Clay Buchholz comes up gimpy running from first to second base a few minutes after he hit a single. Initial reports on him are that it's not too bad, but expect a start or two skipped.
So, along with Navajo Jewish Lawyer (Ellsbury), Josh Beckett, Jeremy Hermida, a day-to-day Mike Cameron, a gimpy JD Drew, and now Mike Lowell (who went on the DL this week to make room for Daisuke coming off the DL), Pedroia's injury is the worst kind of blow to a team in the playoff hunt. As Bill Hall told reporters over the weekend, Pedroia is the second captain on this team for the offense. He is a leader and motivational player who leads by example, and a very tough replacement for the 2-hole, though he did hit in the 3 hole on Thursday in Colorado where he had a HUGE game going 5 for 5 with 3 home runs.
Pedroia, who saw NESN broadcaster Don Orsillo in the clubhouse in LA on Friday, was overheard in front of reporters saying to Orsillo "“How many times did you say ‘laser show’ last night? You should start calling it the ‘rocket blasting show.’ ’’
All you can do is hope there are some teams with talented veterans looking to unload some salary at the trade deadline. The Sox quickly dealt for a cheap option and picked up Eric Patterson from the Oakland A's. Patterson can play second and the outfield, so he gives them some defensive versatility. The big question mark is whether he can hit. His career stats point to a streaky hitter. For the time being, Bill Hall, Patterson and Angel Sanchez--who the team called up from Pawtucket as well--will be jumbled around.
I hope JD Drew can get back in there soon and get his bat going. Beltre, Ortiz, Youk and Martinez have been playing well, but it's going to take a full team effort. That means you too bullpen.
[Image by Lucky + 13 via Flickr cc 3.0]
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