The Boston Red Sox are worried about getting to First Aid instead of first base these days.
photo credit: Eric Kilby
Another One Bites The Dust: Jason Varitek suffered a broken foot on Wednesday, giving the injury-riddled Red Sox yet another player on the disabled list.
There probably has been a team that has suffered more injuries than the BoSox this season, but none come to mind of late. I couldn’t believe it this morning when I read that catcher Jason Varitek broke his foot on Wednesday night—just one day after first-string catcher Victor Martinez went on the disabled list. Varitek will be out for six weeks, and the Sox will have to muddle along with journeymen Kevin Cash and Gustavo Molina until at least after the All-Stat Break.
On top of that, middle reliever Manny Delcarmen was placed on the DL yesterday with a tight forearm.
Where will it end? The Sox now have ten players on the disabled list—five of them since June 24. Mike Lowell and Dustin Pedroia are the other recent additions to the hurt parade, but it’s been a problem all year. Dynamic leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury’s rib problems have dogged him all season, and rotation workhorse Josh Beckett has been a non-factor all year between poor performance and injuries. Mike Cameron is showing his age with injuries, and J.D. Drew always seems to have something go wrong each year. Throw in Clay Buchholz’s recent hamstring injury while running the bases, and it’s just been an incredible series of developments.
And yet the Sox continue to plug in guys and keep winning. Darnell McDonald and Daniel Nava have been plucked from obscurity and done fairly well in the outfield, and Tim Wakefield has been pretty good in his last four starts. Could Kevin Cash come in and hit a few home runs over the next week? I wouldn’t bet against it, given how the Sox seem to keep shrugging off their problems and keep in hot pursuit of the Yankees.
If Boston does land a playoff spot after all of this, Terry Francona will definitely merit consideration for Manager of the Year. The Yankees may well win the division, but would they be doing as well as have they so far without, say, C. C. Sabathia, Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, and Jorge Posada for long stretches?
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