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With injuries decimating the Sox lineup, Boston showed its positional depth and flexibility yesterday. Dustin Pedroia could get used to this whole cleanup hitter thing. The 5-9, 180 lb Pedroia went 4-4 with a walk in his first start in that role, moving himself into 1st place in the AL batting race. Pedey will fill the number 4 hole again today against Gavin Floyd.
In a last minute change, the Red Sox have pushed David Pauley out to the bullpen and called up Michael Bowden to make his Major League debut tonight against the Chicago White Sox. Just 21 years old, Bowden has made a rapid ascent this season, and finally joins his good friend Justin Masterson on the big league club. I expect him to give us 5 decent innings, and if he can hold them to three runs or less, I’ll be happy.
Oh no. Josh Beckett has been scratched from his start today, and will go see Dr. James “Tommy John” Andrews, the preeminent elbow specialist for pitchers. In his place, Daisuke Matsuzaka will start tonight against Javier Vazquez as the Sox open up against the Chicago White Sox. The last rotation spot will go to David Pauley for now.
For all of you who were fearing what this offense would look like without Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the month of August has been very comforting. Despite injuries to Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew, the Sox have hit .298/.383/.477 in August, their best month as a team. They’ve already scored 150 runs, their second-best monthly total of the year, and should easily pass May’s 154 runs. They’re walking as well as ever, and the strikeouts have stayed level. There really isn’t much to complain about, from a team perspective.
Some big awards at the Triple-A level today. 29-year old first baseman Jeff Bailey won the IL MVP award and 29-year old Charlie Zink won the IL Pitcher of the Year this week. Congrats to them both on great seasons.
J.D. Drew has been placed on the 15-day DL with a herniated disc in his back, a condition that can cause a great deal of pain, depending on how badly it has slipped. The Red Sox are in trade talks with the Braves that could bring veteran outfielder Mark Kotsay to Boston. The 32-year old Kotsay had been kind of terrible in 2007 and to begin 2008, but has had a big resurgence of late and is now hitting .289/.338/.418 in 318 AB for the Braves, very near his career numbers.
The Red Sox signed newly-released catcher David Ross to a minor league contract today, adding some needed catching depth behind Jason Varitek. I think the Sox are just picking him up as insurance, and we’ll see him on this roster come September for sure. There is no record that he’s good catching knuckleballs, so I’ll assume for now he isn’t replacing Kevin Cash on this roster yet. Despite his long drive yesterday, Cash is a lifetime .180 hitter and not considered a Major League starter. He should have a spot on this year’s team as long as Tim Wakefield is pitching every five days. As Ken Rosenthal notes, in order to be eligible for the playoffs, Ross has to be called up before the expansion deadline.
After another sub-three inning outing, the Red Sox finally decided to ship Clay Buchholz to Triple-A Pawtucket. Despite his great stuff, Buchholz has struggled with command, surrendering a lot of gopher balls since his latest callup. Okay Theo’s minions, time to stop trying to change the boy. Let him go back to pitching the way he’s used to, at least until the offseason.
All I can say is thank God for Jed Lowrie. Julio Lugo aggravated his injured quadriceps in warmups the other day at Camden Yards. Looks like Lowrie will continue to start at short, where he is hitting .313/.391/.485 since being recalled in mid-July. He has been a force in this lineup lately, with six multi-hit games in August.
