Results tagged ‘ Jacoby Ellsbury ’
Red Sox getting into dangerous territory
The Red Sox arrived here in Anaheim tonight at the point in their season where they simply cannot fall any further back then they are in the standings if October is going to be any kind of realistic possibility.
Before even taking the field today, the Red Sox lost a half-game in the standings to both the Rays, who got a Matt Garza no-hitter against the Tigers and the Yankees, who notched a 3-2 win over Cleveland.
A loss tonight would drop the Sox nine games behind the Yankees in the American League East and six in back of the Rays in the Wild Card. In other words, they DESPERATELY need Clay Buchholz to out-duel Dan Haren in this one.
As for other news of the day:
One clear positive note was the return of Victor Martinez, who batted sixth . Another? Jacoby Ellsbury started his rehab in the Minors. Dustin Pedroia did some running before the game, and it didn’t go as well as he hoped. Still no word on exactly when Pedroia will return. A big part of it will be how his CT-scan goes in Boston on Friday.
But you have to wonder: Will the Red Sox still be within striking distance in the race(s) when they get all their big guns back?
At this hour, that is a very tough question to answer.
First of four in Seattle
We are underway at Safeco Field for the first of four games, and Ichiro Suzuki has already robbed David Ortiz of a home run. That happened in the first inning. Perhaps, though, it will put to rest the theory that Ortiz is somehow worn down from winning the Home Run Derby. He then lined an RBI single in his next at-bat.
On to some other matters of business.
* Jeremy Hermida is back on the roster, but probably won’t play until Saturday because the Mariners have lefties pitching the first two games.
* Tim Wakefield is back in the bullpen for the forseeable future with Josh Beckett making his return to the rotation tomorrow night.
* Victor Martinez is getting closer to a return to action. He caught Wakefield on the side today and will do the same thing for Clay Buchholz tomorrow.
* Jacoby Ellsbury has started taking BP on the field during his rehab in Fort Myers and could start playing Minor League games in within “four to five days” according to Red Sox manager Terry Francona.
All-Star Monday with a M*A*S*H update
The Red Sox, as is their annual custom, took up an entire corner of the room at the All-Star media Monday.
Some interesting nuggets.
It has been assumed that Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz would return to the rotation and pitch on Friday night at Fenway against the Rangers. That is no longer a safe assumption. Buchholz said he will pitch Monday, but it’s not certain to be in Boston.
A Minor League rehab assignment is possible, especially since lefty Felix Doubront, who filled in for Buchholz in his last start, is still on the roster. Pawtucket plays at Syracuse on Friday night, so that wouldn’t be a particularly long road trip.
“I’m ready to go,” said Buchholz. “I’ve gotten a whole lot better in the last couple of days, too. Definitely feeling ready to go. I don’t know where I’ll be pitching for sure on Friday but they definitely said I was pitching Friday.”
Asked about the possibility of the Minors, Buchholz said, “It could be. It’s three weeks off. It would sort of be hard to throw me right into the fire. I think I’m going to feel strong just throwing the couple of bullpens I’ve already gthrown. I feel good, I feel strong”
The original hope for catcher Victor Martinez is that he would be back shortly after the All-Star break. But the fractured tip of Martinez’s left thumb isn’t healing as quickly as originally hoped.
“As soon as the pain goes down, I’m going to at least be able to put my glove in there and be able to go out and play,” said Martinez. “Unfortunately I just can’t put my hand in the glove. That’s the thing. It’s painful. I tried. It’s tough.”
Dustin Pedroia hopes to take a positive step forward on Friday when he gets a follow-up CT-scan on his fractured left foot.
As for Jacoby Ellsbury, his agent Scott Boras wanted to make it clear that the outfielder was not trying to disassociate himself from the team when he trained at the Athletes Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz. over the last month.
“There’s a lot of people, certain journalists, who just don’t have the right facts,” Boras said. “The cooperation has been great with the organization. I spoke with Terry [Francona] four or five times and Theo [Epstein] many times. We’ve been on the same page throughout. These are decisions of Jacoby’s medical care and his physical therapy, all these thigns were made mutually. It’s been a very cooperative environment. Good communication with everybody and we knew what was going on and why and it was all by agreement.”
“I think Jacoby described the set of circumstances he was operating under and the information he was operating under. I think that accurately potrays what occurred and the key thing is that I’m just telling you, responsibly between Theo and myself and and Jacoby and Terry, it’s all been very fluid, it’s all been very understood. There’s been no question about what he should or shouldn’t do. The team in fact chose where Jacoby would train in Arizona. That was not anything we suggested. That was a group they’re comfortable with and Jacoby was comfortable with. It was a very cooperate effort.”
Ellsbury has different fracture
The Red Sox now know why Jacoby Ellsbury had recurring pain during his brief stint back from the disabled list. After an exam in California with the renowned Dr. Lewis Yocum, and a follow-up phone consultation with Red Sox medical director Thomas Gill, it was determined that Ellsbury suffered a different fracture in his left ribs. The injury was likely sustained on May 23, when Ellsbury made a diving catch in Philadelphia against Raul Ibanez in the bottom of the seventh.
The Red Sox issued the following joint statement just moments ago from Dr. Gill and Dr. Yocum.
“An MRI of Jacoby’s thoracic spine and posterior rib area, recommended by us jointly, revealed a non-displaced rib fracture and edema in the left posterior-axillary line. This fracture, which is in a different area than the initial fractures and which was not present on previous scans, is likely the result of a new injury which occurred when Jacoby dove and impacted the ground during his brief return to play. Jacoby will require several weeks of rest and physical therapy.”
Red Sox manager Terry Francona said that Ellsbury flew from California to Arizona and will work out at the Athletes Performance Institute for roughly the next two weeks, doing non-baseball activites. Though the Red Sox didn’t issue a time-table for his return, it seems unlikely that Ellsbury would return before the All-Star break, which starts on July 12.
Ellsbury initially injured his ribs on April 11 in a nasty collision with teammate Adrian Beltre. On that occasion, Ellsbury suffered a hairline fracture of four ribs. The outfielder has played in just nine games this season.
Ellsbury still ailing; more rest prescribed
We will get more information from Red Sox manager Terry Francona in a little bit, but Jacoby Ellsbury’s visit to the renowned Dr. Lewis Yocum in California revealed that the center fielder is still needs more rest for his ailing left ribs, which have been injured since that jarring collision with Adrian Beltre on April 11 in Kansas City.
In other news, David Ortiz has really struggled on this road trip, going 1-for-22 over the first six games. His average has gone from .273 to .242 in that span. And Dustin Pedroia just can’t get going at the plate. The second baseman is hitting .248, the lowest his average has been since April 9, when he was at .235.
The Red Sox will try to make it three out of four in Cleveland tonight between the red-hot Jon Lester.
Getting shallow again in the outfield?
Just when it looked like Mike Cameron was getting healthy again after his big day at the plate on Sunday, he experienced recurring soreness during Monday’s off-day and was not in tonight’s lineup.
Cameron was examined before tonight’s game by Red Sox medical director Dr. Thomas Gill. Hopefully we will have more information after the game.
With Jacoby Ellsbury back on the DL, the Sox can ill-afford to lose Cameron again.
Papi back home tonight — in three-hole
The combination of a short-handed Red Sox lineup tonight — no Ellsbury, no Drew, no Victor — has put David Ortiz back in his former home in the batting order, the three-hole. Ortiz didn’t know about the move until a flock of reporters informed him of it before the game.
Was he excited about it? “I’ll let you know after the game,” Ortiz chuckled.
During Ortiz’s slump of epic proportions early last season, manager Terry Francona took his slugger out of that spot, and this is the first time he’s been back there since May 24, 2009 against the Mets.
Ortiz has played 662 games and had 2,521 at-bats batting third, more than double his total of any other lineup slot. He has 177 of his 326 homers hitting third.
Meanwhile, a pretty big game for the Red Sox tonight if they can pull out a three-game sweep here against Garza and the Rays. Coming here 8 1/2 games back and leaving 5 1/2 back would be a significant leap.
Cameron in center — at least tonight
Mike Cameron will hit ninth for the Red Sox tonight in his first game back from the disabled list. He will also be in center field. However, it sounds like that is not going to be a common occurrence for the next few weeks.Jacoby Ellsbury — who is taking a rest tonight — will be the team’s primary center fielder, at least while Cameron recovers from a lower abdominal strain. Ellsbury’s interpretation of the move is that he will play center for “the duration of the season.”
This is an injury that could linger a little for Cameron all season long, so it would not be a surprise at all if left field be comes his primary position for the foreseeable future. And now we get word that Ellsbury had soreness in his left side before the game and Darnell McDonald — who was supposed to be designated for assignment to make room for Cameron — has resurfaced. Scott Atchison was designated for assignment to make room for Cameron. More on that later
Josh Beckett threw off flat ground earlier this afternoon and threw briefly off the mound. He might throw a full-blown side session on Friday. No word yet on if Beckett will be able to be activated as soon as he is eligible — on June 3 vs. Oakland.
Here is tonight’s lineup:
Scutaro SS
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Youkilis 1B
Ortiz DH
Beltre 3B
Hermida LF
Varitek C
Cameron CF
Lester SP
Back at Fenway, but not for long
The homestand is officially underway, but don’t get used to it. The Red Sox will be at Fenway for all of two games before venturing back on the road for a six-game road trip through Philly and Tampa Bay that starts on Friday.
A long night at Yankee Stadium — an hour rain delay and a four-hour game — became longer even still for the Red Sox when they had some flight issues coming home. What time did manager Terry Francona return to his residence?
“I think I pulled up at the driveway at 10 till 6,” Francona said.
He didn’t stay home long. When did he get to Fenway?
“I got here at 10 to 12 because I had to do the EEI thing at noon so I made it,” Francona said.
By the way, Francona is surprised that the media did not ask him about the somewhat humorous scene on Monday night, when he was in the middle of an argument with the umpire and wound up staying on the field during God Bless America.
“I can’t believe nobody asked me about the God Bless America the other night,” Francona said. “I can’t believe it. I didn’t know what to do. I went out to tell the guy I was mad at him and I ended up honoring America with him. We were both looking at each other laughing. I told him during the song, did you ever throw anybody out during God Bless America. He didn’t know me, I don’t think he knew how to take that. I said, ‘I’m just teasing.”‘
On to the nuts and bolts of the day:
Josh Beckett won’t pitch for the Red Sox again until June 3. The righty is on the DL with a lower back strain. But Tim Wakefield will step right in and pitch Sunday in Philly.
Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron will both play at Portland on Thursday, inching closer to returning to the team.
Joe Nelson, the last cut in Spring Training, is back, ready to help the bullpen.
Game 2 Red Sox-Angels
The 20-hit attack of Monday night was nice. Now the Red Sox will see if they can use it as a springboard.
Healthy bodies could be on the way soon, as Jacoby Ellsbury (hairline fracture left ribs) and Mike Cameron (lower abdomen strain) both appear close to Minor League rehab assignments.
Wednesday will be a festive night at Fenway. Nomar Garciaparra, who retired back in March, wil be honored during a pre-game ceremony. And it is Cinco de Mayo, which make it all the more special for Garciaparra, who is of Mexican descent. The big story Wednesday will be John Lackey pitching against his former team for the first time. Lackey went out of his way to say there would be no extra incentive or added motivation. Do you believe him?
And one final note: It was sad to hear of Ernie Harwell’s passing tonight. I only met him a couple of times, but he was a wonderful man, as well as one of the greatest broadcasters of all-time. Best known for his work with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell was 92. He was simply a legend.
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