Saturday, May 18, 2013
The Boston Red Sox have 11 outfielders on their 40-man roster. All but 3 are injured.
Five are on the major league disabled list: Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Ryan Kalish, Darnell McDonald and Jason Repko.
Another is headed there as Cody Ross has a broken right foot (a break of the notorious navicular bone; the same bone Dustin Pedroia broke two years ago).
Ryan Sweeney is out, at least temporarily with a mild concussion.
And in Double-A, Oscar Tejeda is on the Sea Dogs disabled list with a strained hamstring (not that Tejeda is ready to be called up to the majors any time soon).
That left Daniel Nava, Marlon Byrd and Che-Hsuan Lin to patrol the outfield for the Red Sox on Monday night ... an unlikely threesome, for sure.
There is also Pawtucket first-baseman Lars Anderson, who has played some outfield.
In the short-term, the Red Sox can piece things together. Sweeney could be back any day, and McDonald in about a week.
First baseman Adrian Gonzalez has demonstrated he can play the outfield (and is better out there than Anderson who, to be fair. has had few little chance to play the OF).
The Red Sox are not looking for Gonzalez to play much in the outfield but, when he does, they can keep both Will Middlebrooks and Kevin Youkilis in the lineup - assuming Youkilis comes off the DL today.
Another option is major league veteran Scott Podsednik, who was just acquired from the Phillies' Triple-A team. Podsednik is batting .323 (10-for-31) in nine games with Pawtucket. He would have to put on the 40-man roster. But Ross is likely headed to the 60-day disabled list, which would make room for Podsednik.
One note about the 40-man roster. When a player goes on the 60-day disabled list, they can be replaced on the roster. Ellsbury, Crawford and Kalish are all on the 60-day. They are all due back in July.
Youkilis, in his final rehab game with Pawtucket, went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. He played third base for all nine innings.
Doug Mathis (3-2, 4.23) pitched a gem for Pawtucket, carrying a perfect game into the fifth inning. He allow 1 hit over 7 innings (0 R, 0 BB, 3 K). Mathis, 28, pitched off and on in the majors from 2008-10 with Texas. He signed with Boston as a minor league free agent.
Portland's Anthony Ranaudo made his second Double-A start and is still searching for his command. He's confident he will find it. See the Press Herald story.
The Sea Dogs, by the way, did not manage a hit Monday in a 6-0 loss to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Former major leaguer Brett Cecil and two relievers combined for the no-no.
Tweet
Kevin Thomas covers baseball and basketball for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He wisely moved to Maine in 1994 after working for the St. Petersburg Times. He is married to Nancy and they have nine children.
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs on Clearing the Bases
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Celtics and Maine Red Claws on Holding Court
Subscribe to the
Holding Court RSS
Subscribe to the
Clearing the Bases RSS
More
Copyright ©2013 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Maine Yellow Pages
Facebook
Twitter