Filed under: Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox announced today that starting catcher and team captain Jason Varitek will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery this week and will be out for about a month. This is a detrimental blow to a team already battling a sleu of other injuries. Just a few days ago Trot Nixon was placed on the DL while half the pitching staff seems to be perpetually hurt as well. Foulke, Wakefield, Wells, and Matt Clement all seem to be struggling with their respective injuries.
Doug Mirabelli will take on everyday catching duties to replace Tek. Mirabelli is hitting .182 in 30 games with the Sox. As much as Varitek was having an off year, he was entirely more effective than Dougie’s .182. One of the more depressing facts is that Josh Bard, the ostracized backup catcher that struggled mightily to catch Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball and was traded to get Mirabelli back, is hitting .348 with a .420 On Base Percentage with the Padres. Red Sox fans were pratically tortured watching Bard’s futile effort to catch Wake, but no one would argue that he is a better catcher than Doug, and certainly a better bat. Its just another example of how injuries can cause a lot of unforseen problems.
The Sox are going to have to start playing some good baseball during the dog days of August if they want to keep their lead in the East. With the Yankees picking up Abreu and possibly getting Matsui and Sheffield back they could be a incredibly dangerous lineup. I think guys like Wily Mo Pena, Mirabelli, Coco Crisp, and even Alex Gonzalez have to start playing like they have something to prove. With only three reliable starting pitchers and a bullpen built for one inning set-ups, some things are going to have to start coming together.
The Red Sox brought up Ken Huckaby from Pawtucket to back up Mirabelli. Kyle Snyder will also head to the bullpen making Johnson the fifth starter. Francona said this is actually more of a compliment because Snyder will now represent the long relief man the Sox have desperately needed. Since Snyder has only been good for under 5 innings in his starts and some of our starters may need to be pulled early due to ineffectiveness, this is actually a decent move.
Lester goes tonight for the Sox. After CC Sabathia beat the Sox with eight strong innings last night, we could use a win. Maybe just a good old fashioned blow out would be just what the doctor ordered. Well, besides arthroscopic knee surgery.
theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com
No Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>