Yesterday, first baseman Jeff Bailey suffered a high-ankle strain trying to make a play on Brad Penny’s acrobatic flip to first base Saturday. He’s likely to hit the disabled list, a loss given that the Sox are about to face two left-handed pitchers.
How can the Red Sox replace Bailey against left-handed starters? The Boston Globe came up with an idea: Green at third, Lugo short and Youkilis at first. Inserting Kotsay against lefties is unlikely given he’s just aggravated his calf.
I’ve come up with a couple other scenarios. First, to maximize offensive production, put David Ortiz at first base. This would allow Rocco Baldelli to become the DH and leave J.D. Drew in the lineup. I’m far more comfortable with Ortiz and Drew in the lineup thank I am with Kotsay and Lugo.
Second would be to place outfielder Jonathan Van Every on the 60-day disabled list to remove him from the 40-man (Van Every recently had knee surgery) and then promote a hitter from Triple-A to hit against lefties.
The problem with this is that the top two candidates to be recalled (Chris Carter, Paul McAnulty) are left-handers. For a platoon at first base, that’s not helpful. The Sox could always make a waiver claim or a small trade for a warm body through the All-Star Break, or simply decide to ignore the platoon issues and bring Carter/McAnulty to the bigs.
Carter (who is already on the 40-man) is hitting .262/.319/.416 in Pawtucket, so it’s unlikely he gets the call. McAnulty is similarly not performing at .241/.327/.427.
If the minors aren’t going to help, we’re limited to the first two options above. The option of Papi at first gives the Sox the most offense, but is highly unlikely. It seems as if we’re going to be stuck watching Lugo struggle to field a ball for the next couple of days.
Anyone else have any better ideas?
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I wonder what is going on in Pawtucket. Not only are Carter and McAnulty having terrible years, but so are Gil Velasquez, Angel Chavez and Ivan Ochoa; their worst years ever. For some reason, the Red Sox safety net of MLB experienced backup talent just isn’t there.
Reading the lineup stats makes me realize just how good Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden really are. They aren’t getting much run support.
I don’t know why Theo would have any trouble putting Papi at 1b against righties, and having Rocco at DH for 3 games might add to the fireworks. On the other hand, if healthy, Mark Kotsay is on somewhat of a tear lately, and has become a first class defender at 1b. Just keep Green at SS and Julio pinch hitting.
I still wonder what Carter has in him. Because adding a capable lefty to this lineup wouldn’t be a bad thing. If he could play first and hit some, it might be a decent move until Lowell Returns.
Unless there’s a nice piece of waiver bait out there (Wily Mo???), I suspect the Sox will stand pat. I’d like to see them let Ortiz play some 1B, but they’ve been very reluctant to do so except when playing w/o the DH.
You might get a mix of options, depending on the Sox’ starting pitcher: Youk/Pedey/Lugo/Green if the starter throws a lot of ground balls, and Papi/Pedey/Lugo/Youk if the starter’s a fly ball/strikeout type.
And no, I’m not asserting that Lugo is a great defender. But the former infield is clearly stronger than the latter. (I wonder if they’d put Lugo at 3B and keep Green at short? That’d tell you how low Lugo has fallen in the pecking order.)