Stephen Drew (phxwebguy/Flickr.com)
The Red Sox’ offense took a hit Monday when it was announced that slugging designated hitter David Ortiz would miss the first few weeks of the season, or more, with inflammation in his heels. Now, the Sox may be missing another key bat come Opening Day.
Stephen Drew, signed by Boston to a one-year deal this winter to be the starting shortstop, suffered a mild concussion last Thursday, but to this date is still shut down from baseball activities.
The timetable on concussions is still up in the air for Drew, but with the recent influx of information surrounding the issue, the Red Sox and Drew are going to be extra cautious on this one. As Gordon Edes wrote for ESPN.com, Drew must pass some online testing before he is able to resume playing, as per a protocol adopted by Major League Baseball prior to the 2012 season.
At this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to when Drew will return — but I’m sure a betting site would try to put odds on it. But in the worst case scenario – that is, Drew’s play is severely limited in 2013 – Boston will have a big hole to fill in the middle of the infield.
At the beginning of February, I listed a few things that will have to go absolutely right in order for the Sox to have a shot at reaching the postseason, one of which was Drew regaining his hitting stroke. Drew hit .278/.352/.458 with 15 homers and 10 steals in 2010, and his solid defense led to a 5.1 fWAR and 3.7 rWAR campaign. Drew picked up right where he left off to begin the 2011 season, but suffered a major ankle injury that July, and hasn’t played up to that level since.
I applauded the Drew signing because it was a low-risk, high-reward acquisition. And I still believe that the Red Sox will have to get big-time production from the shortstop position in order to contend this year.
But with the recent uncertainty surrounding Drew’s concussion status, it’s tough to see Boston replacing that (potential) production.
Twenty-three-year-old, slick-fielding shortstop Jose Iglesias is waiting in the wings for his chance to start, but he’s still incredibly raw at the plate. Iglesias has hit just .135/.210/.203 in 83 big league plate appearances, and while that’s not exactly a reasonable sample size, his minor league numbers aren’t all that impressive, either. The reason he has a future whatsoever is because of his dynamic range in the field.
The difference between Drew and Iglesias might not actually be that big, but that’s not necessarily what the Red Sox need, either. If Drew wasn’t going to get back to his 2010/2011 form, anyway, Boston might have been in trouble.
Then again, the Sox don’t have much room for error this year. In order to make the postseason, they’ll need a lot of things to go right. So while losing Ortiz and Drew might make the defense better, the offense could be severely lacking.