Woe Is Me

Despite their jump into second place in the three-headed AL East playoff race, this past weekend was traumatic for Red Sox fans.  First, Dustin Pedroia went down with an ankle injury after fouling a ball off his foot.  He was seen in a walking boot and on crutches after the game, and is expected to be sidelined at least a month. Pedroia was immediantly placed on the 15-day DL and will be replaced by either Angel Sanchez from Pawtucket,newly acquired Eric Patterson from Oakland, or Jed Lowrie (remember him?) from the dead.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Sox will also likely lose Victor Martinez who yesterday fractured his thumb, and was replaced in the fourth inning.  Early reports say Martinez won’t be out nearly as long, possibly missing a DL stint altogether, but a broken thumb is a broken thumb.  Throw Clay Buchholz’s hyper extended knee into the pot and one might assume the Red Sox could be staring an unpleasant future square in the face.

I personally don’t buy it.

So far this season, several contributors have missed significant playing time: Mike Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell, Jeremy Hermida, and Josh Beckett to name a few, yet the team strongly sits at the top of nearly every offensive category.  Boston has been scorching hot as of late after a slow start to the season, winning seven of their last 10 games. All the while chugging along with journeymen (Darnell McDonald, Bill Hall) and emergency call-ups (Daniel Nava) to keep the ship afloat.  They’ve done nothing but exceed everybody’s expectations and play extremely competent baseball.

The 2010 Red Sox certainly are an interesting bunch. As of today, they could win the World Series or miss the playoffs by five games and it wouldn’t surprise me.

Tags: boston red sox, clay buchholz, dustin pedroia, Josh Beckett, Victor Martinez