| 26 July 2010
Heading into the All-Star break, the Red Sox were in trouble, but they still lead the league in run scored.
Since then, the Sox have gone 4-7 while hitting .227 as a team (88 for 386) and have scored a measly 3.09 runs per game.
It's great to have Beckett and Buchholz back in the rotation, but what the Sox need right now is offense... and help could be just a week away. Victor Martinez caught relievers in the bullpen during yesterday's game and is expected to be activated of the DL for the Angels series. Jacoby Ellsbury could be back with the major league club as early as Monday, August 2nd... and Dustin Pedroia is due to get one more CT scan on his broken foot that could clear him for active duty in the first week of August.
All good things, right?
Sure, but can V-Mart, Ellsbury and Pedroia provide enough of a spark to erase what is now an 8-game deficit in the AL East?
Ellsbury and Pedroia should provide base runners at the top of the order, but does the V-Mart make the middle of this lineup scary enough to compete with the Yankees?
Martinez is hitting .289 on the year, but his splits are troubling when you factor in the thumb injury. While batting as a righty, V-Mart is forced to put his right hand on top of his injured left thumb. He told reporters he's been able to move his hands closer together and feels less discomfort now than he did a week ago, but knowing that Martinez was hitting lefties (as a righty batter) at a .431 clip before the injury and just .230 as a lefty batter, you have to assume he will not be the same hitter he was in the first half.
Bottom Line: With a week to go before the trade deadline, it seems clear that Theo Epstein plans to stick with the current roster and not make a move for a bat or a reliever... but these last two series proved that that is exactly what this team is lacking.
We won't know what to expect from Martinez, Ellsbury and Pedroia until mid-August, and by then it will be too late. With 10 games against the Yankees and 6 more against the Rays... we may still have a shot at the playoffs, but my Faith-o-meter is hovering just above the despair marker right now...
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