NESN

Jacoby Ellsbury Not in Lineup Tuesday, But Still Red Sox’ Hottest Hitter

Editor's note: The temperature gauge is a Bill James-created statistic that measures how hot or cold hitters are. We will spotlight Red Sox and opposing team temperatures on game days.

Jacoby Ellsbury may not be in the starting lineup Tuesday, but he's still the Red Sox' hottest hitter at the plate. The fact that Ellsbury missed the entire weekend set with the Baltimore Orioles and will now sit out the first game, and yes is still rated higher than any other player on the temperature gauge should say something about the current state of the Boston lineup — and what that says isn't good.

So while the Sox await the return of Ellsbury — who apparently wanted to play on Tuesday — Dustin Pedroia remains as Boston's hottest hitter. However, hot is a relative term in this case, as Pedroia has cooled down considerably after staying red hot for most of August and a couple weeks into September. Over his last nine games, the diminutive second baseman has gone just 7-for-36, with only two extra base hits and three RBIs.

But perhaps the real surprise of Tuesday's temperature gauge is on the Rays' end, with veteran catcher Jose Molina enjoying one of the best stretches of his life. Owning just a .238 career batting average, the 37-year-old has gone 7-for-14 over his last five games, including two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs.

Check our the temperatures for the Rays and Red Sox for Tuesday, Sept. 25 below:

Boston Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury 83
Dustin Pedroia 76
Daniel Nava 74
Che-Hsuan Lin 73
Ryan Kalish 73
Guillermo Quiroz 72
Scott Podsednik 71
Mike Aviles 71
Pedro Ciriaco 69
Mauro Gomez 69
Jose Iglesias 68
James Loney 67
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 63
Ivan De Jesus 61
Danny Valencia 59
Cody Ross 58
Ryan Lavarnway 56

Tampa Bay Rays
Jose Molina 87
Evan Longoria 86
Desmond Jennings 85
Jeff Keppinger 85
Ben Zobrist 84
B.J. Upton 84
Carlos Pena 80
Luke Scott 78
Jose Lobaton 72
Sean Rodriguez 72
Reid Brignac 72
Stephen Vogt 69
Chris Gimenez 68
Rich Thompson 68
Elliot Johnson 67
Ben Francisco 67
Ryan Roberts 66
Matt Joyce 64
Sam Fuld 63