BOSTON — All right, Allen Craig. The ball’s in your court.
The biggest defense of Craig’s unproductive tenure with the Red Sox has been that the veteran slugger simply hasn’t received consistent at-bats. Well, that could change if left fielder Hanley Ramirez misses any time with a shoulder injury, meaning Craig is arriving at a crossroads with Boston.
“Any time you lose one player it’s going to provide opportunity,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. “Any player that’s been a starting player in the past, this is an opportunity to hopefully gain a little rhythm.”
The Red Sox are hopeful Ramirez won’t be sidelined for long after suffering a left shoulder sprain while crashing into the left field wall in Monday’s loss to the Rays. But let’s assume for a second he’s out for a week, maybe two, or that he’s placed on the 15-day disabled list in the coming days.
That would suck for the Red Sox, obviously. Ramirez has been their biggest source of power, and he’s irreplaceable in the middle of Boston’s order. An opportunity awaits Craig, though, and it’s up to the 30-year-old outfielder/first baseman to run with it, because he hasn’t done much since being acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals last July to justify maintaining a roster spot deep into the season if things continue on the current track.
“I think last year you could directly point to the foot as being a reason why he wasn’t able to maybe reproduce his natural normal swing,” Farrell said of Craig’s struggles since joining the Red Sox. “He wasn’t hitting from a strong base that he has been accustomed to.
“I thought in spring training he started to show the player he’s been with some consistent at-bats. When you go into a reserve role, that’s a tough thing for a position player to maintain timing.”
To be fair, Craig wasn’t 100 percent last season — far from it — and transitioning from being an everyday player to coming off the bench isn’t easy, specifically as it pertains to discovering/maintaining a productive routine. It’s reasonable to think the last season-plus has weighed on Craig mentally, especially since he’s had virtually zero on-field success in that span.
Craig entered Tuesday hitting .209 with nine homers, 48 RBIs, a .581 OPS and 125 strikeouts in 550 plate appearances since the beginning of last season. He’s hitting .133 with two homers, four RBIs, a .430 OPS and 48 strikeouts in 152 plate appearances in a Red Sox uniform.
It’s a mystifying and prolonged slump for a player who hit .312 with an .863 OPS from 2011 through 2013, even earning an All-Star selection and twice finishing in the top 20 in National League MVP voting. But at some point, the Red Sox need to stop referencing the past and figure out what exactly Craig will provide in 2015 and beyond.
Yes, Craig was a very productive hitter. And yes, he might someday become a very productive hitter again. It’s hard to believe that “consistent at-bats” — or lack thereof — are the only thing holding back a veteran player, but hey, if that’s indeed the case, we might now finally see the real Allen Craig.
For better or worse.
Thumbnail photo via Jonathan Dyer/USA TODAY Sports Images
