Red Sox leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury was penciled into the PawSox’ starting lineup on Monday afternoon for what was his first contest since being placed on the DL in mid-April with bruised ribs.
Serving as the DH and leadoff hitter, Ellsbury went 1-for-3 with an RBI single, a walk and two runs scored — not bad for his first game in over a month.
The next stop for Ellsbury will be Portland, where he’ll join the Double-A Sea Dogs for Tuesday’s contest.
If all goes well at his checkup in Boston on Wednesday, he could be in the Red Sox’ lineup that night against the Twins, when the the team returns home from its five-game road trip through Detroit and New York.
The Sox have gone 16-15 since Ellsbury was taken out of their April 11 contest in Kansas City, and have been hovering at or around the .500 mark for the majority of his absence. Marco Scutaro has filled in admirably in the leadoff slot while Jeremy Hermida, Bill Hall and Darnell McDonald have taken over in left field. But without Ellsbury, the league-leader in stolen bases in both 2008 and 2009, this Sox offense just isn’t the same.
Without him, the team is fifth in the AL in batting average (.268), eighth in fielding percentage and second to last in stolen bases (11).
Jane in Boston wants to know what part of Ellsbury’s game are the Red Sox missing out on most? Text ‘SOX1’ for offense, ‘SOX2’ for defense, or ‘SOX3’ for speed on the bases to 542542. Results will be revealed later in the show and you can view the latest results and vote at NESN.com/kgb.
