Starter Victor Martinez was placed on the 15-day DL after suffering a fractured thumb on July 28 in San Francisco. He initially injured his thumb when a tipped foul ball caught his thumb before ricocheting off his foot in the second inning. To make matters worse, he was hit again in the thumb by another foul ball an inning later and was pulled from behind the plate.
Initially, Martinez sounded sure he wouldn't have to miss extended time.
"I don't think I'm going to have to be on the disabled list," Martinez
said a couple hours after his injury. "There's pain, but we'll see how it feels tomorrow. It's a good
thing we have an off day tomorrow. I'm going to have it checked out
again and see what happens."
Perhaps knowing that he had reliable Jason Varitek influenced manager Terry Francona's decision to place Martinez on the DL, scheduling his return for after the All-Star break. But then the Sox suffered another setback thanks to another errant foul ball. In Wednesday's game against the Rays, Carl Crawford fouled a ball off the catcher's right foot, sending him to the DL for a likely four-to-six-week stint. Varitek's injury (a fractured metatarsal) is reportedly quite similar to Dustin Pedroia's, but it is a different bone in his foot.
Understandably, Varitek was disappointed that his stay in the starting lineup was a short one.
“I was looking forward to [being a regular],” Varitek said. “It was fun
to be healthy and playing.”
The Sox traded for Kevin Cash to fill in for the injured catchers. Cash played for the Red Sox in 2007 and 2008.
There is plenty of other news on the injury front. Reliever Manny Delcarmen was placed on the 15-day DL on July 1 due to a forearm strain. The Sox staff hopes the injury isn't serious and plan to have Delcarmen back by the end of the month.
Starting pitcher Josh Beckett continues to come back from a lower back strain. The Boston Globe reported that Beckett said his back feels great. He will pitch in a Gulf Coast League game on Tuesday and is expected to throw three innings or 50 pitches, whatever comes first. "I think
it'll take me two or three games to get to where I need to get to," he
said.
Fellow starter Clay Buchholz could be back as early as Monday, returning quickly from a hyperextended left knee that he suffered while running the bases in San Francisco. He is listed as the probable starter for the Red Sox' game against the Rays on Monday.
Outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Jeremy Hermida continue their long rehabs from serious rib injuries. Ellsbury is expected to return by the end of the month from his multiple rib fracture, but Hermida's return from broken ribs — suffered after colliding with Adrian Beltre — is still unknown. Mike Lowell's return from a hip injury also remains up in the air. He has been on the DL since June 23.
