Red Sox infielder Marco Scutaro became the latest player to be shut down before the season's last series with the Yankees could even begin, manager Terry Francona confirmed Saturday afternoon.
Scutaro, who has been bothered by elbow, neck and shoulder issues all season, said he still wanted to play and was caught by surprise when told he would not appear in the Yankees series. Instead he will begin an offseason throwing program that will get him on track to be 100 percent healthy by spring training.
Thus ends a gritty campaign for the 34-year-old Scutaro after 150 games played, most at shortstop before his shoulder issues warranted a recent move to second base. His final game Thursday in Chicago came after he was originally out of the lineup but begged back in to help Jon Lester pursue 20 wins.
That sort of action is what has endeared Scutaro to his team.
"That night with Lester, that's just an indication," Francona said. "There's a lot of other reasons but that puts it in a nutshell what some guys are about and why we probably appreciate it. It's not just getting on the field it's getting on the field and being able to produce."
Scutaro did just that, fighting through the mounting physical issues to post a .293 average in September to go along with an .833 OPS, his highest total for any month of the season. He finished with a .275 average and had career highs in doubles (38), hits (174), at-bats (632) and games played (150). Most of his games saw him batting leadoff with Jacoby Ellsbury sidelined, a role Scutaro filled admirably.
Although upset he could not finish the season on his own terms, Scutaro knew his issues were just part of a team-wide plague.
"Everybody knows it was a tough year for everybody, the injuries and stuff," he said. "I'm just trying to get ready for next year."
What next year brings for the veteran is a bit up in the air. He will be 35 before October ends and there are candidates to cut into his playing time. Jed Lowrie, who struggled to get his season started due to a vicious bout of mono, has come on strong in the second half of the season and proved to the club two years ago that he can play shortstop on an everyday basis when he was virtually flawless defensively and provided run production at the bottom of the lineup for 81 games.
Lowrie enters Saturday's play with an .856 OPS, trailing just three of his teammates, and has made only one error in 66 chances at shortstop. He will enter spring training nine years younger than Scutaro. Hot prospect Jose Iglesias figures to be roughly a year away but is lurking as the shortstop of the future.
Scutaro is on the books for $5 million in 2011. The following year there is a $6 million club option, a $3 million player option but also the possibility of a $1.5 million buyout by the organization.
He intends on being the everyday shortstop next season, and while Francona was complimentary of Lowrie he knows Scutaro is dependable.
"I think it was really important to him, he wants to be an everyday player," Francona said of Scutaro, who was a part-time player with the New York Mets and Oakland for several years before Toronto made him a starter in 2008. "It took longer than maybe it should've, for whatever reason. Now that he is he's taken that responsibility.
"That's why guys are good players."
One factor which may secure Scutaro's gig is the fact that Lowrie brings a versatility to the table that few can boast. He bats from both sides of the plate and can play all infield positions, a potential factor in Francona's desire to have flexibility on his roster. Another factor is Lowrie's relative lack of foot speed at a position that requires a degree of range.
"He's a good hitter, has the ability to play multiple positions," Francona said of Lowrie. "He's lost a little bit of foot speed this year for obvious reasons. How much of that comes back … it will be important because he's not blessed with a ton of speed to begin with.
"If he is able to he's a really intriguing guy. A switch hitter, can drive the ball a little bit."
Such position battles, if they even develop, are for March. Saturday offered a chance to take stock of Scutaro's first season in Boston, one in which he did whatever was asked of him, regardless of what might've been nagging him that day, and did it well.
