BOSTON — Red Sox infielder Jed Lowrie was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday night with a strained left shoulder, the lingering effect of a collision with Carl Crawford late last month.
Drew Sutton, who played in 12 games earlier in the year for the club, was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket to take his place on the active roster.
Lowrie struck out in his only at-bat Thursday night in Tampa Bay. He swung through the final pitch and immediately winced before walking gingerly back to the dugout. An MRI showed no major structural damage, but significant weakness caused by more than two weeks of favoring the other side.
"He had the bruising back there, and you get some weakness because of it and I think that’s why he felt that there was a mild subluxation, or maybe not, but that was the feeling," manager Terry Francona said. "You get swelling and you get bruising and you lose strength. Regardless of what we call it, we need to get that thing stronger and to do what we need to let it settle down first and get him on a pretty good strength program so he can go out there and play and not have a chance of it happening."
Noted orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum will take a look at the MRI, just to help the Red Sox in diagnosing the severity of the injury.
A subluxation is a dislocation of the shoulder, something Lowrie said he felt on the swing. He may have avoided that, but the injury is one of many physical issues for the 27-year-old.
Lowrie missed much of last season after coming down with mononucleosis during spring training. He played through wrist ailments in 2008 which eventually landed him on the DL the following season.
Lowrie, who hit .368 in April, had cooled off in May and then began to bottom out after the collision, which took place May 29 in Detroit. He hit just .128 (5-for-39) since then.
Sutton batted .290 (9-for-31) in his first stint with the team. He played all four infield positions and left field.
