The Red Sox may want to find out when they next visit Kansas City and coordinate a mini-vacation for Jacoby Ellsbury at that time. Just send him somewhere for a little R&R, or give him a few days to see some family. Anything to keep him out of Kauffman Stadium.
Ellsbury, who has played more games than any Boston player this year (123 of the team’s 124), is not in the starting lineup Saturday night in Kansas City after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning of Friday night’s game against the Royals. He remained in the lineup after taking the pitch in the middle of his upper back, but was replaced defensively in the bottom half of the frame and was sore after the game.
If you have been even a casual observer of Ellsbury’s career, you know that it was in Kansas City last April when he suffered broken ribs after barreling into third baseman Adrian Beltre as the former teammates sprinted for foul pop. That caused him to miss all but 12 of the remaining games in 2010.
If he stays sidelined for the duration of the game Saturday night, it would be the first full game he has missed since July 1, when he sat out the series opener in Houston due to an illness.
Interestingly enough, Ellsbury has loved playing in Kauffman when healthy. After going 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly Friday night, he is 19-for-48 (.396) with a home run, seven steals, 11 RBIs and 14 runs scored in 12 games in Kansas City. Still, the Red Sox may want to ignore that production in the name of health next time and just let Ellsbury do his own thing.
