Short Sox

It's crazy how things can change so quickly.

Just over two months ago, when the season started, the Sox were projected to be a borderline playoff team that was defined by pitching and defense. Yet, today, as it stands their offense is the best in the bigs.

They lead the majors in runs, doubles, total bases RBI, slugging percentage and OPS. The Bean-town Bombers are also in the top three in hits, home runs, on-base percentage and batting average.

Meanwhile, their pitching and defense has been less-than impressive. They are in the bottom third of the majors in ERA and they are right at the AL average for errors committed as a team as well as team fielding percentage.

Somehow this change has worked for the better, the off-season acquisitions of Lackey, Beltre, Scutaro and Cameron are starting to pay dividends as the Sox have invested most of their stock in the team infirmary.

If injured players were an MLB statistic, the Sox would be all-world. Everyone and their grandmother has been hurt or injured at some point this season and the culmination of all this was this past weekend in San Francisco, when three of the Sox’ top players went down with an injury.

First it was their hottest hitter, Pedroia, who just had the best game of his career, hitting 3 home runs while going 5-5 against Colorado the previous night. Then it was new-found ace Clay Buchholz who injured himself deciding whether or not to break up a double play. I guess that’s what happens when AL pitchers get a hit nowadays—a few years ago Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang messed up his knee running the bases in Houston; it ruined his career. And last, but not least, Victor Martinez became the latest victim for the Sox, fracturing his thumb on multiple foul tips by Giants hitters. This is the second time, the Sox’ backstop has been injured by foul tips this season--Last time he took one off his foot in Tampa Bay. Maybe he should back up a bit or something.In case you weren’t counting—and I’m sure you weren’t—that’s three Sox down in three days and 66.7% of them went down on foul tips. Vegas couldn’t even top those odds. But, somehow, the little engines that could are proving all logic wrong and continuing to persevere. Maybe we should’ve sent them to South Africa instead of Team USA.

All jokes aside, if you look up and down the Sox lineup, the changes are glaring and it would seem that the numbers are somewhat backwards. This is what the Sox’ lineup/rotation looked like on opening day:

LF – Jacoby Ellsbury
2B – Dustin Pedroia
C – Victor Martinez
1B – Kevin Youkilis
DH – David Ortiz
3B – Adrian Beltre
RF – J.D. Drew
CF – Mike Cameron
SS – Marco Scutaro
1. Josh Beckett
2. Jon Lester
3. John Lackey
4. Tim Wakefield
5. Clay Buchholz

Today’s that lineup and rotation have gone through some major re-arrangements. It’s almost like the before and after shots on a Zantrex 3 commercial, but in reverse:

SS – Marco Scutaro
LF – Daniel Nava
DH – David Ortiz
1B – Kevin Youkilis
RF – J.D. Drew
3B – Adrian Beltre
C – Jason Varitek
2B – Bill Hall
CF – Mike Cameron/Darnell McDonald
1. Clay Buchholz
2. Jon Lester
3. John Lackey
4. Daisuke Matsuzaka
5. Tim Wakefield

Somehow, the Sox have been able to make this work, they’ve lost their pre-season, projected ace, Josh Beckett. They have also lost key role players and starters like: Ellsbury, Hermida, Lowell, and even Cameron, who can’t play everyday because of a sports hernia.

As the trade deadline fast approaches, it’s easy to think that the Sox will go out and sell the farm to keep this going. But, if it wasn’t for the farm system, they wouldn’t have been able to turn such a glaring negative into a positive in the first place.

Right now, the best thing for Sox fans is to stick to filling up Fenway Park and let Theo Epstein do what he’s always done, find a way to field a winning team. Isn’t it ironic how the only spot where the Sox haven’t suffered a major injury—middle relief—is the only real weakness that they’ve shown heading into the deadline?

The fact of the matter is, the Sox are fine. They have about a week or so until the all-star break and soon afterward, the every day guys will return to form. Ellsbury should return before the postseason and by mid-August the Sox should have back Martinez, Beckett, Pedroia, Cameron (full-time), and Hermida.

It’s now just a matter of continuing to think positive and squeeze all the talent they possibly can out of overachievers like Nava and McDonald.

By season’s end, the Sox should be dealing with the best problem a team could possibly have: having too much talent on one team.

By Aaron Hilton