News
Injured Sox of all walks recuperating
Lowrie heads west while Francona offers extended roundup
By Maureen Mullen / Special to MLB.com
04/18/09 8:41 PM ET
BOSTON -- While shortstop Jed Lowrie was making his way west on a flight to Arizona to meet with Dr. Donald Sheridan, a specialist who will examine the infielder's ailing left wrist, Red Sox manager Terry Francona was giving an update on the various ailments afflicting several of his players.After the seventh player was mentioned, Francona paused.
"Whew, we got a long list," Francona said.
On Friday, Lowrie, who is hitting .056 (1-for-18) in five games this season, said season-ending surgery is a possibility to repair the fractured ulnar styloid that bothered him for most of last season and began bothering him again in Spring Training.
"Yeah, he laid it out there," Francona said. "There's a lot of possibilities. I think he may be getting a little ahead of himself, and we'll kind of see where we're at. I think, too, when a kid -- emotional is maybe not the right word, but he's a little down -- and somebody asked him a question, and he kind of blurted out the good, the bad and the ugly. I think we're a little more comfortable just rather having him get looked at again and just go from there."
Right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, who left Tuesday's game in Oakland after just one inning and was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a mild right shoulder strain, will continue to rest his shoulder before starting to throw again.
"I just got done talking to he and [rehab coordinator] Mikey [Reinold] and [pitching coach] John [Farrell] for a little while," Francona said. "We're going to give him a few days, and by a few days that could be two, three, four of just kind of getting some treatment, trying to calm -- when I say calm [I mean] the shoulder down -- just get some inflammation out of there. And then there'll be a period when he strengthens that shoulder, and that is, when I say to be determined, the medical staff needs to sit and work their way through that. And then there'll be a revving up period, throwing, and on the throwing program and getting back to pitching."
Francona said there is currently no time frame on when that program will begin, the priority being to "get [Matsuzaka] back healthy, strong and productive, and I think that the medical staff is still kind of sifting through that."
In Fort Myers, Fla., at the team's training complex, shortstop Julio Lugo, outfielder/first baseman Mark Kotsay and outfielder Jonathan Van Every all played in an extended Spring Training game Saturday as they each make their way off the DL and into rehab games -- and eventually back into action.
Lugo, who had surgery to repair a torn right meniscus March 17, played short and made four plate appearances, going 1-for-2 with two walks. All the reports came back favorable on the shortstop, Francona said.
Kotsay, who had back surgery in January, served as the designated hitter, going 1-for-3 with a double. Francona said Kotsay experienced some muscle stiffness after his outing, which was not unexpected.
Van Every, who sprained his right ankle in a March 12 spring game in Jupiter, Fla., against the Cardinals, played five innings in center, went 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. He is close to joining Triple-A Pawtucket.
Right-hander John Smoltz threw 20 pitches in live batting practice. His next step remains to be determined.
"John and I talked to him," Francona said. "I think for the most part, pretty upbeat. He wants to be perfect. We're going to talk to him again on Monday about the next step. There's obviously some rust. We may have him go through another [session of] facing hitters or bullpen session just before we get him into a two-inning game. Just, I think, to maybe shake some of the rust off. But we want to talk to him a little bit more on Monday."
Kevin Youkilis, who was hit in the helmet by a Danys Baez pitch in the sixth inning Friday night, was in the lineup Saturday night showing no ill effects from the plunking.
"He's OK," Francona said. "I think he knows he got hit, a little soreness. But, again [Friday] night, right away, he was lucid right away. There wasn't the initial shock of seeing it happen. Once you saw his eyes, I think we were very relieved and we knew he was probably OK."
Maureen Mullen is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
