Red Sox Report: Carl Crawford Upset? He Should Be!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Unbelievable! That’s the only word to describe Carl Crawford’s first season with the Boston Red Sox. And when I say, “unbelievable,” it’s not meant in a good way.

It has been well documented here and everywhere that Red Sox’ left fielder Carl Crawford has struggled in his first year with Boston. All you have to do is watch any of their games to see that.

In case you don’t know, heading into play Monday night, Crawford was batting just .251 with 8 homeruns and 40 RBI. His on-base percentage is a miniscule .287 which is lower than the batting averages of Adrian Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and the now struggling Josh Reddick.

If you recall, Boston spent a lot of money to bring Crawford here as a free agent last offseason - $142 million dollars over 7 years to be exact. What, then does it say when Terry Francona puts out the following line-up as he did last night in Texas and the day before in Kansas City? :
1. Marco Scutaro SS
2. Darnell McDonald CF
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Dustin Pedroia 2B
5. Jed Lowrie 3B
6. Ryan Lavarnway DH
7. Carl Crawford LF
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
9. Josh Reddick RF
With injuries to Ortiz, Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis, manager Terry Francona obviously had to move some guys around to try to put together the best make-shift line-up possible. As you can see, Pedroia was moved from second in the order to the clean-up spot which is an indication of Francona’s confidence in him.

Wouldn’t you think that a player you are spending more than $20 million dollars a year on should be able to crack the top half of your batting order, particularly with all of those injuries? Apparently not.

What does it say about the season Crawford is having and the confidence (or lack thereof) that Francona has in him that he chooses to bat Marco Scutaro, Darnell McDonald, Jed Lowrie and recent call-up Ryan Lavarnway ahead of him? Wow!

This is only year one of Crawford’s 7-year deal with Boston so he certainly has a long time to turn things around. And sometimes a player can get hot and turn things around in a hurry. Still, if I were Crawford I would be really upset. Not so much at my manager for batting me 7th behind those stiffs, but at myself for being such a colossal failure in my first season with the Red Sox.

-David Ortiz (bursitis in his right heel) and Jacoby Ellsbury (back contusion) both sat out again last night. It was the 8th straight game missed by Ortiz. For Ellsbury, it was the 3rd straight game that he did not play. Francona said that Ellsbury should be able to play on Tuesday and that Ortiz could possibly be ready by Wednesday. Both players did some hitting on Monday.

-With rookie Josh Reddick struggling at the plate, many people are asking the question, when will JD Drew be back? Francona said that Drew will have two rehab starts for single-A Lowell on Friday and Saturday before playing for triple-A Pawtucket next Monday and Tuesday. The idea is to activate Drew when rosters expand on September 1st.

-Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is still in search of his 200th career win and was supposed to start for Boston in Thursday’s series-finale at Texas. However, Francona said that Andrew Miller will now get that start with Wakefield being pushed back to Friday at Fenway when the Sox open up a weekend series against the Oakland A’s. It would certainly be nice for Wakefield to be able to pick up his 200th career victory in front of the home crowd on Friday.