Papi, Ellsbury, and more

Well, it’s the day we’ve been waiting for. Big Papi is BACK! After 54 days and 45 games, in which the Red Sox were 26-19, Big Papi is BACK! Tonight, David Ortiz will step back on the field and take his first cracks in almost 2 months, against the hated rival, New York Yankees.

When Papi went out injured in that May 31st game against the Orioles, the Red Sox trailed the first place Rays by 1 game. Today, they are tied for first with them, just percentage points behind.

The Sox did a great job of really not suffering a dramatic slump with Ortiz out. J.D. Drew did an incredible job of filling in Ortiz’s hole in the line-up. However, now with Ortiz back, how is this going to affect the line-up. Here is what my line-up would be tonight:

Pedroia, 2b
Drew, rf
Ortiz, dh
Ramirez, lf
Lowell, 3b
Youkilis, 1b
Varitek, c
Lowrie, ss
Ellsbury, cf

Now, we know it is unusual to have 2 lefties in a row in a line-up these days. Also, Drew is not a prototypical #2 hitter. However, the Yanks do not have a left-hander in the bullpen. Ellsbury’s production has really dropped, and it seems like this would be the right down to drop him in the order and take some pressure of him, especially with how hot Pedroia has been. By hitting Ellsbury 9th, as the rest of the game goes, you end up keeping the Ellsbury, Pedroia, Drew three-some which may help alleviate the change.

I doubt we will see a line-up like that, and will more likely see the same line-up as usual except with Ortiz back at #3, and J.D. Drew probably back at #5 or #6 and everybody else bumped back down a slot.

I am not sure what the problem Ellsbury is going through. The 1st 2 months, he hit .282 and .281 with a combined 27 walks. The last 2 months, he has hit .245 and .232 with a combined 5 walks. I don’t know what to really attribute that to, but you can see that it has been affecting his confidence, and he is not swinging at good pitches. I love Ellsbury, and believe he can work his way out of this. The first step would be dropping him down, and see if that can get him going.

Finally, WEEI was reporting yesterday the Sox were in “serious” negotiations with the White Sox for Juan Uribe. I am not sure why, as I think Lowrie is more than capable to fill in for Lugo, and hopefully, possibly, take over full-time for Lugo. I don’t even think Uribe is an upgrade over Cora, so I didn’t see where the interest is from the Sox stand point.

It should be a great series this weekend, with some nice pitching match-ups. Tonight’s match-up for Joba vs Beckett could be a good duel. Joba is emerging into the perfect Yankee to hate for us Red Sox fans, which is great for the rivalry. Then we have Wakefield and Pettitte. Both are coming of some quality starts. The final game will see Lester and Ponson. I think the Sox will take 2 out of 3, as it will be tough to get to both Joba and Pettite.

Go Sox!