Red Sox Diaries

When the Red Sox announced that David Ortiz had a tear in his left wrist at the end of last May, the lineup was in flux. Somebody needed to step up and replace Ortiz's production --- and some of Manny Ramirez's, too, because he was too busy pouting his way out of town. In June and July, Ramirez would conveniently duck young flamethrowers Felix Hernandez (twice) and Joba Chamberlain, among others.

The guy who manager Terry Francona later credited with saving the season was J.D. Drew, who had his best month since arriving in Boston before the previous season. Drew had a .337 BA/.462 OBP/.848 SLG line in June with 12 home runs. Interestingly, he didn't have a single multi-homer game--he spread them out and contributed in many games, as the Sox racked up a 16-11 record for the month.

The rest of Drew's season wasn't quite as impressive--he hit .267 and went yard just seven times. He also missed 33 straight games in August and September due to ailments of his own, but Ortiz was back by then and Dustin Pedroia was making his MVP case by hitting the cover off the ball.

Drew has been the ultimate tease throughout his career. When healthy and motivated, he's been one of the best hitters in the league--see his one season in Atlanta, when he was not-so-coincidentally playing for a long-term contract. He has very good power, gets on base at an excellent rate and is decent in the field.

What's so frustrating is that Drew is rarely healthy and/or motivated. And the monstrous five-year, $70 million contract that Theo Epstein gave him back before 2007 hasn't exactly paid off. Drew smacked a big grand slam in the bottom of the first inning of Game 6 against Cleveland in the ALCS two years ago, but only has 29 regular-season homers in two seasons with Boston. He also strikes out at an annoyingly high rate and is overly-patient at times.

In last night's 10-8 come-from-behind win over Baltimore, Drew put some of his best traits on display: he showcased his power, hitting a triple and a home run, and walked the other three times he was up. (He also got thrown out stealing second base in the eighth inning, the type of boneheaded move that he's prone to.) His performance was particularly key, because Ortiz and cleanup hitter Kevin Youkilis combined to go 0-for-8 with five strikeouts, stranding 11 baserunners.

Youkilis has been off to his customarily great start, but Ortiz is anything but. With Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Lowell still struggling to get untracked, Drew is going to have to duplicate his production from last June --- and sustain it for more than just 30 days. Right now he's the best left-handed hitter they've got, which is a very frightening thought. It's time for him to start earning that hefty paycheck.

--Danny Daly (ddaly06)

UPDATE: Shortstop Jed Lowrie has broken left wrist and might need surgery to repair it. If that is determined to be the best course of action, he will be out for the season. Story via the Boston Globe.