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Pregame: Red Sox Vs. Braves

Email|Link|Comments (6) Posted by Ben Collins, Globe Correspondent June 20, 2009 04:31 PM

Mike Lowell will receive a day off today against the Braves and might miss tomorrow's series finale.

"Mike is feeling a little beat up," said Manager Terry Francona. "He might get two days off in a row. We messed around with (that idea) and we'll see how he feels tomorrow."

Francona said he'll sit down with Lowell to discuss the ailments.

"He's a tough guy, though," he said. "He plays through everything."

Mark Kotsay will start at first base in place of Lowell today. Kevin Youkilis will slide to third.

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Francona said he had just been looking at Dustin Pedroia's stats in the leadoff spot, where he is batting .188 with only two extra-base hits in 69 at bats.

"I was just looking at that today," he said. "It was a surprise to see that."

Pedroia is batting .328 with 16 extra base hits in 189 at bats when batting second in the order. Pedroia took over for Jacoby Ellsbury in the leadoff spot on May 31st. Ellsbury, who dropped to seventh in the lineup, was two games removed from a 22-game hitting streak at the time.

"I don't think he changes his approach at all," he says. "It's not like we were moving this young guy from ninth to first. We moved the MVP from second to first."

Ellsbury is hitting .294 from the 7th spot. His average was .299 when leading off.

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6 comments so far...

Lowell is 37 and he needs some breathers to get him healthy for the post season> Kotsay is perfect in this role as fill-in. Lowell has tremendous heart. We need him if Sox are going to get to WS.

Posted by Bill June 20, 09 05:20 PM

Shouldn't Mike Lowell have been rested during that disgrace of a ballgame Thursday, when Red Sox ownership showed their true colors by forcing players and fans alike to endure elements that were nothing short of hazardous?

Lowell is a warrior's warrior...a gamer in every sense of the word. He, his teammates and the fans deserve much more respect than that which was shown to them by Red Sox ownership on Thursday night.

Posted by Raymond June 20, 09 06:04 PM

Stop messin' things up. Put Jacoby back in the lead off spot. He was on fire before removed. The walks will come with more experience. It's not like he's hitting .240 w/no walks. He's been over .300 for six weeks or more.

Hitting him 7th makes no sense. Either 1 or 9, or 8 during intra-league games. When the move was made, Ortiz wasn't hitting and put in the six hole. Ortiz is hitting almost .300 for June. Leave him in the six, put Jacoby in the 1 hole and get things back to normal. Getting one or two hits against sub .500 pitchers isn't getting the job done.

Lowell will be watching radar all night. This game will not conclude full. It will be postponed or cancelled, no doubt. I understand the weather better than Meteorlogix, the bogus service the Sox rent year to year. Lowell will certainly have his chance to vent after tonight, especially if there is an injury

Posted by Tomen8r June 20, 09 06:40 PM

Scheduling is just as much to blame as Sox management on this one.

If this were an AL East team, they'd have quickly rescheduled this one. However, in this case, there's no good way to reschedule: the two teams don't play each other again, and probably would have a difficult time finding a mutual off-day to do the game.

Posted by lone1c June 20, 09 06:46 PM

"Red Sox ownership showed their true colors"

Their true colors are always showing. All you have to do is look at the price on each ticket. $4.50 hot dog anyone?

Posted by will June 20, 09 06:56 PM

Lowell is 35

Posted by lobo5 June 20, 09 08:24 PM