Sox, Lugo walk the line

The question, really, concerns how far the Red Sox are willing to go. How long are they willing to put Julio Lugo at shortstop? How long are they willing to try? How long before they give the keys to Nick Green or Jed Lowrie or someone else entirely?

"We’re trying to balance winning and getting Julio some athleticism back,’’ Red Sox manager Terry Francona said yesterday in the wake of a 14-5 Sox loss to the kryptonite Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. "It’s there. He knows it and we know it. … We weren’t going to play him [today] already. As far as the instant results, I don’t know if we thought that would happen. We’re walking a little bit of a line. We understand that. We’re doing the best we can.’’

In the interim, games are being played. And roughly one-fifth of the way through this 2009 season, the Red Sox are precisely where we left them at the end of 2008:

Unsure of themselves at the shortstop position.

In the middle stands Lugo, now in the third year of a four-year, $36 million contract. The money matters. During an ugly fifth inning yesterday in which the Sox allowed a decisive six runs in what was theretofore a 2-1 game -- the Rays led -- Lugo consistently looked one step behind. In the player’s defense, his only truly egregious blunder came with one out and a man on first base, when a Dioner Navarro bouncer slipped under a ranging Lugo’s glove to put men at first and second.

What should have been a double play was, instead, a single. And instead of having nobody on with two outs, the Rays had the beginnings of what was a six-run rally.

In the moments thereafter, Lugo was booed by a Fenway Park following clearly aware that the Sox now have lost more games this season with Lugo as the starter (five) than they have with Nick Green (four). With regard to wins, Green (16) is winning by a landslide (Lugo has one). The Red Sox are choosing their words carefully with regard to Lugo’s play afield, but most anyone would be hard pressed to suggest that the Sox are a better team with Lugo on the diamond.

Lugo is hitting .357 at the moment and had his first homer of the season yesterday, but if it is possible, his defense appears to have gotten worse.

"A lot of balls off the bat I thought were outs,’’ starter Jon Lester said diplomatically of the Rays’ maddening fifth, when Tampa seemed to repeatedly thread the needle between shortstop and third base. "It just seems like our guys are playing one step the wrong way. I’m not saying that guys are out of position, but that’s just the way it’s going for me right now.’’

Good for Lester for maintaining his professionalism and biting his tongue. Now here’s what he wanted to say:

If Lugo gets to that first ball and turns a double play, we might have won this game and I’d feel a heck of a lot better about myself right now.

Whether or not you were among those booing Lugo yesterday, it’s time to make some admissions to yourself. Lugo is an easy target, though the contract is not his fault. (Was he supposed to say no when the Sox offered him $9 million a season?) During his first two years in Boston, Lugo batted .249 with an OPS of .661. Before he was injured last season, his defense was atrocious. Now Lugo is coming off knee surgery that may have stripped him of perhaps his only remaining assets -- speed and mobility -- and you cannot help but wonder if he will have anything left at all to offer the Red Sox if and when Jed Lowrie returns from the disabled list.

After all, for all of the public criticisms that Lugo has absorbed during his time in Boston, the Red Sox always believed that Lugo’s error total was deceiving because he got to more balls than the average shortstop. At the moment, however, Lugo isn’t getting to those same balls and the Sox are suffering for it.

For what it’s worth, Green hasn’t exactly been Ozzie Smith at shortstop this season, either, contributing six errors to a team total of seven from the shortstop position, tied for most in the majors. Just the same, most of Green’s errors have come on throws and he has been moving reasonably well in the field. The combination of Green’s offense and defense has been an asset to the club, particularly when one considers that he entered the spring third (at least) on the depth chart at the position.

As Francona said, Lugo wasn’t scheduled to play today, anyway, something the manager clearly wanted to disclose lest anyone thing today’s decision was a temporary benching. It is probably just as well. Quite simply, the Red Sox are a better team with Green on the field than they are with Lugo, just as they were last season when Lowrie (zero errors in 49 games at shortstop) took over after Lugo suffered a season-ending leg injury.

Between now and the time Lowrie returns -- if he returns -- both we and the Red Sox will have had sufficient time to evaluate their $36 million investment at shortstop. Lugo has plenty of time to change our minds. Until then, the Red Sox will continue to play games and position themselves for a potential postseason berth, hoping that Lugo does not hurt them more than he helps.

Hand in hand, the Red Sox and their shortstop will walk the line together.