The Walking Wounded

When Kevin Youkilis went down yesterday with an ankle injury, one that seems to be blessedly minor, were any of you really surprised? This kind of random injury is almost common-place these days.  2010 has been the Year of the Crutch in Boston.

Really? Really??

Did the Red Sox collectively kill St. Augustine's cat in a previous life? How else can you explain the latest bad luck to come out of Fenway?

BOSTON -- Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, who was supposed to assume everyday catching duties with Victor Martinez on the disabled list with a fractured left thumb, instead is joining Martinez on the disabled list with a fractured foot, a major league source confirmed Thursday night.

WBZ-Channel 4 in Boston was the first to report that Varitek sustained a leg injury and showed footage of Varitek's charity miniature golf event Thursday night, in which the Sox captain could clearly be seen limping.

At this point the Sox will be lucky to field nine guys at one time in the field.

Tough Month Ahead

If there is a one-month stretch that will determine the fate of the Boston Red Sox in 2010, it is the month of July. By the time we hit the dog-days of August, we will have a good idea of where this team is going.

Walking Wounded

So just how many Boston starters can get injured on one road trip? It's great that Lester manhandled the Giants yesterday, outdueling Tim Lincecum with a brilliant complete game win. Lester allowed just one run on five hits to propel Boston to a 5-1 win, giving Boston three wins in their last four games and a .500 record on this road trip.

But the injury bug is getting a little ridiculous here. First Pedroia, then Buchholz and now Victor Martinez. V-Mart fractured his thumb on Sunday, making San Francisco the most dangerous place in the world for a Red Sox player this side of Afghanistan. And while Buchholz may miss just one start, Pedroia and Martinez could be out for an extended period of time. Those are two critical positions where Boston doesn't have a lot of depth. Playing Bill Hall and Tek every day is a very short-term answer. Very short term.

But the Sox get a day off before they return to Boston. I would guess they'll use it to decide what they need to do to cover these positions. We would have seen Dusty Brown or Mark Wagner come up as backup for Tek...but they're on the DL as well. So who knows who the Sox will bring up. I guess we could see Tug Hulett come up from the Bucket to help out at second unless the brass thinks Angel Sanchez can handle it. But are any of these legitimate options if Pedey or V-Mart are out for weeks? Or does Boston have to start looking at trade scenarios so they don't lose the ground they just made up in the AL East?

Sox Surging At Half-Power

What has been most remarkable about Boston's recent run of play is that they've been doing it while carrying a lot of injured players. How well would they be playing with a full roster?