Return to health key to Red Sox playoff hopes

ShareThis

BOSTON -- A year ago, the Boston Red Sox had the luxury of resting players in September, their postseason status assured, though not mathematically guaranteed. This season, the Red Sox won't have that opportunity. Going into Wednesday's action, Boston still trails Tampa Bay by five games in the loss column in the A.L. East with only 24 games to go. At this rate, the Red Sox won't clinch the wild-card playoff spot until later this month. The best they can hope for is that they do so in enough time to arrange their starting rotation for the Division Series. But if last September was all about getting ready for the postseason, this time, the goal is about getting healthy. On Friday, when they begin their second-to-last road trip of the season, the Sox will get both Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell back. Before too long, perhaps on the next homestand, J.D. Drew will return, too, then Sean Casey. By then, Julio Lugo will be the only significant player still out of the lineup, and frankly, given the job Jed Lowrie has done as his replacement at shortstop, that's a loss the Red Sox can accept. To find a time when the Red Sox were last healthy, one might have to return to the first few weeks of the season, before the parade of injuries began. Since then, the left side of the infield has had three trips to the DL (two for Lowell, one for Lugo). Five different starters -- Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Clay Buchholz and Bartolo Colon -- have visited the DL. And, of course, David Ortiz was lost for nearly two months. Injuries aren't exclusive to the Red Sox, to be sure. Tampa Bay has weathered the final stretch without arguably their two best players -- Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria -- and closer Troy Percival has been on the DL three times. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim began the year without their two best starters (John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar) and still haven't gotten Escobar back. But the Red Sox have dealt with their run of poor health better than they could have hoped. The Red Sox have won each of their last six series. To find the last time Boston lost a series of more than two games, you have to travel back to July, when the Red Sox, distracted by the Manny Ramirez situation, were summarily swept by the Angels. They've won seven of their last nine, eight of their last 10, 10 of their last 14 and 15 of the last 22. But beyond the record, they've become a team and begun to develop "their own personality," according to manager Terry Francona. It's impossible not to link that bonding with the departure of Ramirez, whose unreliability in midseason ultimately made a host of veteran players debate the wisdom of having him remain for the remainder of the season. Unburdened by the trade that sent Ramirez to the Dodgers, the Sox focused as they hadn't before. Tellingly, they're 20-9 since he left. Post-waiver deadline deals that landed them Paul Byrd and Mark Kotsay have been beneficial, but the real season-saver has been organizational depth and the fertile player-development system. Without two of their best run producers (Lowell and Drew) and their No. 1 starter (Beckett), the Sox have improbably gained ground in the standings over the last 2-1/2 weeks. The schedule offers just enough time for them to welcome back the regulars, give them time to regain their timing and, they hope, enter the postseason at full speed. It's not the way they would have preferred. A healthier Red Sox roster might have had the weapons to overtake the upstart Rays for the division title, a goal that seems distant now, even with six head-to-head games remaining. Boston, in all likelihood, have to open the playoffs on the road, a more difficult path than the one they enjoyed a year ago when they held home-field advantage through the World Series. They won't be home and they won't be resting in the final week, but they will, for a change, be healthy. And given the alternative, that's a trade the Red Sox will gladly make.(Contact Sean McAdam at smcadam@projo.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)