Return of the Walking Wounded

With the NL’s redemption in the 81st All-Star Game, winning by a score of (3 – 1). (The lowest scoring All-Star Game since 1997.) Both the American and Nation Leagues will return to second half baseball looking for another kind of redemption. “Injury Come Backs.” For teams like the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and the New York Mets, key players are expected to return that can could make or break a season that has had tremendous parody.

Boston Red Sox
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox have 13 players on the disabled list. This comes to be a shock considering they’re only 5 ½ games out of first place. With Terry Francona’s managing arguably the best he ever has with the Red Sox. The Red Sox currently have the MLB League Lead in RBIs with (464) and are still within the top 5 in other overall batting categories like bating average (.275 / ranking 4th), home runs (120 / ranked 2nd), and hits (851 / ranking 3rd). The team is looking as if they are just trying to hold on until players return from injury. With the MLB’s top teams in The New York Yankees and The Tampa Bay Rays playing the their same division things can get a little out of hand quick. So what can help the bean town faithful look forward to soon in these hard times? “Josh Beckett.”
Reports say that Josh Beckett feels 100 percent after suffering a lower back strain leaving him out on the DL since May 19th. “It’s as good as I’ve felt in six to eight weeks,” Beckett said. “To come in the day after I pitch and know I can play catch and not have to worry about limitations.”

Even though Beckett feels great, is he truly ready to once again face Major League Hitters? Terry Francona sees the big picture with his ace caliber pitcher, and is trying to make the smart choices down the stretch. “If he’s ready to come back and pitch for us, he will, if he’s not, we’ll let him have another one. The plan is to have him throw 85 pitches [Saturday] and if all goes terrific, he can come back and take his slot with us. If we all feel like he needs another [rehab] then he’ll do that.” With his rehab, Beckett ultimately describes the process as more of a spring training preparation than a rehab comeback.

Regardless, the Sox could use their old ace back considering the rotation is wearing thin. Clay Buchholz was injured with a lower left hamstring strain (listed on the 15-day DL). And Tim Wakefield got rocked on Thursday giving up 7 run (6 of the earned) on 8 hits in only 2 innings against the American League West Division Leading Texas Rangers.
Red Sox are slated to play the Rangers again tonight at 7: 10pm ET @ Fenway Park
(Probable Starting Pitchers: Red Sox- Felix Doubront (1-1 rec. / 4.22 ERA) VS. Rangers- Colby Lewis (8-5 rec. / 3.33ERA)

Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies have seen a fall from grace and seen the emergence of a new NL East Power in the Atlanta Braves. Since the Philadelphia were last in first place on May 30th, the Braves and the Mets have both out played the two-time back-to-back Nation League Pennant Champs. Consider this, the Braves had a (45-45) record one year ago today compared to the (53-37) record they have now in 2010. The same can be said for the Mets who now have a record of (48-41) compared to the (42-46) record they had in 2009.

In a nutshell the Phillies have suffered 3 major injuries that might have just taken the fighting out of “Fighting Phils.” Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, and Carlos Ruiz are those injured players that bring so much to the table.

In his carrier, Chase Utley is a .294 hitter who knocks 105 RBIs a year. In 2010, the Phillies 2nd baseman is only projected to only compile a .277 batting average with 75 RBIs. The 15-day disabled list is where Utley has been lately, with a strained ligament in his right thumb preventing him to play. Good news though is that, Utley had his caste removed yesterday now allowing team doctors and coaches to create what is expected to be a 6 to 8 week timetable for his to return. At that pace, Utley would return to big league action come mid-august. The question, can the team wait that long?

Team batting average leader Placido Polanco is in a position where he could return to the lineup on Saturday. Coming off an elbow injury, Polanco who is a carrier .304 hitter is batting .318 in 62 games this season. In a resent rehab start in the Gulf Coast League, Polanco went 1 for 3 with one double and 2 RBIs. This comes as a good sign that the 34 year old can still hit and handle any discomfort that maybe present in his elbow. But take into consideration that with his elbow injury, he will still need surgery come the off-season. In reality, the teams 3rd baseman will be playing under 100 percent for the next two months once he gets back into the lineup.

Coming off of agreeing to a three-year contract in January. Carlos Ruiz is now returning15-day disabled list with a concussion. He was expected to be activated yesterday [Saturday] against the Cubs and be slotted into the lineup. After two nights of big league action, Ruiz went 1 for 7 with 1 strikeout. Ruiz, who is a stead presence behind the plate, will need to add continue that stability by throwing out runners like he did in 2009 throwing out 27.4 percent.

The importance of the upcoming stretch for the Phillies is the fact that they have match-ups with good teams over the next week. The Phillies will play their current series against the Chicago Cubs for the final two games, go on to play the (49-41) St. Luis Cardinals at Busch Stadium for a 4 games series, and finally face the (49-40) Colorado Rockies at home [Citizens bank Park] in a four game match-up with NL East standings on the line.

The Phillies should start to put the pedal to the medal considering Atlanta Braves could lose a few games against the San Diego Padres and the Mets will be playing teams like the San Francisco Giants, LA Dodgers, and the St. Luis Cardinals. If the Fighting Phils ever wanted to make a move, it should be now.