Will Middlebrooks made his Major League debut last night, filling in for DL-bound Kevin Youkilis. While his debut may not have been the most exciting for a Red Sox rookie in recent memory (Daniel Nava’s grand slam, anyone?), it was a boost for the Red Sox as a whole. Middlebrooks went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, and a steal. Not to shabby.
There’s been a lot of talk about the Red Sox bringing up Middlebrooks this season, especially with Youkilis struggling so much. In 24 games with Pawtucket this season, Middlebrooks hit .333 with a .380 OBP and .677 SLG. He had 9 home runs, 1 Triple, 3 Doubles, drove in 27 runs, and walked 7 times. He was successively in 3 out of 4 stolen base attempts. With numbers like those, it’s a wonder why the Red Sox called up Jose Iglesias a game before Middlebrooks (Middlebrooks reportedly had a “minor” thumb injury).
With the arrival of Middlebrooks, there’s been some speculation that Youkilis will be traded this season. The Red Sox hold a $13 million team option or a $1 million buyout on Youkilis’ contract for 2013. I’ve heard most predictions, if Youkilis is traded, is for Youk to be traded to the Reds (for Arroyo, is what my brother predicted).
Personally, I don’t think Youkilis will be traded. Besides the fact that Youk is Boston Royalty (he recently married Tom Brady’s sister), I don’t think an agreement could be made for Youkilis. He’s had a few injury-ridden seasons in a row, and he started off slow this year. He hasn’t played more than 136 games since 2008. And before that, the most games Youkilis played in a season is 147, in 2006.
I like Youkilis; I honestly do. I think he’s got a fight in him that the Red Sox need, but I also think that it may be time to pass the reigns on to someone younger, like Middlebrooks. Granted, Middlebrooks has a lot to prove, and he’s not going to do that in one game (though some comments I’ve read on The Boston Globe’s website seem to think that he’s already done that). If anything, I think Middlebrooks should remain on the Major League roster this year, play when he can, watch Youkilis, and next year, if he proves himself, third base belongs to Middlebrooks.
It’ll be interesting to see how much time Valentine allows Middlebrooks to play third base while Youkilis is on the DL since Nick Punto is also on the roster and is being paid more. A player’s salary really shouldn’t determine the amount of playing time a player gets; but unfortunately, I think it does (see Ryan Sweeney). So, we’ll have to wait and see how much time Middlebrooks plays while he’s up and how well he does.
A few other tidbits:
* Speaking of Ryan Sweeney, he leads the Majors in Doubles with 12. Ortiz is second with 11. Last year, Sweeney’s season total for Doubles was 11.
* The Red Sox signed Mark Prior to a minor-league deal. Living in the Midwest in “Cubs Territory,” I’ve heard a lot about Prior over the years. He hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2006, and he’s been with the Rangers and Yankees organizations since then.
* Josh Beckett will be missing his next scheduled start, which is Saturday. The Red Sox are bringing up Aaron Cook to start this game.
* If you watch the NESN broadcast of the games, you may notice that Jerry Remy’s been gone. He is recovering from a sinus infection and will be out for at least the next week. Dennis Eckersley and Peter Gammons are filling in for those games.
* I’m already tired of the Bryce Harper hype. I watched an interview he did with Harold Reynolds, and Harper actually said that baseball players need to be cocky (or something to that effect). I’m sorry, but I can name plenty of players who don’t appear cocky on the field. There’s a difference between cockiness and confidence.
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