Boston Red Sox

Many love him, many hate him, but Rod Allen is one of a kind. I think we can all agree on that. For a long time, I wasn’t the biggest fan in the world of the Tiger color commentator.

When Daisuke Matsuzaka returns from his rehab assignment sometime during the next 10 days, the Red Sox will need to make room for him on the 25-man roster.

At about the same time, Jacoby Ellsbury—sidelined with four fractured ribs—will also be coming off the disabled list, though it may be some time before he can play.

During this afternoon’s media briefing, Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced that CF Jacoby Ellsbury (at center in photo) has been diagnosed with a hairline fracture in each of four ribs.

RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka has now completed his rehab assignment (three starts) with the Pawtucket Red Sox and, according to Sox manager Terry Francona, he will rejoin the rotation on his next turn.

In today’s media briefing, Tito said the team will NOT go with with a six-man rotation, therefore one of the current members of the starting five will be sent to the bubllpen. It says here it will be Wakefield, who has been brutal in each of his last two outings.

Francona was not willing to name the starter to be demoted in today’s briefing.

Many of you have been asking me how come I have not written about the Boston Red Sox slow start to 2010. The reason I have not written about the team yet is because I wanted to gather all my thoughts and really think about what has happened so far.

If I wrote about how I really felt at times, then something like “I would love to punch J.D. Drew in the face to wake him up” would have been written. I would probably write the same thing about Alfonso Soriano if I was a Chicago Cubs fan.

So here are my thoughts on what is going on Boston so far this year.

Caption: Tonight’s hero, CF Darnell McDonald, drove in the last three Red Sox runs—with a two-run home run in the eighth inning and a wall-ball scraper in the ninth—in the Red Sox' 7-6 win. Here, he is mobbed by Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, and the rest of his Red Sox teammates.

Tonight’s contest between the Red Sox and Texas Rangers was one for the books on so many levels that it may be difficult to do the game justice.

Scott Podsednik batting .457 and on pace to steal 94 bases? A fluke.

Livan Hernandez’s 16 scoreless innings and 2-0 record? A fluke.

The Pirates’ 7-5 record? Definitely a fluke.

However, there are some other early season trends around baseball that are more than just a stroke of good luck. Let’s take a look at Five Early MLB Trends that are No Fluke.

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The proof is in the pudding.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did.

There isn’t a single aspect of the team game that the Red Sox are doing well right now.

The pitching has been poor. The hitting has been horrendous. The baserunning has been embarrassing. The defense has been indefensible.

That’s a bad combination on a team that was built on pitching and defense.

Over the past two years, Jon Lester has been one of the best pitchers in the game of baseball. In both 2008 and 2009, Lester won at least 15 games while maintaining an ERA under 3.45.

Last year, Lester struck out 9.96 batters every nine innings while allowing just 2.83 walks. His 3.15 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, a statistic combining strikeouts, walks and home runs) was better than all but fours pitchers in the American League.

At the young age of 26, Lester is one of the most promising stars of the game.