by Joseph Kuykendall
MANCHESTER, N.H.---Local Boston Red Sox fans got a nice
Fourth of July treat Wednesday night. Both Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford
were in the starting lineup for the Portland Sea Dogs (AA-Affiliate of Red Sox)
as they took on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA-Affiliate of Toronto Blue
Jays) just north of Boston in Manchester, NH.
Both outfielders have been on the Disabled List for quite
some time and are slowly working their way back into big league shape.
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| Both Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford rehabbed with the Portland Sea Dogs in nearby New Hampshire Wednesday night. |
Crawford has been on the DL this whole season and yet to
make an appearance with the parent club due to a partial tear in the UCL of his
left elbow. He had been playing in games
in Fort Meyers, FL with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox prior to his recent “promotion”
to the Sea Dogs, all of which is part of his rehab plan.
In five games in the GCL Crawford went just 3-for-14. But in
his two games with the Sea Dogs (Tuesday and Wednesday) he is 3-for-6 with an
RBI. After his seventh rehab game, which was the July 4th game in
Manchester, Crawford wasn’t showing any noticeable pain and was fine with where
he stood, “Overall my body feels well. I’m still in a battle a little with my
elbow. I like where I’m at so far,” said Crawford who went 2-for-4 with an RBI
on America’s Birthday.
In his rehab appearance on Tuesday in Portland, Crawford fouled a ball off his knee and fell to the
ground. This provided a minor scare for Crawford and Red Sox Nation but it
didn’t seem to bother him in Wednesday night’s game, “[My knee] wasn’t as bad
as I thought it was going to be. I’m getting through it.”
Crawford isn’t a newcomer to rehab appearances having played
two games with the Pawtucket Red Sox last season as he was recovering from a
hamstring strain suffered in mid-June of last season.
Crawford’s focus right now is to get back with the Red Sox
as fast as possible and doing so by accomplishing the simple stuff, “I’m just
trying to stick with my approach, do the little things that I got to do to get
ready and get back to the big leagues, and make sure the body is healthy and
stuff like that,” said the 30-year old speedster.
Its easy to imagine the frustrations Crawford is going
through watching the Red Sox struggle a bit and knowing he can’t contribute to
make them better. He spoke a little bit about that following the game on
Wednesday, “You feel bad because you want to be out there and help your team
but its just unfortunate that everybody keeps going down and we keep having all
these injuries, especially when we start to play well we get injuries. It’s a
tough thing to watch, you wish you were out there helping the team.”
Switching over to the Red Sox other prized outfielder,
Jacoby Ellsbury went a mere 1-for-4 Wednesday night in his first game with
Portland on his current rehab schedule. Previously, he too was in Fort Meyers,
FL playing with the GCL Red Sox. With them, he went 2-for-10 including a Home
Run.
Much like Crawford, Ellsbury seemed satisfied with his
performance Wednesday night as well as how he felt afterwards, “It was good. It
was nice to get out there. It was fun playing. And I was happy the way it
went.”
In the post game press conference, Ellsbury noted what he
needs to do to get back up to major league par as well as what he is currently
working on to do so, “For me, I got to test [my shoulder], it has to be
battle-tested,” said the 2011 A.L. All-Star, “Down in the GCL you try to get
some at-bats, just try to get some swings and up here you try to see some
pitches and maybe try to make some game adjustments. But ultimately you got to
battle-test it before you go back out there.”
Prior to Wednesday night’s game, Ellsbury had appeared in 69
total games with the Sea Dogs in both regular action as well as a few other rehab
appearances. For this, Ellsbury had played in Manchester before back in his
minor league playing days and he touched upon being back in the Queen City,
“It’s nice. Its always a fun place to play. I definitely remember it here. It’s
been a few years now but tonight: a great crowd. It was fun.
Northeast Delta Dental Stadium housed 8, 544 fans on
Independence Day to witness not only the post-game fireworks but also the Red
Sox outfielders in rehabilitation action. That attendance number marks the 5th
highest attendance for the Fisher Cats. Both Ellsbury and Crawford enagegd with
the standing-room only crowd; signing autographs before the first pitch. Ellsbury
touched upon the fan support, “The fans have been great to me. It was fun just
to come out here and play. I’ve been looking forward to it since I hurt my
shoulder.”
As for making it to Boston soon and contributing, Ellsbury
sure thinks he and his fellow rehabbing outfielder have a lot to show for, when
they make it back to the big leagues, that could perhaps get the team back to
its winning ways, “We’re just itching to get back. We worked so hard just to
get to this point and I think once we step onto the field its going to show all
that hard work that we put in.”
Kuykendall can be followed on Twitter @JoeKBSU18 and contacted at
JKuykendall@BostonSportsU18.com
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