Jacoby Ellsbury, near MVP in 2011 and owner of an injury plagued campaign in 2012, may be getting dropped out of the leadoff spot shortly in the Red Sox lineup. Manager, John Farrell, indicated Ellsbury may lose claim of being the leadoff hitter if he didn't turn around his rough start to 2013, which won't help negotiations in Free Agency as Ellsbury's contract is set to expire at the end of the season. Fan ...

David Ortiz continues to slug and he certainly let his former team experience just that on Saturday night. Ortiz would account for half of the 12 runs scored by Boston in its 12-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Beginning in the first-inning, Ortiz launched a one out, three-run home run to right field off of Scott Diamond, scoring Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia to give the Red Sox an early 3-0 lead. F ...

In the weeks leading up to opening day, Boston was projected for a season of mediocrity in the wake of a 2012 season marred by injury, poor play, and clubhouse disunity. Amongst the many questions surrounding the Boston club heading into the season included whether newcomer third baseman Will Middlebrooks would build off of his success from last season. While having a very respectable rookie campaign in 201 ...

Boston Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan will undergo season ending surgery to repair his right flexor tendon.  The surgery essentially ends  Hanrahan's career in Boston whose one-year deal worth $7.04 million expires at the end of the year. Hanrahan struggled early on as Boston's closer and ended with a 9.82 ERA a 2.18 WHIP  in nine appearances.  The two-time All-Star has pitched for seven seasons in the major ...

Jon Lester gave up a double in sixth inning to  Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Macier Izturis and would go on to  finish a one hit complete game shutout over the Blue Jays 5-0. Lester  struck out five and walked none throwing 118 pitches,  lowering his ERA to 2.73 along the way. Will Middlebrooks, Dustin Pedroia, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Danel Nava provided all the offense Lester would need. Lester was  so do ...

Will Middlebrooks, the third base middle-of-the-order bat for the Boston Red Sox, was removed in the seventh inning of Tuesday's game after colliding with backup catcher, David Ross. Middlebrooks, who has developed a reputation for being injury prone in his young career, stayed in the game immediately after the collision (Ross left immediately) in the fifth inning, but eventually came out two innings later ...

Felix Doubront has been battling a diminished fastball and control problems, and now it will cost him a turn in the rotation. Highly rated prospect, Allen Webster, has been recalled from AAA to take injured closer, Joel Hanrahan's spot on the roster. Webster is expected to make a start against the Twins while Doubront attempts to rediscover his fastball and location in the bullpen. Fantasy Play: It truly is ...

Junichi Tazawa may get the first shot at closing for the Boston Red Sox. Red Sox manager John Farrell said he would like to use Tazawa  in the closers role and keep Koji Uehara as the setup man in the eighth. Uehara has been used extensively and has pitched in 15 of the Red Sox 31 games,  striking out 17 in just over 13 innings of work, so it makes sense  to keep him there. Getting the most that they can ou ...

Earlier today we reported that the Red Sox placed Andrew Bailey on the DL and the Joel Hanrahan would resume his closer responsibilities after recovering from a hamstring injury. Hanrahan allowed a solo home run to the Twins Brian Dozier, blowing a one run lead and the save. Half of Hanrahan's 20 pitches were strikes. The Red Sox trainer came out to talk and that's when Hanrahan left the game with an appare ...

The Boston Red Sox placed Andrew Bailey on the disabled list with a right biceps injury. Bailey hasn't pitched since April 28 against Houston  and converted five of six save opportunities while Joel Hanrahan was on the DL, missing 15 games with a right hamstring. Bailey is scheduled to undergo an MRI and no timetable for his return was announced. Bailey was expected to be available for Saturday's game but a ...

The Boston Red Sox will look to Jon Lester  to avoid a three game sweep against the Texas Rangers.  The Red Sox entered the series having one their first four road series of the season. Yu Darvish will take the mound for Texas. Lester is 3-3 with a 4.57 ERA in 10 starts against the Rangers (19-11), but 0-2 with a 10.29 ERA in his last three  and gave up six runs in six innings in his last start 9-7  loss to ...

Joel Hanrahan recorded his 100th career save after surrendering a lead -off single and the Boston Red Sox earned their 20th win of the season 3-1 over the Toronto Blue Jays. Andrew Bailey who has assumed the closer role in Hanrahan's absence, (recently back from the disabled list,) was unavailable due to soreness his right biceps. "He got on the mound a little bit before the game yesterday and felt the disc ...

The Boston Red Sox have activated Joel Hanrahan from the disabled list,  but for the time being Andrew Bailey will  retain his role as a team's closer. Since Hanrahan went on the disabled list Bailey has recorded five saves in six opportunities.  He has pitched to an ERA of 1.46 over 12 1/3 innings and has 20 strikeouts. Boston manager John Farrell has decided to stick with Bailey at least for the short-ter ...

In Sunday's win over the Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Over eight games, he is hitting .516 with two homers, 11 RBIs and a 1.400 OPS. After spending most of the spring nursing a tender Achilles' heel the 37-year-old Ortiz  might consider skipping spring training every year. We say that in jest of course because we all know how much major-league baseball players ne ...