Posts tagged DavidOrtiz at FanHouse

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

The Red Sox don't worry about individual awards. They don't even like to talk about them out of fear that it might distract them from the task at hand, winning a third World Series in five years. That's probably part of the reason why they've been baseball's most successful franchise in the past decade.

If Kevin Youkilis finishes with a bang, they might have to start.

The player once dubbed "a fat third baseman, who couldn't run, throw or field," in Michael Lewis' "Moneyball" is having quite the season. He entered play Thursday with 24 home runs, 88 RBI and a .321 batting average. He ranks in the top 10 in those categories as well as on-base percentage, slugging average, OPS, total bases, doubles, triples and walks.

He might not look like an MVP. He certainly doesn't act like one, grinding hard in every at-bat and taking every out personally in a manner ex-Yankee Paul O'Neill would be proud of, but like it or not, he's a serious contender for the award with under six weeks to go in the season.

"It's been fun to watch," says Dustin Pedroia of Youkilis' season. "He's been the biggest part of our offense."

"He's growing into his power," says Jason Varitek. "He's always been a really good hitter."

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

The Red Sox have decided to push back Josh Beckett's next turn in the rotation to Tuesday because the pitcher is feeling some tingling and numbness in his throwing arm.

Manager Terry Francona said the 2007 ALCS and 2003 World Series MVP slept on his throwing arm awkwardly on Saturday night. He started Sunday against the Blue Jays, allowing eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings in arguably his worst performance in a Red Sox uniform.

Francona indicated that the decision to push Beckett back from Saturday at Toronto to Tuesday at New York was more precautionary than anything else.

"It's not something we're real worried about, we just don't want to do something rash," said Francona. "If we let him pitch just because he's a good pitcher and he will pitch, I just don't think that makes much sense."

The ace's usual side sessions were postponed a few days as a result of the tingling and the team wanted to put him on a normal throwing schedule in between starts.

For Beckett's part, he sounds a little more concerned. "Anytime it's something with your arm ... especially with a pitcher, you think the worst," said the pitcher. But he went on to say that club officials have assured him the numbness isn't anything to worry about long-term.

Beckett has been outperformed, at least on a results basis, by both Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka, but there's no doubt Boston will need him at his best to secure a playoff spot and succeed should they get to the postseason. So how worried should Red Sox fans be?

It wouldn't be the dog days of summer without a good old fashioned panic attack in the Northeast, where baseball fans live and die with the outcome of each night's game. In almost perfect symmetry, the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets all got bad news on the injury front Wednesday.

Considering where the big three sit in the standings, fans in New York and Boston have plenty to be concerned about. Let's look at each team's situation and try to assess how bad things are right now and how bleak they could get.

Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz has already missed almost two months this season with a torn tendon sheath in his wrist. Now the slugger is reporting that he's hearing a "clicking" sound in the wrist he injured back on May 31 in Baltimore. The good news for Boston fans is that, on its own, the clicking sound isn't a concern. Indeed, Ortiz was back in the lineup for Wednesday night's game against the Royals.

However, as injury guru Will Carroll points out, the problem could be more mental than anything. If Ortiz's swing gets less violent and vicious because he is afraid of getting injured, it could hurt his productivity -- a frightening proposition for Boston in the wake of the Manny Ramirez trade.

Only a day after the pivotal Dugout of the season, the passage of time and the inevitability of happenstance thrusts the trade of Manny Ramirez on us. And not just a trade: a trade full of organization-bashing and apathy after a season devoted to disproving the character we'd developed. Our Manny has always been a bit slow, but he's also always been the kind of guy who means well and tries hard, even when he's goofing around. He's misunderstood. He's just "being Manny."

Well, "being Manny" has a different definition now.

As the Farnsworth story comes full circle, the MannyTheTorpedoes story comes to an end. Next week: Dontrelle Willis wins the Pulitzer Prize and Bill Pecota reveals that he prefers football. Tonight's Dugout, the end of an era, is after the jump.

It has been a long, long season for the Atlanta Braves. What started as a legitimate World Series campaign has suddenly become an injury riddled nightmare for first year GM Frank Wren.

Yet, he refused to give up on the season and trade the team's biggest soon-to-be free agent asset, Mark Teixeira. Until now.

On Monday afternoon, the Braves officially glued a ribbon on Teixeira's head and stationed him in their main display window. After gathering their chief decision-makers in Atlanta for a meeting Monday, they then began the process of informing other teams that they plan to trade Teixeira if they get the right deal.

The feeling of clubs that have spoken with Braves GM Frank Wren is that he hasn't seen anything lately that would convince him his team has a 41-17 run in it (which is what it would take to get to 90 wins). And neither has anyone else.

Wren followed his team to Philadelphia over the weekend, to try to get "a feel" for which way it was headed, he said. What he witnessed was almost incomprehensible -- a weekend in which the Braves blew leads of five-plus runs to the same team in back-to-back games for the first time in franchise history.

Well, it was a decent run for the Braves this year. I mean, not actually "decent" but they at the very least hung in there given the nature of all the injuries they have sustained. And, it has to seem pretty obvious that the injuries to Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson are the final straw for the season.

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.

- The Mets have no idea what to expect from Ryan Church the rest of the way and the Fernando Tatis-Endy Chavez combination in left field probably isn't going to cut, so everyone, including manager Jerry Manuel, is expecting the team to add an outfielder before the trade deadline. Just don't expect that outfielder to be of the Adam Dunn or Matt Holliday variety -- they just don't have the chips. New York has one of the shallowest farm systems in baseball as a consequence of the Johan Santana trade, particularly in the coveted major-league ready category.

That leaves the Mets looking at players like Xavier Nady, Raul Ibanez and Casey Blake, which really is fine. They need an upgrade on what they currently have in left field and some insurance for their injured right fielder to win the NL East, not a star player.

- The Cubs have already added starter Rich Harden and reliever Chad Gaudin, but they're still looking for pitching. A high-ranking team official took in A.J. Burnett's last start for the Blue Jays. A looming DL trip for closer Kerry Wood could change the team's focus, though. Wood's injury is not believed to be serious, but the team's bullpen was heavily taxed over the first half, and now they're down their best arm. Suddenly Damaso Marte, Brian Fuentes and Huston Street have to be looking pretty good to GM Jim Hendry.

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.

- The Diamondbacks have lost their grip on first place in the NL West and now they'll be without right fielder Justin Upton for a spell as they try to fend off the Dodgers. The budding 20-year-old star has battled a strained oblique injury since before the All-Star break. Eric Byrnes' season is already in doubt, so this news has to increase the pressure on Arizona GM Josh Byrnes to go out and get an outfielder. We know the Snakes won't rule out Barry Bonds, but Seattle's Raul Ibanez or one of the available Pittsburgh bats -- Xavier Nady or Jason Bay -- are still more likely to wind up in Arizona.

- The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt reports that a top Brewers official is at Yankee Stadium for this weekend's Yankees-A's series scouting players. The player most likely being watched by Milwaukee? Oakland closer Huston Street, who has been effective, though not his usual dominant self this season. The Brewers have bolstered their rotation already by adding CC Sabathia, but the bullpen is still a point of concern. Milwaukee ranks 10th in the NL in bullpen ERA and it will have to get better if the club is going to make a push for the postseason.

July 31 is rapidly approaching. Buy or Sell lets each team know where they stand.

The Boston Red Sox aren't sellers, just to get that out of the way. Are they big buyers though? A lot of that will come down to a slim sheath protecting a tendon in the wrist of David Ortiz. Rumors have been bouncing around about the team's interest in Mark Teixeira to fill Papi's spot in the lineup. That's curious since the team has maintained from day one that Papi will be just fine and back in the lineup for the stretch run.

They probably won't know if Papi is healthy until the deadline has passed. He's supposed to be back July 25th but push that back a couple of days and you're not going to be able to land a big-time replacement. Similarly, if Ortiz suffers a setback after the fact the team will be left scrambling for answers. That's a problem but not a huge one. The Sox haven't suffered too much in Ortiz's absence and have a killer pitching staff that can carry them with or without Papi's monster bat.

The other problem with the trade idea for Teixeira is the inclusion of Kevin Youkilis in the rumored package going to Atlanta. Youk has been great for the Sox and isn't that far below Teixeira on the list of first basemen. Why would you deal a guy with controllable costs for an impending free agent who would cost upwards of $15 million to keep around?

It was announced back in May that David Ortiz would take part in an on-field promotion for State Farm Insurance in which he'd "call his shot" during the Home Run Derby. Considering the Derby is taking place at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees were up in arms about a Red Sox player riffing on a on a piece of storied Babe Ruth lore.

As luck would have it, Ortiz won't be participating in the Derby because of his wrist injury, but it's interesting to note that the Yankees would have gotten their way, nonetheless. Major League Baseball changed the format of the promotion, so instead of just one player calling his shot, both of the finalists from the eight-man field will have their chance.

Granted, there's still a good chance that the sluggers who do call their shot won't be wearing pinstripes (especially with Alex Rodriguez declining an invitation), but at least Yankees fans can rest assured some bum from the Sawx won't be descreating the old ballpark. Because, you know, some things (that may or may not have actually happened and took place 76 years ago at Wrigley Field!) are just sacred.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Chicago Cubs (45-28) vs. Chicago White Sox (41-31) - 2:20PM Est.

You know how when you're watching a game on television, whether it's football, baseball, or anything, and the game is being played by two rival teams that the announcer tells you to "throw their records out the window!" You know what I'm talking about? I hate that. That's one of the stupidest things that announcers can say.

Why should we throw the records out the window? I mean, if one of the teams is 12-1 and the other is 2-10 I don't care how long they've been rivals, I'm pretty sure that 12-1 team is going to steamroll the other one. So no, I will not throw that record out the window.

Now this afternoon, for the first time ever, the White Sox and Cubs will be meeting head-to-head in the regular season while both are currently holding down first place in their division. Still, the two teams are moving in opposite directions right now. The White Sox just scored 37 runs in a three-game sweep of the Pirates, and the Cubs are limping home after losing three in a row for the first time this season down in Tampa.

Of course, when these two teams meet, it doesn't matter who is playing well and who isn't. In fact, you can throw their records right out the window (son of a...)!