When the Red Sox brought veteran catcher Kevin Cash back to Boston in a trade with the Astros on Thursday, it wasn't just for insurance. Hours later, word leaked out that Jason Varitek was headed to the disabled list with a broken foot, just two days after Victor Martinez landed there with a broken thumb.
Varitek is expected to miss about six weeks with his injury, suffered when he fouled a ball off his foot in Wednesday night's game against Tampa Bay. Martinez is expected back immediately after the All-Star break, but the Red Sox will make do with Cash (who played in Boston in 2007-08) and Gustavo Molina in the interim.
Not to be outdone, reliever Manny Delcarmen also is expected to officially go on the disabled list Friday. He has a forearm strain. So if you're scoring at home, that's four key Red Sox players to the DL in a week, starting with Dustin Pedroia's broken left foot last Saturday. And don't forget Clay Buchholz, who suffered a leg injury Saturday but has not been DL'ed.
About the only good news amidst this onslaught of injuries is that they'll get three game-free days of recovery time for their patients during the upcoming All-Star break. But that isn't much consolation for the havoc being wrought on their active roster.
Everything has happened so quickly that it's difficult to judge what effect the injuries will have on the Red Sox in the next few weeks, but it still appears the two playoff spots likely to be won in the AL East will come by the slimmest of margins.
Boston can't afford to drop off too far at this juncture, and with the non-waiver trade deadline looming in a few weeks, Theo Epstein might have to find some stopgap measures. Measures that extend beyond Cash, who was acquired from Houston for shortstop Angel Sanchez.
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