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Report: Pedro out for 7 weeks
Boston ace pitcher has bone chips in his elbow
MLB.com
Monday, June 21, 2004
Last season, Boston manager Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in too long, and it cost the Red Sox a chance at the World Series.
This season, new Boston manager Terry Francona left Pedro in for too long, and it will cost the Red Sox their ace for up to seven weeks.
Martinez injured his elbow during the sixth inning of Sunday’s 6-5 win over the San Francisco Giants while facing Edgardo Alfonso.
He appeared tired a couple batters before facing Alfonso. Right after throwing a fastball to the Giants third baseman – which Alfonso stroked to centerfield for a two-run double – Martinez winced in pain, holding his elbow.
The overnight verdict from doctors – bone chips in his elbow. He likely won’t return until mid-August. “We’re thinking he should be out about seven weeks,” said trainer Gary Nadler. “It’ll be a few weeks before he can even play catch or go through basic training routines.”
This is a huge blow to a Red Sox team steamrolling through the AL East. Boston just finished its Interleague road trip West with a sweep of both Colorado and San Francisco. The team is now 50-19 – a whopping 16.5 games ahead of its nearest division challengers New York and Tampa Bay. The next best team in the majors is Arizona, which is riding a 10-game win streak and now has a 45-24 record. (Arizona also lost one of its stars, Luis Gonzales, for five to six weeks on Sunday to a base-running injury).
Today (Monday) is an off day for Boston, and management will likely put Martinez on the DL and make its roster moves in preparation for this week’s series against Minnesota and Philadelphia. A series with the Yankees looms next week.
“We’re not quite sure what we’re going to do to fill Pedro’s spot in the rotation,” Francona said. “We may call someone up from the minors, we may let one of our relievers take the job for awhile or we may go fishing in the free agent market to get us through this stretch.”
Francona would not respond to rumors that Boston would go after Florida Marlins ace Josh Beckett, something that has been on Internet message boards for several weeks. A possible trade for Beckett would have involved BK Kim, sources have said. But there's no way Boston would deal Kim now with Martinez out of commission.
Martinez exits until August with a 9-1 record and an ERA of 3.31. He had struggled in recent games, however, posting an 0-1 record and a 11.32 ERA in his three starts prior to Sunday’s.
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