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The right shoulder is again a problem for Mike Timlin as he’s basically sitting out the Tampa Bay Devil Rays series with an aching shoulder – the very same shoulder that kept him on the shelf with tendonitis earlier this season and has borne out the brunt of 988 career games in Timlin’s 16-year career.
One thing that’s interesting has been Timlin’s usage out of the bullpen during the month of July, as he’s gone from a guy in the past that was clearly utilized for three outs in the eighth inning to a 41-year-old right-handed middle reliever being used for multiple innings.
After throwing 92 pitches in the month of April, 19 pitches in one outing in May, and 133 pitches in nine outings in June, Timlin has pitched six games during the month of July when he’s been asked to record more than three outs and has thrown a grand total of 179 pitches in nine overall games during the month of July.
It’s hoped that Timlin will be able to pitch during the three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one as he’s not even scheduled to play catch until Tuesday.
“Trying to stay away from him for a couple of day,” said Terry Francona to NESN’s Tina Cervasio before Sunday’s game. “His shoulder is a little achy and we need to stay away [from him].”
Could the heavy workload be contributing to the "crankiness" in Timlin's right shoulder?
Seems plausible to me...
The Scoop on Dye
Here's a short summary of what went wrong with the Jermaine Dye deal from Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, as the third team -- believed to be the Brewers -- backed out a three-way deal that would have netted Boston the slugging outfielder, who despite having an offer year still has more home runs (19) than anyone on the Red Sox roster this season. An account like this tells you exactly what the Red Sox front office feels about JD Drew's chances of turning things around and helping lead this team to the playoffs.
The Red Sox had a three-way deal in place to acquire White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye earlier this week, but the trade fell through because of an unspecified issue with a player from the third club, according to an industry source.
Dye, who is a free agent at the end of the season, was willing to consider waiving his limited no-trade protection to join the Red Sox in exchange for guarantees about playing time and incentive bonuses, the source said.
The Sox told Dye that they were prepared to play him five days a week. It is unclear how they would have created the playing time, considering that they are set in all three outfield positions and the DH spot.
J.D. Drew, Coco Crisp and Manny Ramirez are the Sox's regular outfielders. David Ortiz is their DH. Drew, however, is batting .209 against lefties, and occasionally misses time due to injuries. Ortiz is dealing with a variety of physical ailments.
Dye, 33, has revived since the All-Star break, producing an impressive 1.008 on-base/slugging percentage while hitting five homers in 56 at-bats.
The Sox likely would use Dye to replace Wily Mo Pena, whom they discussed with the White Sox and are actively trying to move. Under such a scenario, however, Dye would not play full-time.
It is believed the teams are continuing discussions, though the Red Sox evidently did not want to meet the White Sox's price for Dye, prompting the clubs to involve a third team
