The Sox have attempted to use Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Drew as their leadoff hitters this season, and the results haven been less than optimal in any of the attempted situations. The Sox came into Sunday ranked 26th in all of Major League Baseball with a .306 on base percentage out of the leadoff spot this season, and are better than only the Oakland A’s among AL teams in terms of on base percentage out of their leadoff hitters.

Sox GM Theo Epstein has said on several occasions that part of the organizational goal is to be at least league average in all categories and positions, and the Sox are managing only a meager .258 batting average out of the leadoff spot this season – a mark that puts them close to middle of the road at 16th among big league teams. Technically that’s close to the middle, but AL teams are averaging a .277 batting average and .349 on base percentage out of the top offensive spot this season – so Boston’s leadoff options are way off many of their AL counterparts and can be pointed to as one of the reasons the Sox offense can sometimes sink into stretches of futility.

Another bad game or two will sink Drew's batting average under .200 out of the leadoff spot, and the Boston right fielder started the day hitting .244 overall this season. He'll see pitches and gather some walks, but Drew is clearly not at his offensive best while hitting first.

The easy solution would be slide Ellsbury back into the leadoff batting slot that his skill set seems tailor made for, but the speedy centerfielder is hitting .356 with 14 runs scored in 73 at bats out of the seventh and eighth spots in the hitting order. Tough to move him out when he’s hitting, running and manufacturing runs at a spot toward the bottom of the batting order where his speed can really make things happen among some lesser offensive lights.

So Sox manager Terry Francona will likely continue to employ Drew out of the leadoff slot and Ellsbury lower in the order until Jed Lowrie can prove he's healthy and able to add another dangerous, productive bat toward the bottom of the order in Boston -- a development that might just allow Ellsbury to reclaim his home at the top of the Boston batting order.

Here’s each of Boston’s choices for the leadoff spot this season, including the sad-but-ironic truth that Julio Lugo put up the best numbers of any of these players in his limited time out of the No. 1 table-setting slot this season:

Jacoby Ellsbury: .288/.320/.356 in 219 at bats with 29 runs scored in 50 games
Dustin Pedroia: .214/.264/.301 in 103 at bats with 16 runs scored in 24 games
J.D. Drew: .204/.317/.444 in 54 at bats with nine runs scored in 13 gamers
Julio Lugo: .462/.500/.615 in 13 at bats with six runs scored in 3 games
Rocco Baldelli and Jonathan Van Every: 0-for-6 with a run scored in two games