Chris De Luca of the Sun Times is reporting here that Carlos Quentin is not all that close to returning to the Sox. The report says Oney, Ozzie's son, has been watching Carlos down in Charlotte and he says Quentin is not able to run at full speed yet.
While one would be inclined to say, no big deal he's got another week to get better, it may not be that easy. Carlos has been out since the end of May, and was ailing for weeks before that. This injury is not going away quickly.
The positive is that when he swings the bat, he should be near the same guy we grew accustomed to last year. The foot has not really hindered his swing according to Carlos himself, Oney, and his .500 average in Charlotte.
The negative is that he is going to be limited in the field for extended periods when he does return. They will surely look to get him in the DH spot when the Sox face tough lefties or Thome needs a day off. But on the normal day, he may only be able to put 5,6,7 innings of work in out in the outfield. There's a major trickle down effect based on this injury if Carlos is truly that limited. However, the Sox are looking like they are going to be patient and wait til his darn near 100%. Unfortunatley my hopes and dreams of him being in Baltimore next Friday are probably shot.
I just found this today. If this doesn't make you want Carlos back, I don't know what will.
That's a bummer, I feel like I can hardly remember him being healthy, between last year's wrist thing and this year's stuff. I can only imagine how tired Sox fans must be of waiting.
ReplyDelete