Depth

By Andrew Lipsett
Apologies are in order on this column; it’s up late – and is a duplicate of something I just posted at 12eight – because I woke up this morning with somewhat horrific neck pain that’s making it fairly difficult for me to do simple things, like move. Assuming I’ll be able to turn my head more than 5 degrees in either direction come Wednesday, I’ll have a fuller article up then.
Just before the start of the season, I wrote out a list of key trends to watch for this season. The first of these was the issue of team depth; depth in the lineup, depth in the bullpen, depth in the rotation. As compared to past Red Sox teams – and especially with team pitching – this is the deepest team we?ve seen around here in quite a while, and that depth is already being put to the test, just a handful of games into the season.
Today?s news that David Wells has been placed on the disabled list – joining Coco Crisp and David Riske (along with the temporarily-sidelined Trot Nixon) – means that regular PT will now be given to our 4th, 5th, and now 6th OF?s, our AAAA lefty SP/RP Lenny DiNardo, and new reliver Jermaine Van Buren, called up to take Wells? spot on the 25-man roster. All of the above – especially Wily Mo Pena and Dustan Mohr – are major-league caliber players with as good a shot as any backup in the league at providing solid value. The injuries to these key players hurt, but it was a hallmark of this offseason to acquire this level of depth, and now it?s being put to the test.