When the Red Sox obtained Victor Matinez they brought a solid bat to the team, they also made Tito’s job much harder. To keep V-Mart’s bat in the lineup the team needs to rotate Tek, Lowell, and Ortiz out of their usual spots. Red Sox pitchers have long benefited with Varitek calling the game behind the plate and Martinez is not a defensive upgrade, but offensively the team is much better with V-Mart’s bat replacing Tek’s. When V-Mart goes to first and Youk shifts to third, you get the benefit of allowing Mike Lowell to rest his hip, but his hot bat is on the bench. With Big Papi struggling at the plate, the DH spot has looked like a better spot to play Lowell or V-Mart and keep Tek behind the dish, but that hasn’t happened much. Lowell has definitely been the odd man you since V-Mart arrived while Big Papi is usually the DH. Tito can’t get away with saying he is just going to start Ortiz against righties because his numbers are very similar against lefties.
There is no question that right now the team is better offensively when Tek and Ortiz are on the bench, letting V-Mart catch and Lowell DH. Big Papi and Tek have been the heart and soul of the Red Sox for years and have a huge fan support but their numbers are starting to hurt the team. It might be time to have them sit out even more. Theo will have to make some big choices in the offseason with those two.
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