Stephen Drew day-to-day with oblique discomfort

Jun 2, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Stephen Drew (7) warms up prior to a game against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Red Sox signed Stephen Drew in mid-May to provide depth in the left side of the infield and perhaps add some life to a barren Red Sox lineup. However, so far he has been anything but those things.

He certainly has not added any life to the lineup in an admittedly tiny sample size, as he is just 1-14 with 2 walks in his first 4 games. And while he has always been a solid shortstop and likely will help the Red Sox in that regard, Drew hasn’t been able to do much of that either. John Farrell has elected to play Drew sparingly in the early going, allowing him plenty of time to rest and recover since he did not have a traditional spring training, but the 31-year old shortstop has still come down with some discomfort in his right oblique.

Drew was absent from the Red Sox lineup last night, which drew some criticism given that a right-hander in Bud Norris was on the mound. After the game had started, however, it was announced that Drew was dealing with this minor injury.

Ideally, Drew can recover quickly and this is simply a non-factor because while Drew’s short stay in the Red Sox lineup has been miserable, Jonathan Herrera hasn’t been much better in a significantly larger sample size as he has slashed .241/.328/.259 in 70 plate appearances (though he has been on a tear lately as he’s 7 for his last 14). After all, if Drew can get back to his 2013 form, then he’ll be a very welcome addition to the Red Sox offense and defense, both of which have struggled so far in a rough 2014 campaign.