Kevin Cash to DL, Saltalamacchia Called-up

Just when it appeared that newly acquired catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia would remain in the minor leagues for another week or two before making an appearance in the bigs, another Sox injury has opened the door for an early arrival. This morning, the Red Sox placed Kevin Cash on the DL with a hamstring injury, making him the 17th Red Sox player to suffer from an injury so far in 2010. The move can only help the Sox, because Cash hit just .148 in 20 games with the Sox this year, collecting just 1 extra base hit (a double) during that span. The call-up of the man known as Salty will give the Sox flexibility, because he can catch to back-up Victor Martinez and may be called upon to play the occasional 1st base when Mike Lowell needs a rest. The bigger question for me is, will Salty’s name fit on his jersey?

Since joining the Red Sox farm system, the switch-hitting Salty has played in 5 games and has 5 hits, 3 doubles with no home runs and 2 rbis. The Sox are hopeful that Salty can reinvigorate his once highly tauted career in Boston, by proving to his doubters that he is over the arm issues he had a few years ago and is able to hit top quality pitching the bigs when given the chance. Some may remember that Salty was one of the center-pieces in the Mark Teixeira to the Atlanta Braves trade at the trade deadling in 2007 and found himself in the Texas Rangers organization until a few weeks ago. He was widely recognized as one of the best catching prospects in baseball in 2007, but has yet to come close to living up to the hype.

If he can regain his confidence and focus, Salty could be a longer-term back-up or even starter for the Sox, depending on what happens with Victor Martinez this off-season (he is a free agent after the 2010 season), but to this point, he Salty hasn’t earned the right to be an every day major league catcher. The Sox are hoping Dave Magadan and the other coaches can guide Salty and get him to mature and grow into a solid catcher. Only time will tell if Salty has that in him still, but he is getting an early opportunity to prove his value to the club and will likely play once or twice a week to give V-Mart a rest and potentially even Lowell a rest as well.

The injury train keeps rolling down the tracks and as soon as there is a report that Dustin Pedroia will be back on Tuesday, another player goes down. It is the story of the 2010 season, but so far, most of the Sox call-ups have performed well in the bigs. Let’s hope Salty is no exception.