There hasn’t been a whole lot to smile about in the past few weeks.  It appears that Hideki Okajima, who has had a very nice run as one of the better left-handed set-up men in the majors these past few years, is hitting the obligatory wall that all athletes in their mid thirties eventually hit.

However, there might be a few small glimmers of hope of the horizon for the 2010 Boston Red Sox, now 5 games back in the wild card race.

Josh Beckett:

Beckett was considered to be 1A or 1B on the Red Sox rotation before the season began, but after a very dissapointing start to the season, he landed on the DL for 2 months.  Here is how he looked before and after his DL stint.

Beckett’s game looked better than before in just about every facet; velocity, command, and pitch selection.  With all 2010 interleague games now in the rear view mirror, Beckett will have no reason to get within 60 feet of the batter’s box and risk another “tweak” (until the playoffs, at least).

Victor Martinez:

Terry Francona mentioned that Martinez might be ready to play in this series against the Anaheim Angels.  This is huge news, considering the fact that the three-headed abomination of Kevin Cash, Dusty Brown, and Gustavo Molina have reached base only 14 times in 70 plate appearances, and have had zero extra base hits or RBI during that span.  The variance in offensive productivity between Martinez and these other guys is mind-blowingly vast.  It’s simply a completely different team without him in the lineup.

Jacoby Ellbury:

Take heart, drunken 25-year old women smoking butts while double-fisting Coors Light on Yawkey Way: you will soon have another reason to let your gravelly voices be heard amongst the other cheering fans.  Your enigmatic heartthrob should return in a week or two.  Jacoby Ellsbury will begin his minor league rehab assignment this week.

Dustin Pedroia

Pedroia still has at least 3 weeks to go before we see him back on the major league roster, but it appears that he is progressing nicely.

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