It's taken a while, but Andrew Bailey is finally over his injury and ready to make his Red Sox debut. WEEI's Alex Speier reports that after finishing 6 1/3 innings of rehab in Pawtucket, Bailey is expected to be activated in time for tomorrow's series opener at Camden Yards.
It's less of a story than it might otherwise have been because the Red Sox have become a soap opera and because most non-pink hats kind of hope the Sox keep struggling and miss the playoffs so some change can come in the offseason.
But it would still be nice to see Bailey perform. As the main haul for Josh Reddick -- who's slugging .500 in Oakland this year -- Bailey was expected to slide right into the spot Jonathan Papelbon had filled for so long. His injury resulted in the Sox having to scurry for a solution, opting to convert Daniel Bard to a starter (and destroying all the value he had built up) and make Alfredo Aceves the closer.
Aceves has his believers, but I'm not one of them. He's got a 4.14 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP, which is OK for a middle reliever or a starter, but not a guy showing up in high-leverage situations. Some say if you excluse his poor start he looks better, but that argument is always stupid to me. Everyone looks better if you exclude their bad performances.
So I'm looking forward to seeing what Bailey can do. Hopefully Bobby V slides him back into the closer position and finds another role for Aceves.
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August 15, 2012
