Once it was announced that Carl Crawford was to undergo surgery on his wrist, we originally expected him to miss maybe a week or two of the season. And with his insane workout habits, we held out hope that he would find a way to be back sooner than that.
Well, Bobby Valentine is here to tell you that you might as well get used to the idea of the Sox playing ball without Crawford for a while.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Carl’s a few weeks into the season before he’s really ready to go,” Valentine said yesterday. “I wouldn’t be surprised, nor disappointed, if that’s what nature dictates as the healing process.”
“When he’s ready and he’s healed, he’s going to be a welcome addition to our team,’’ Valentine said. “Whenever that is. The more I’ve looked at Carl on film and tried to evaluate the whole thing, he’s really special. We really need him. But if it’s later, then that’s when it will be.’’
To be fair, this is all speculation as the club won't really know the state of Crawford's wrist until he arrives in Fort Meyers. What we do know is that he's yet to be able to swing a bat. So there's still a lot of progress that needs to be made before he's ready to suit up.
If they need to keep Carl out into May, I'm perfectly fine with that. There's no worse idea than rushing a baseball player back from a wrist injury. Especially one that plays Crawford's brand of ball. We have a long season ahead of us, and approximately 47 outfielders on the roster. We can afford to wait for Carl to be 100%.
What we can't afford is to force him back and risk injuring his wrist any further. Not when we have so many years and dollars invested in him.
