Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Pedroia: Caged Animal

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Francona joined the Dale & Holley show and, as usual, brought some interesting quotes with him.

Snippets, via WEEI:

Jed Lowrie will be inserted into the starting lineup for Wednesday's afternoon game vs. the A's in Oakland. "He's going to play shortstop today," Francona stated.

He was activated along with pitcher Clay Buchholz. To make room, the Sox designated first baseman Ryan Shealy for assignment and sent Dustin Richardson to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Francona said he's happy to have them back, but he needs more than the "names" returning to the active roster. Said Francona: "We've got to get the production that comes along with that."

I've never expected much from Lowrie, and I'm not about to start now, but it's nice to have him back.  Pitchers usually need a start or two to get back to form, but I Buchholz should pick up where he left off.  Definitely not shedding a tear over Shealy or Dustin Richardson.  We only have room for one Dustin in the Boston, son.

Tthe highlight of the interview:

"[Pedroia] actually took BP on the field yesterday with that boot on," Francona said. "He's doing everything in his power to be ready." Francona joked that Pedroia is full of energy, and now that he can't spend that energy on playing, he's driving everyone crazy. "He's like a caged animal," Francona said. "We have got to get him back in the lineup or someone is going to kill him."

Tito makes a great, albeit obvious, point that just getting healthy isn't enough.  We don't have the luxury of a post-injury ramp-up period.  Hit the ground running, boys.

Ryan Shealy is the man

You have to love this nugget from Dan Hoard's latest PawSox roundup.

Shealy and I have something in common - we both attended colleges that feature blue and orange as their uniform colors: I'm a Syracuse grad while Shealy is a former University of Florida Gator.  

But unlike Shealy, I do not have a gigantic display of school pride in my home. 

"I have a 6-foot bronzed alligator that my sister got for me as a college graduation present," Shealy told me with a laugh.  "He's huge - it's a real alligator that had been bronzed and it is in my living room.  I call him 'Tater' and that's probably one of my favorite things." 

So how much does a bronzed alligator weigh?  

"I don't even know - it took three of us to move it," Shealy said.

Sox sign Lowell insurance, Ryan Shealy

MLBTradeRumors passes along a Ken Rosenthal report that the Red Sox have signed former Rockie, Royal, and Ray, Ryan Shealy.

Shealy was a fairly highly touted 1B prospect with Colorado who never really materialized. He was traded for Jeremy Affeldt to Kansas City in 2006. He hit .221 with 3 homers in 189 plate appearances in his age 27 season in KC, and despite 79 strong PAs in 2008, including 7 home runs, Billy Butler's emergence made him negligible for the Royals.

He caught on with a minor-league deal with the Rays this year, but he exercised an opt-out clause in his contract due to his strong hitting in the minors with an .866 OPS.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLBTR points out that Shealy has shown the ability to hit major-league pitching and relays an excellent point of Rosenthal's: This has Mike Lowell insurance written all over it. If we move Lowell now, we immediately have a bench bat who can play 1B (Youk obviously can play 3B if Beltre were to get hurt).

Maybe he's reading too much into it -- Theo has a history of picking up reclamation projects like this (see Hermida, Jeremy, Hall, Bill, and about 4,000 other guys). But I think he's right: it's another sign that Mike's on his way out. If Shealy signed on after opting out of a minor-league deal, he must have some assurance that he'll be on the big-league roster.