The second half opens for the Red Sox on Friday (as well as the rest of MLB), and they will get back many of their injured players over the next few days.
Jacoby Ellsbury will be activated on Friday after being hurt in the home opener, and Will Middlebrooks should be back in the lineup tomorrow as well after injuring his hamstring nearly two weeks ago in Seattle. Clay Buchholz will be activated to make the start in St. Pete on Saturday night.
Carl Crawford will most likely be activated on Monday when the Sox return to Fenway to play the White Sox. He's playing for Pawtucket this weekend, and for those of you with NESN, Pawtucket will play Buffalo tonight at 7 PM and you can catch him in action.
No word yet on when Dustin Pedroia yet. He is eligible to come off the DL on July 19th, but he figures to spend a few more days at the very least on the shelf.
It's a big boost to get the injured guys back, especially psychologically, but the underperforming guys who've been around all year (Gonzalez, Lester, Beckett, Pedroia) have to play better than they have if the Sox really stand a chance to make it to the postseason.