Carl Crawford Injury: Crawford Has Elbow Examined

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe is reporting that Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford had his left elbow examined Tuesday.  While Crawford’s elbow issue is listed as minor, it figures to extend his stay on the Red Sox disabled list.  Crawford began the year on the DL as he’s also recovering from wrist surgery.

Abraham said that before Crawford’s elbow flared up the outfielder was close to playing in extended spring training games.  Now Crawford will have to slow things down a bit, though Abraham said his elbow problem could be solved by simply cutting back on his throwing for a few days.

Though it’s not serious, this still has to be considered a setback and will keep Crawford out of the Red Sox starting lineup for an even longer period of time.  Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has said that Crawford will require at least 50 at-bats during extended spring training before he heads north and joins Boston.

After signing a lucrative free agent contract with the Red Sox prior to the 2011 season, Crawford went on to post disappointing numbers.  Crawford only managed an on base percentage of .289 along with his lowest OPS (.694) since 2003.

In Crawford’s absence, the Red Sox have used offseason acquisitions Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney in left and right field.

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