Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Last year around this time, Grady Sizemore was still prepping and hoping to play during the 2013 season. Thought was that Sizemore might be ready around mid-season.. That never materialized and Sizemore didn’t play during the 2013 season. His fortunes slightly changed in January as the Boston Red Sox inked him to a one-year, $750k deal with incentives that could make the deal worth up to $6MM.
Today, Red Sox manager John Farrell announced that his starting center fielder for the 2014 season will be…Grady Sizemore.
#RedSox will use Grady Sizemore in CF and option Jackie Bradley Jr. to AAA Pawtucket.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) March 28, 2014
There’s this saying that “spring training doesn’t matter”. That doesn’t apply in this case as Sizemore clearly took the center field spot from JBJ. It’s honestly all in their spring numbers.
Sizemore: 42 PA, .333/.381/.462, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 4 SO
Bradley, Jr.: 61 PA, .158/.213/.263, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 17 SO
On Jackie Bradley, Jr., he will certainly need to be ready at any time. Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal notes, both Sizemore and Shane Victorino have been bitten by the injury bug. I’m sure you’re well aware of the numerous surgeries Sizemore has had since his days in Cleveland. Victorino missed some time this spring due to discomfort in his left side. Plus, Victorino missed some time last season. He was placed on the disabled list in early May after running into the wall. He was also bothered by a sore thumb that required surgery after last season had ended.
So after two sports hernia procedures, a pair of microfracture surgeries, elbow surgery, and back surgery, Grady Sizemore appears to be close to the Grady Sizemore of old – at least from an offensive point of view sans the steals and maybe a little less power. He’s once again in the bigs as a starting center fielder. But the question will loom over Sizemore and the Red Sox for the entirety of the 2014 season.
Will Grady Sizemore stay healthy for the entire 2014 season?
The Red Sox hope so, especially if he can bottle up those spring numbers and carry them from JetBlue to Fenway.