So apparently that bizarre thumb injury that no other athlete has ever had, has claimed the rest of Kevin Youkilis' 2010 season. Youkilis had a very respectable .307/.411/.564 line, and as of the day he went down was worth about 4 wins over the course of the season when compared to the average major league 1st baseman. Production like that is hard to duplicate--especially post trade deadline-- so Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has said he will attempt to find a suitable left-handed bat to platoon with Mike Lowell for the rest of the season.
Lowell has had something of a lost season due to injury, age and Adrian Beltre stealing his position. At this stage of his career he is probably best suited defensively for 1st base anyway, but a platoon mate will probably be necessary to maximize his skill set (and by that I mean keep him from breaking down at a faster pace than he already is). The problem, as I eluded to earlier, is finding such a bat. Even if we assume Lowell can hit lefties anything like he did last year (a .301/.363/.503 line, pretty optimistic as it is) finding a left-handed caddy who can do the same against righties may prove supremely difficult. Bottom line, The Sox will miss Youkilis, and their chances of making the playoffs coming out of the toughest division in baseball have gone down substantially.
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