Abraham On Toucher & Rich: Red Sox Hurting From Outfield Depth Right Now
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox have a few question marks surrounding the team just a week into the 2014 season, but the biggest ones remain in the outfield.
Boston's outfield depth has been put to the test in the early goings with Shane Victorino on the DL. The Red Sox have used four different outfields in their six games, making it seem like they've been playing a game of musical chairs.
To make matters worse, none of the outfielders are doing much at the plate. Daniel Nava is batting just .115 with a .148 OBP, Jonny Gomes is hitting .167 in his five games this season, and Jackie Bradley Jr. has a .250 batting average and OBP. Grady Sizemore clubbed a home run on opening day, but is just 1-for-10 in three games since.
The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Monday morning to talk about the franchise's depth in the outfield, and says if the team wants to improve down the road they will likely have to go outside the organization.
"That's the one position they don't have good depth -- especially at the higher levels," said Abraham. "That's a problem."
"If they do end up making a trade to improve one particular position, it's going to be the outfield because there are a lot of questions. It got worse when Victorino got hurt," he said. "The value of Victorino has never been more apparent than when he's not out there. They've used a different combination in the outfield each game and they don't seem to know who is going to hit in the top of the order. A lot changed when Victorino went down, and we're seeing that right now. These are not by any means, offensively or defensively, the ideal lineups in the outfield."
Abraham also touches on the struggles of Clay Buchholz, replay in Major League Baseball, and more trouble for Dodgers star Yasiel Puig:
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