The Red Sox have promoted highly regarded third base prospect Will Middlebrooks to take the place of the ailing Kevin Youkilis. Middlebrooks was penciled in at eighth in the batting order and willl make his major league debut Wednesday night against the A's.
"Unbelievable. This is something you work toward your whole life so it feels really good to be here," Middlebrooks told reporters in the Red Sox clubhouse Wednesday afternoon. "I worked to be here. I was ready when they called so I'm ready to go."
Middlebrooks batted .333 with nine homers and 27 RBIs in 24 games this season for Triple-A Pawtucket before Wednesday's call-up.
"I was having a really productive year. I thought I had a lot of positive output, not only me but my teammates. We were playing really good baseball."
The Red Sox have also called up righthander Clay Mortensen and he will be available in the bullpen. Mortensen was 2-2 with a 0.90 ERA in six relief appearances for Pawtucket. In 10 innings, he allowed just five hits and one earned run and posted an impressive 0.900 WHIP.
To make room for Mortensen and Middlebrooks, Lars Anderson was optioned after Tuesday night's game back to Triple-A Pawtucket while Youkilis was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain.
For more, visit the Red Sox team page at weei.com/redsox [1] and the Full Count [2] blog.
Links:
[1] http://www.weei.com/redsox
[2] http://www.fullcount.weei.com
[3] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/red-sox