The Red Sox really don't need this one bit:
Despite the protestations of both J.D. Drew and manager Terry Francona earlier in camp that the outfielder's back was not an issue, Drew was sent back to Boston to get an injection in his lower back. The injection, administered by Dr. Bill Palmer, was given yesterday.
"The reason we did it was kind of -- I want to explain this right -- kind of precautionary," Francona said. "We have some time right now because it's so early in March, and J.D., through getting looked at by some different people, thought this could be a benefit to him. If it worked, we think we thought OK, good. If it didn't seem to do anything, OK, well it's March 3 or March 2.
"I just think we kind of did to, if we run into a problem later this year, maybe we know a little bit quicker where to go."
It's always a bad sign when your starting right fielder is already hurt heading into a season. The back stiffness early in the offseason wasn't anything big, according to Francona & Co., but why wasn't Drew healthy over the offseason? How long does it take to get over back stiffness? There is a bigger issue here that either A) no one knows about or B) no one is telling us.
Colored me concerned about Drew.