After a press conference yesterday, Julio Lugo is officially the new starting shortstop for the Boston Red Sox.
Pre-signing of Lugo we really thought about how bad his defense is and how good his hitting is. But one factor that wasn't tossed around much was about his clubhouse affect. David Ortiz loves Lugo:
Ortiz had been lobbying Francona for three years in Lugo's behalf -- "every time we were in Tampa," said the manager. It didn't take much persuasion, because Francona was enamored of Lugo, too.
"I'd make it a point to run into him accidentally," said Francona.
Now he'll run him on purpose, and he expects Lugo, who will wear No. 23, to be on base often. The evidence supports him.
"I've done good in this park," said Lugo.
To the tune of a .330 average (38 for 115) in 30 Fenway games, one of the factors that intrigued the Sox.
When Papi's happy, we're happy.
Terry Francona also confirmed another piece to the lineup puzzle:
- Lugo, ss
- Youkilis, 1b
- Ortiz, dh
- Ramirez, lf
- Drew, rf
- Lowell, 3b [?]
- Varitek, c [?]
- Crisp, cf [?]
- Pedroia, 2b [?]
He confirmed Drew, meaning our five at the top are locked. The only questions are 6-9, but we can have a pretty safe guess at how that'll work.
Looking at the lineup now, we should definitely be worrying some teams in American League. As long as our defense holds true and our pitching is on, this lineup should be contending in October.