Marco Scutaro Headed To DL, Jose Iglesias Called Up

UPDATE: It's official. Jose has been activated, per Pete Abraham.

The Red Sox could be without Marco Scutaro for a while, as the now-backup Shortstop faces an examination to determine the extent of an injury to his side that forced the Red Sox to pinch hit for him in the later stages of Saturday's game against the Twins.

If Scutaro does wind up on the DL, the Red Sox will be forced to call up top prospect Jose Iglesias well before anyone expected. According to Alex Speier, the young Cuban shortstop will be in Boston tomorrow should the club require his services.

Ideally, the man replacing Scutaro would be Yamaico Navarro, who has spent this year making the case he should be considered the top middle infield prospect in the system, hitting an amazing .329/.436/.612 to start his first full season with Pawtucket. But with the 23-year-old himself sidelined by an oblique strain, that leaves the Red Sox with only a few choices: Jose Iglesias, Nate Spears, and Drew Sutton. With Iglesias by far the best of the three defensively, the Sox seem to have given him the nod.

Realistically, Iglesias isn't nearly ready for the Major Leagues yet. While his defense is never going to be called into question, offensively he hasn't even really proven his ability to handle Double-A pitching yet. Personally, I wonder if this could negatively effect his development, and can't help but question the fast track the Red Sox have put the 21-year-old Iglesias on.