Daily Red Sox Links: Junichi Tazawa, Jose Iglesias, Jacoby Ellsbury

Around the middle of last season, Junichi Tazawa burst onto the major-league scene and showed he can hang with the best hitters in the world. Now, the team is all-in on him as the back of their bullpen is currently in shambles. (Alex Speier; WEEI.com)

Speaking of the broken bullpen, it seems as if Andrew Bailey's return is approaching, as he made the next step in his rehab yesterday. (Peter Abraham; Boston.com)

It was somewhat well-publicized that Jose Iglesias was benched down in Pawtucket for unknown reasons, and now manager Gary DiSarcina has given further explanation. (Tim Britton; Providence Journal)

Jason Collette gives us all the depressing reminder that old friend Mark Melancon has had a very good start to the season in Pittsburgh. (Jason Collette; ESPN Sweetspot Blog)

Despite the recent struggles, Sean McAdam reminds us all that the Red Sox aren't as bad as they've been playing. (Sean McAdam; CSN New England)

Over at Baseball Prospectus, Colin Wyers runs through some problems with the WAR stat in a fantastic article. (Colin Wyers; Baseball Prospectus)

One of the most talked-about players coming into the season, Jacoby Ellsbury is still searching for anything resembling the production he showed in 2011. (Gordon Edes; ESPN Boston)

The Yankees have suffered through some major injuries this year, but one of their big bats returned to action last night. (Aaron Gleeman; Hardball Talk)