Stephen Drew to start rehab assignment with Portland

Steven Drew will start a rehab assignment with Double-A Portland Thursday night, according to Brian MacPherson.

It's been nearly three weaks since we've seen Drew in the Red Sox' lineup. A hamstring injury which originally was not expected to land him on the disabled list simply would not go away, forcing the team to finally give up the ghost and place Drew on the DL on July 6.

Since then, the Red Sox have made do with a combination of Brock Holt and Brandon Snyder manning the hot corner, with Jose Iglesias shifting back to his natural position of shortstop. While it would be a stretch to say that either Snyder or Holt has held their own, hitting a combined .278/.306/.370 in their time on the team, but they have come up with some big hits when the team needed them.

Still, if the initial reaction from many fans will be one of snark--the name "Drew," combined with some injury troubles and some inflated expectations for offense from the shortstop position seem to have doomed him in the eyes of many--getting Drew back is no small thing for the Red Sox. He's actually been above-average with the bat for a shortstop this season, and has combined with Jose Iglesias to keep balls from getting through the left side of the infield with any regularity.

Hopefully this time he'll stay on the field for a good long while.

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