Righty swinging Rico Petrocelli played SS early in his career for the Red Sox and 3B as he got older.  He had a huge season in 1969 for the Boston Red Sox.  Petrocelli played in 154 games for the Red Sox in 1969 and he was 159 of 535 (.297 avg, .992 OPS) with 92 runs scored, 40 homers, 97 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.  He also had quite an eye in 1969 as he walked 98 time while only walking 68 times.  Petrocelli was an A.L. All-Star and he finished in 7th place in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award in 1969.  He also made the A.L. All-Star team for the Red Sox in 1967.  Petrocelli played in 1,553 games in his 13 years with the Red Sox and he was 1,352 of 5,390 (.251 avg, .752 OPS) with 653 runs scored, 210 homers, 773 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.  Petrocelli is still #8 in games played (1,553), #10 in homers (210), #9 in RBIs (773) and #10 in walks (661) in Red Sox’ history.

29-year old righty swinging 2B Dustin Pedroia has been outstanding so far this year for the Red Sox.  He has played in 38 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 49 of 148 (.331 avg, .826 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 1 homer, 15 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  He has walked 23 times and whiffed 22 times so far this year, as he is locked in at the plate right now.  Pedroia has now played in 894 games in his first 8 years with the Red Sox and he is 1,074 of 3,536 (.304 avg, .830 OPS) with 583 runs scored, 91 homers, 424 RBIs and 110 stolen bases.  Pedroia is #8 in Red Sox’ history in stolen bases and he will likely move up that list some in 2013.  The Red Sox hope that Pedroia can stay healthy in 2013, as he has played hurt the last couple of years.

The Red Sox have placed veteran righty swinging catcher David Ross on the 7-day disabled list due to a concussion.  Ross has played in 15 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 9 for 43 (.209 avg, .832 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 4 homers, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  The Red Sox have called up 25-year old righty swinging Ryan Lavarnway to replace Ross as Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s backup.  Lavarnway has played in 22 games in AAA-ball so far this year for the Red Sox and he is 25 of 80 (.313 avg, .883 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 2 homers and 15 RBIs.  But, he has struggled at the plate against major league pitching so far in his career.  He has played in 63 games in his first two years with the Red Sox and he is 33 for 192 (.172 avg, .516 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 4 homers and 20 RBIs.

22-year old righty swinging outfielder Brandon Jacobs came into this season as the Red Sox’ #13 prospect according to Baseball America, but he is off to a slow start with the bat so far in 2013.  Jacobs has played in 29 games in A-ball so far this year and he is 18 for 106 (.170 avg, .558 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 2 homers, 14 RBIs, 3 stolen bases and a simply awful 33 whiffs.  Jacobs has now played in 330 games in his first five years in the minors and he is 325 of 1,245 (.261 avg, .767 OPS) with 181 runs scored, 38 homers, 186 RBIs and 54 stolen bases.  The Red Sox are going to take things slowly with Jacobs.

24-year old righty starter/reliever Kyle Kaminska has decided to retire from baseball.  He pitched in 6 games (all starts) in A+AA-ball for the Red Sox this year and he was 0-3 with a 7.18 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP.  He pitched in 141 games (72 starts) in his seven years in the minors and he was 30-31 with 1 save, a 4.40 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP.  This is not much of a loss for the Red Sox moving forward.

The Red Sox have demoted 25-year old lefty starting pitcher Felix Doubront to the bullpen.  Doubront has pitched in 5 games (all starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he was 3-1 with a 5.67 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP.  Doubront has given up 32 hits and 14 walks while whiffing 31 batters in his first 27 innings for the Red Sox so far this year.  Doubront might be better off in the bullpen where he can just let er’ rip for an inning or two at a time.  The Red Sox have called up 23-year old righty starting pitcher Allen Webster to replace Doubront in the rotation.  He started 1 game earlier this year for the Red Sox and he was 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.  Webster has also pitched in 4 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP.  Webster gave up 12 hits and 6 walks while whiffing 26 batters in his first 20 innings in the minors, which was very impressive.  Webster was the key to the big Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford deal with the Dodgers last summer, so they have high hopes for him.

UPDATE:  (5/9/2013) - It’s funny how one day can change things so quickly.  Allen Webster has been sent to AAA and Felix Doubront will get his starting gig back.  Webster only lasted the first 1 2/3 innings last night giving up 6 hits, 8 runs (all earned) while walking 3 batters and whiffing two to earn the loss.  Webster has pitched in 2 games (both starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 11.74 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP.  Doubront has pitched in 6 games (5 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 3-1 with a 6.40 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP.  The Red Sox hope that Doubront does better this time around.

The Red Sox have placed 31-year old righty closer Joel Hanrahan on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained right forearm.  Hanrahan only lasted two games off the D.L. before going back on it.  He has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 0-1 with 4 saves, a 9.82 ERA and a 2.18 WHIP.  Hanrahan has given up 10 hits (4 homers) and he has walked 6 batters while whiffing 5 of them in his first 7 1/3 innings so far this year.  Hanrahan just can’t seem to stay healthy this year.  The Red Sox should wait to activate Hanrahan until he’s 100% healthy this time around.

UPDATE:  (5/11/2013) - Joel Hanrahan has flexor tendon damage in his right elbow.  He will have season ending surgery to repair his elbow and he could need Tommy John surgery.

Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey are both going to miss some time due to injuries, so the Red Sox will likely turn to 26-year old Junichi Tazawa as the closer until one of them are ready to return to action.  Tazawa has pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP.  He only has given up 11 hits and 3 walks in his first 14 1/3 innings while whiffing 18 batters, so he has been dominant so far in 2013.  38-year old righty reliever Koji Uehara will serve as Tazawa’s set-up man.  He has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 0-0 with 0 saves, a 2.63 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP.  Uehara has given up 11 hits and 2 walks while whiffing 17 batters in his first 13 2/3 innings, as he has also been nasty for the Red Sox so far in 2013.  The Red Sox are in good hands until Hanrahan and Bailey are ready to return to action.

The Red Sox have placed 28-year old righty reliever Andrew Bailey on the 15-day disabled list due to a right biceps injury.  He has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 1-0 with 5 saves, a 1.46 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP.  Bailey has given up 6 hits and 4 walks while whiffing 20 batters in his first 12 1/3 innings as he has been awesome so far this year.  But, Bailey just can’t be trusted over the long haul, because he just can’t say in one piece.  31-year old righty Joel Hanrahan will get his closer’s gig back while Bailey is out of action.  Hanrahan has pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 0-1 with 4 saves, a 9.45 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP.  The Red Sox hope that Hanrahan is better this time around.

37-year old lefty swinging DH David Ortiz has come off the D.L. ripping the baseball for the Red Sox.  Ortiz has played in 10 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 19 for 39 (.487 avg, 1.409 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers and 15 RBIs.  The Red Sox will have to watch Oritz’ playing time in an effort to keep him healthy as his heel is still bothering him.  He only played in 90 games for the Red Sox last year and he was 103 of 324 (.318 avg, 1.026 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 23 homers and 60 RBIs.