The Red Sox have designated 25-year old lefty reliever Fabio Castro for assignment to make room on the roster for Eric Patterson. Castro pitched in 17 games (5 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he was 3-5 with a 6.65 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He has pitched in 30 games (1 start) in his major league career and he is 0-1 with 1 save, a 3.30 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. If Castro clears waivers it will be interesting to see if he accepts a minor league assignment or becomes a free agent.

When the Red Sox acquired 30-year old righty swinging 1F/OF Bill Hall from the Mariners for Casey Kotchman the consensus was that the Mariners got the better end of the deal. But Kotchman has played very poorly for the Mariners losing his starting job while Hall has been a jack of all trades for the Red Sox. He can play everywhere on the field except catcher and pitcher. With Dustin Pedroia out of action it seems as if Hall will be getting a lot of starts at 2B while he is out. Hall has played in 50 games this season for the Red Sox and he is 30 of 128 (.234 avg, .740 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 5 homers, 17 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Hall does whiff a lot (42 times so far this year) but he still has some power. The Red Sox need him to play well at 2B while Pedroia is out of action.

The injuries keep piling up for the Boston Red Sox as 31-year old lefty swinging catcher Victor Martinez has fractured his left thumb. Martinez has played in 66 games this season for the Red Sox and he is 71 of 246 (.289 avg, .824 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 9 homers and 38 RBIs. The Red Sox keep saying that they aren’t going to put Martinez on the D.L. but it’s very hard to catch with a broken thumb. 38-year old switch hitting Jason Varitek will take over as the starting catcher until V-Mart is ready to return to action. Varitek has played in 32 games this season for the Red Sox and he is 23 of 89 (.258 avg, .888 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 7 homers and 14 RBIs. He has been very solid this season as a backup but I think he will be exposed in the starting lineup as he has whiffed 27 times already this season.

UPDATE: (6/29/2010) - The Red Sox have placed Victor Martinez on the 15-day disabled list. They have recalled 28-year old righty swinging catcher Gustavo Molina to replace V-Mart on the active roster. Molina has played in 21 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 16 of 67 (.239 avg, .710 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 3 homers and 7 RBIs. He has played in 19 games in his major league career and he is 4 of 34 (.118 avg, .309 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. Expect Jason Varitek to play a lot with V-Mart out of action as Molina stinks.

The Red Sox have acquired 27-year old lefty 2B/OF Eric Patterson from the Oakland A’s for 21-year old lefty starting pitcher Fabian Williamson. Patterson played in 45 games for the A’s this year and he was 21 of 103 (.204 avg, .662 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 4 homers, 9 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He has now played in 134 games in his major league career and he is 75 of 335 (.224 avg, .641 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 6 homers, 35 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. Patterson will likely share 2B with Bill Hall until Dustin Pedroia is ready to return to action. Fabian Williamson pitched in 14 games (14 starts) in A-ball this year and he was 4-3 with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He has now pitched in 68 games (50 starts) in his four years in the minors and he was 24-13 with a 3.17 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. The Red Sox were behind the eight ball here as the A’s probably got the better end of the deal here.

The Red Sox have placed starting 2B Dustin Pedroia on the 15-day disabled list with a non-displaced fracture of his left foot. He could miss over a month as this is a HUGE blow to the Red Sox. Pedroia has played in 73 games for the Red Sox this year and he is 86 of 295 (.292 avg, .871 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 12 homers, 41 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. The Red Sox will miss Pedroia dearly no matter who they have playing 2B while he is out of action.