The Red Sox are going to be without starting CF Jacoby Ellsbury for at least the next six to eight weeks after he dislocated his right shoulder yesterday while sliding into 2B as Rays’ SS Reid Brignac fell on him. Hopefully he won’t need surgery to repair his shoulder, or he could miss the rest of the 2012 season. Ellsbury has played in 7 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 5 for 26 (.192 avg, .569 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers and 3 RBIs. Cody Ross will likely take over in CF until Ellsbury returns to action. Ellsbury’s injury likely puts Darnell McDonald into the starting lineup until Carl Crawford is ready to come off the D.L. McDonald has played in 6 games for the Red Sox so far this year and he is 2 for 12 (.167 avg, .583 OPS) with 5 runs scored and 1 stolen base. He should do a decent job, but the Red Sox are going to miss Ellsbury big time, especially his bat at the top of the lineup. The Red Sox have recalled 23-year old righty swinging rookie Che-Hsuan Lin for his first taste of the majors. He played in 6 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he was 3 for 20 (.150 avg, .611 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. Lin will serve as the Red Sox’ #4 outfielder going forward.

The Red Sox have placed 32-year old lefty reliever Rich Hill on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26th as he continues to recover from Tommy John Surgery. Hill pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox last year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. Hill has now pitched in 15 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Red Sox and he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He will be out until the All-Star Break.

The Red Sox have placed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26th as he continues to recover from Tommy John Surgery. Matsuzaka pitched in 8 games (7 starts) for the Red Sox last year and he was 3-3 with a 5.30 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has now pitched in 106 games (105 starts) in his first 5 years with the Red Sox and he is 49-30 with a 4.25 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He is likely to return around June 1st and the Red Sox will be happy when he gets back.

The Red Sox have placed 26-year old lefty starter/reliever Andrew Miller on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26th due to a left hamstring strain. Miller pitched in 17 games (12 starts) for the Red Sox last year and he was 6-3 with a 5.54 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He has now pitched in 96 games (66 starts) in his first 6 years in the majors and he is 21-29 with a 5.79 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. The Red Sox won’t miss Miller too much, as he just isn’t a good pitcher.

The Red Sox have placed 30-year old lefty swinging LF Carl Crawford on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26th due to a sore wrist. He played in 130 games for the Red Sox last year and he was 129 of 506 (.255 avg, .694 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 11 homers, 56 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Crawford has now played in 1,365 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 1,609 of 5,498 (.293 avg, .773 OPS) with 830 runs scored, 115 homers, 648 RBIs and 427 stolen bases. The Red Sox are not going to rush Crawford back, because they need him in 2012 and don’t want him to re-injure his wrist.