Carl Crawford missed the first half with a myriad of problems, including elbow, wrist, and groin issues. The elbow is the most serious, as Crawford will likely need Tommy John surgery after the season. He indicated that the elbow could "pop" at any time, which can't be an especially reassuring feeling.
But Crawford is coming back on Monday, joining a cavalcade of familiar faces, like Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis in a Fenway return.
"I guess the only thing we'll be lacking," Cody Ross said, "is Elvis showing up. Which is highly possible."
SOURCE: RED SOX TRADE FOR ELVIS ANDRUS "HIGHLY POSSIBLE."
The last time we saw Carl Crawford on the field for the Boston Red Sox, he was missing a catch by an inch, which turned out to be one of the most direct reasons for the Red Sox missing the playoffs. And it's not like Crawford had a great season before that -- last year was one of the most miserable of his career, and it still ended ignominiously.
But it's the time of renewal. Players who had bad first halves can pretend there's some magic in the arbitrary midpoint in the season, and so can players who didn't have a first half.