Kuzul

The Boston Red Sox bullpen has been depleted with injuries throughout the 2013 season, and things are only going to get worse following deflating news about Joel Hanrahan’s status. According to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe, the Red Sox closer will need season-ending surgery after being diagnosed with a torn flexor muscle in his right forearm:Hanrahan will likely undergo the surgery next week, which will be performed by Dr. James Andrews, per Evan Drellich of MassLive.com. Hanrahan, who is a two-time All-Star, was in his first season with Boston after being acquired this winter in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Expected to shore up the back half of the Red Sox bullpen, the 31-year-old right-hander was off to a dreadful start.Hanrahan posted a 0-1 record with a 9.81 ERA and 2.18 WHIP in nine appearances. He saved four games, but he blew an additional two chances and was walking just under a ...

The Boston Red Sox continue to be hit hard by injuries recently, as third baseman Will Middlebrooks is reportedly playing through a separated rib.Middlebrooks left Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins following a collision with his teammate, catcher David Ross, while the two were chasing a foul ball. Although he returned to play after taking one full game off, it appears he is not fully healthy. WEEI’s Alex Speier is reporting that Middlebrooks suffered a separation of one of his ribs in the collision. He doesn’t have a broken rib, but tore the cartilage that connects the bone to the sternum. Middlebrooks described to MassLive.com’s Evan Drellich how the injury has left him feeling: "It's still pretty sore, pretty tender. I got a nice little bruise on my ribs. I thought I got hit by a truck. I've got to pick the biggest guy on the team to pick on? ...

As we near the quarter-mark of the season, the minor league affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles have been good as a whole.The two most successful affiliates have been the Norfolk Tides of Triple-A, who currently lead their division with a record of 23-12, and the Frederick Keys of Single-A, who also lead theirs with a 18-14 record.While much of Norfolk's success has been helped by their influx of former major leaguers, the other affiliates' successes are based completely on prospects.The following list is an update on each of the Orioles' top 10 prospects and how they've performed so far in the 2013 season. The ranking is based off the ranking of Orioles' prospects over at MLB.com.Begin Slideshow

Through the first 33 games of the 2013 season, the New York Yankees are defying predictions and poor expectations. When they take the field on Friday night in Kansas City, they'll do so as a first-place club.At 20-13, New York is playing .608 baseball.While much of the credit in New York has gone to general manager Brian Cashman's ability to find contributors on the scrap heap over the winter and into spring training, it's been manager Joe Girardi who has gotten the most out of those players.The 2006 Manager of the Year arrived in New York for the 2008 season, taking over a franchise that hadn't missed the postseason since prior to the 1994 strike. If replacing a legend like Joe Torre wasn't hard enough, a portion of the fanbase was unhappy with Girardi's hiring at the expense of former Yankee legend Don Mattingly.Even though Girardi was a former Yankee, ...

As the city of Boston continues to persevere in the face of the tragedy that shook the city in April, the Red Sox continue to strengthen civic pride.In a gesture of class, the Sox invited the 2013 Clarkson Cup Champion Boston Blades to Fenway Park.  The Blades became only the second American franchise to claim what is regarded as the Stanley Cup of women’s hockey. On May 9, the Blades had the opportunity to grace the sacred field of Fenway Park. Despite darkened clouds which blocked the skies, as well as a playing surface covered with an unwanted downpour of rain, the Blades stood proudly along the first and third base lines near home plate. Donning their home whites, the roster were greeted to a round of applause from the Fenway faithful. Although the Red Sox allowed four runs in the sixth inning of the May 9 contest to ...

Dear Alex Rodriguez,Or should I address you as "A-Rod?" Yeah, that sounds good. Certainly easier to type, anyway.At any rate, I hear you're on the comeback trail. It's been almost four full months since you had surgery on your left hip, and the word on Monday from Adam Berry of MLB.com was that you can finally participate in some baseball activities.The word after your surgery was that there was a chance you could return to the New York Yankees around the All-Star break. That sounded optimistic at first, but now it sounds about right. In fact, it sounds like you may even be back on the field before Derek Jeter.But you're not too sure, are you?"I really hope so. That's as specific as I'll get," you said when asked if you were positive you were even going to return at all this season. I took that to mean you don't want ...

The Baltimore Orioles wrapped up the month of April going 16-11, and for the month of May they are already off to a 3-2 start, including a series split against the Los Angeles Angels.  The Orioles face four teams in May who are currently below .500, making this month one that they should look to take advantage of.  With a favorable schedule heading into May, here is a breakdown of each series the Orioles will play in this month.Begin Slideshow

In the face of mounting injuries in their bullpen, the Boston Red Sox named setup man Junichi Tazawa as their new closer Tuesday. The decision was announced by Boston manager John Farrell during an appearance on MLB Network Radio, according to MLB.com’s Jason Mastrodonato. MLB Network Radio analyst Jim Duquette confirmed Tazawa’s new role via Twitter: Mgr John Farrell just told us he'd like to use Tazawa as closer and keep Koji in the 8th @mlbnetworkradio— Jim Duquette (@Jim_Duquette) May 7, 2013 The switch to Tazawa, who had served as a setup man so far this season, was necessitated by the team losing two closers to the disabled list during the past two days. Andrew Bailey, who leads Boston with five saves, was placed on the disabled list Monday with sore biceps. Joel Hanrahan, who is second on the team with four saves, prematurely left Monday’s game against the Minnesota Twins because ...

Through the first six seasons of Clay Buchholz's major league career, he profiled as a good pitcher. His career ERA of 3.92 was 13 percent above league average, he struck out nearly two batters for every one he walked and surrendered less than one hit per inning.If he could stay healthy—no easy task considering his injury history—Boston could look forward to a 28-year-old pitcher coming into his physical prime giving its rotation quality innings through at least 2015, and possibly even longer if contract options were exercised for 2016 and 2017.Few outside of Buchholz's immediate family and closest friends could have imagined what's happened early on in 2013. The former first-round pick has gone from good to great, on the verge of becoming baseball's next great superstar ace.Of course, the early success comes with skepticism and controversy.While it's impossible to know for sure if Buchholz is or was doctoring the baseball, this ...

The Boston Red Sox got off to a terrific start, with the best record in baseball through the first month of the season at 18-8.However, issues in the bullpen could pose a major problem moving forward, as the closer position appears to be up in the air.Last offseason, the team dealt a package of players to the A's for Andrew Bailey to replace the departed Jonathan Papelbon, who had signed with the Phillies as a free agent.After posting a 2.07 ERA and 75 saves through his first three seasons in the league, Bailey battled injuries in 2012 and struggled to a 7.04 ERA in just 19 appearances last season.Though Bailey was healthy to open the season, the team opted to go a different direction in the ninth inning. Two-time All-Star Joel Hanrahan was acquired from the Pirates for four players, and immediately became the closer.Many believed that gave the Red ...