Back in the early part of May, Red Sox shortstop Marco Scutaro sustained an oblique strain that promised to keep him out for a couple weeks. Scutaro wound up taking even more time to recover than expected, but on Tuesday, he is officially back with Boston, having been activated from the DL.
Marco Scutaro Activated From DL By Red Sox
Scutaro is starting at short on Tuesday night, batting ninth behind J.D. Drew. He returns to a .235 average and .619 OPS, but he was better than that a year ago, and he'll cut into Jed Lowrie's playing time. Lowrie had been the Red Sox regular starter at short since Scutaro first went on the DL. It's worth noting that Lowrie has been playing through shoulder pain.
To make room for Scutaro, the Red Sox optioned reliever Scott Atchison back to triple-A Pawtucket. It's debatable whether Atchison was actually the worst member of the bullpen, but 35-year-old journeymen usually don't get a lot of breaks. Atchison will continue to hang around, waiting for the next guy above him to get hurt. Somebody will always get hurt.
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